HiSilicon Kirin 970 vs Unisoc SC9863A

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The HiSilicon Kirin 970 and the Unisoc SC9863A are two processors with different specifications. Let's compare them.

In terms of CPU cores and architecture, the HiSilicon Kirin 970 has a more powerful configuration. It features 4x 2.4 GHz Cortex-A73 cores and 4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 cores. On the other hand, the Unisoc SC9863A has 4x 1.6 GHz Cortex-A55 cores and 4x 1.2 GHz Cortex-A55 cores. While the Kirin 970 has higher clock speeds and a mix of high-performance and power-efficient cores, the SC9863A has lower clock speeds and only power-efficient cores.

Moving on to other specifications, the HiSilicon Kirin 970 has an instruction set of ARMv8-A, allowing it to support modern software and applications. It is built on a 10 nm lithography process and contains 5500 million transistors. The TDP (thermal design power) for this processor is 9 Watts. Additionally, it features a HiSilicon NPU (Neural Processing Unit), which enhances performance in artificial intelligence tasks.

In comparison, the Unisoc SC9863A has an instruction set of ARMv8.2-A, which is a slightly newer version. However, it is built on a larger 28 nm lithography process, which is less power-efficient compared to the Kirin 970's 10 nm. The SC9863A has a lower TDP of 3 Watts, indicating that it consumes less power compared to the Kirin 970. Additionally, it also features an NPU, although the specifications of the NPU are not stated.

Based on these specifications, it is clear that the HiSilicon Kirin 970 is a more powerful processor compared to the Unisoc SC9863A. It has a higher-performance CPU configuration, a more advanced instruction set, and a more power-efficient lithography. However, it is important to consider the intended use case and budget when determining which processor is more suitable for a particular device or application.

CPU cores and architecture

Architecture 4x 2.4 GHz – Cortex-A73
4x 1.8 GHz – Cortex-A53
4x 1.6 GHz – Cortex-A55
4x 1.2 GHz – Cortex-A55
Number of cores 8 8
Instruction Set ARMv8-A ARMv8.2-A
Lithography 10 nm 28 nm
Number of transistors 5500 million
TDP 9 Watt 3 Watt
Neural Processing HiSilicon NPU NPU

Memory (RAM)

Max amount up to 8 GB up to 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4 LPDDR4X
Memory frequency 1866 MHz 1866 MHz
Memory-bus 4x16 bit 2x16 bit

Storage

Storage specification UFS 2.1 eMMC 5.1

Graphics

GPU name Mali-G72 MP12 Imagination PowerVR GE8322
GPU Architecture Bifrost Rogue
GPU frequency 750 MHz 550 MHz
Execution units 12 4
Shaders 192 128
DirectX 12 11
OpenCL API 2.0 3.0
OpenGL API ES 3.2
Vulkan API 1.0 1.2

Camera, Video, Display

Max screen resolution 2340x1080 2160x1080
Max camera resolution 1x 48MP, 2x 20MP 1x 16MP + 1x 5MP
Max Video Capture 4K@30fps FullHD@30fps
Video codec support H.264 (AVC)
H.265 (HEVC)
VP8
VP9
H.264 (AVC)
H.265 (HEVC)
VP8

Wireless

4G network Yes Yes
5G network Yes Yes
Peak Download Speed 1.2 Gbps 0.3 Gbps
Peak Upload Speed 0.15 Gbps 0.1 Gbps
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) 4 (802.11n)
Bluetooth 4.2 4.2
Satellite navigation BeiDou
GPS
Galileo
GLONASS
BeiDou
GPS
GLONASS

Supplemental Information

Launch Date 2017 September 2018 November
Partnumber Hi3670 SC9863A
Vertical Segment Mobiles Mobiles
Positioning Flagship Low-end

AnTuTu 10

Total Score
Kirin 970
318577
SC9863A
114273

GeekBench 6 Single-Core

Score
Kirin 970
389
SC9863A
145

GeekBench 6 Multi-Core

Score
Kirin 970
1502
SC9863A
779