MediaTek MT8121 vs HiSilicon Kirin 655

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


MediaTek MT8121 CPU1 vs CPU2 HiSilicon Kirin 655
MediaTek MT8121 HiSilicon Kirin 655

CPU comparison

MediaTek MT8121 or HiSilicon Kirin 655 - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The MediaTek MT8121 has 4 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.30 GHz. Up to GB of memory is supported in 0 memory channels. The MediaTek MT8121 was released in Q4/2013.

The HiSilicon Kirin 655 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.12 GHz. The CPU supports up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The HiSilicon Kirin 655 was released in Q2/2016.
Mediatek MT-Serie (72) Family HiSilicon Kirin (29)
MediaTek MT81xx A7 (5) CPU group HiSilicon Kirin 650 (4)
1 Generation 4
Cortex-A7 Architecture Cortex-A53 / Cortex-A53
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The MediaTek MT8121 has 4 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the MediaTek MT8121 is 1.30 GHz while the HiSilicon Kirin 655 has 8 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the HiSilicon Kirin 655 is at 2.12 GHz.

MediaTek MT8121 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 655
4 Cores 8
4 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.30 GHz
4x Cortex-A7
A-Core 2.12 GHz
4x Cortex-A53
-- B-Core 1.70 GHz
4x Cortex-A53

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

MediaTek MT8121 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 655
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The MediaTek MT8121 or HiSilicon Kirin 655 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

PowerVR SGX544 GPU ARM Mali-T830 MP2
0.16 GHz GPU frequency 0.90 GHz
0.16 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
-- GPU Generation Midgard 4
45nm Technology 28nm
1 Max. displays 2
2 Compute units 2
4 Shader 32
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory --
10.1 DirectX Version 11

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

PowerVR SGX544 GPU ARM Mali-T830 MP2
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 No
Decode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC No
No Codec VC-1 No
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The MediaTek MT8121 can use up to GB of memory in 0 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is --. The HiSilicon Kirin 655 supports up to GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to --.

MediaTek MT8121 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 655
Memory LPDDR3-933
Max. Memory
0 Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
-- Max. Bandwidth --
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the MediaTek MT8121 is --, while the HiSilicon Kirin 655 has a TDP of --. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

MediaTek MT8121 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 655
-- TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The MediaTek MT8121 is manufactured in 28 nm and has 0.00 MB cache. The HiSilicon Kirin 655 is manufactured in 16 nm and has a 0.00 MB cache.

MediaTek MT8121 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 655
28 nm Technology 16 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv7-A (32 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
Android Operating systems Android
Q4/2013 Release date Q2/2016
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
MediaTek MT8121 (42%)
HiSilicon Kirin 655 (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
MediaTek MT8121 (30%)
HiSilicon Kirin 655 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
MediaTek MT8121 MediaTek MT8121
4C 4T @ 1.30 GHz
71 (42%)
HiSilicon Kirin 655 HiSilicon Kirin 655
8C 8T @ 2.12 GHz
168 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
MediaTek MT8121 MediaTek MT8121
4C 4T @ 1.30 GHz
239 (30%)
HiSilicon Kirin 655 HiSilicon Kirin 655
8C 8T @ 2.12 GHz
794 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
MediaTek MT8121 MediaTek MT8121
PowerVR SGX544 @ 0.16 GHz
5 (8%)
HiSilicon Kirin 655 HiSilicon Kirin 655
ARM Mali-T830 MP2 @ 0.90 GHz
61 (100%)

Devices using this processor

MediaTek MT8121 HiSilicon Kirin 655
Unknown Unknown

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