Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 vs MediaTek MT8173

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 CPU1 vs CPU2 MediaTek MT8173
Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 MediaTek MT8173

CPU comparison

Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 or MediaTek MT8173 - 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 Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 has 4 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.30 GHz. Up to 3 GB of memory is supported in 1 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 was released in Q3/2019.

The MediaTek MT8173 has 4 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.80 GHz. The CPU supports up to 2 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The MediaTek MT8173 was released in Q1/2015.
Qualcomm Snapdragon (102) Family Mediatek MT-Serie (72)
Qualcomm Snapdragon QM215 (1) CPU group MediaTek MT81xx MT86xx A72 / A53 (3)
3 Generation 1
Cortex-A53 Architecture Cortex-A72 / Cortex-A53
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 has 4 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 is 1.30 GHz while the MediaTek MT8173 has 4 CPU cores and 4 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the MediaTek MT8173 is at 1.80 GHz.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Characteristic MediaTek MT8173
4 Cores 4
4 Threads 4
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.30 GHz
4x Cortex-A53
A-Core 1.80 GHz
2x Cortex-A72
-- B-Core 1.40 GHz
2x Cortex-A53

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Characteristic MediaTek MT8173
Qualcomm AI engine AI hardware --
Hexagon AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 or MediaTek MT8173 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.

Qualcomm Adreno 308 GPU PowerVR GX6250
0.50 GHz GPU frequency 0.70 GHz
0.50 GHz GPU (Turbo) 0.70 GHz
3 GPU Generation --
28 nm Technology 28 nm
0 Max. displays 1
-- Compute units 2
24 Shader 32
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory --
11 DirectX Version 10

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.

Qualcomm Adreno 308 GPU PowerVR GX6250
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 No
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC No
Decode Codec VC-1 No
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG No

Memory & PCIe

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 can use up to 3 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 4.3 GB/s. The MediaTek MT8173 supports up to 2 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 14.9 GB/s.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Characteristic MediaTek MT8173
LPDDR3-1066 Memory LPDDR3-933
3 GB Max. Memory 2 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
4.3 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 14.9 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 is --, while the MediaTek MT8173 has a TDP of --. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Characteristic MediaTek MT8173
-- TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 is manufactured in 28 nm and has 0.00 MB cache. The MediaTek MT8173 is manufactured in 28 nm and has a 0.00 MB cache.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Characteristic MediaTek MT8173
28 nm Technology 28 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
Android Operating systems Android
Q3/2019 Release date Q1/2015
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 1.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the MediaTek MT8173 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 2.3 stars (3 ratings). Rate now:


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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Qualcomm Snapdragon 215
Qualcomm Adreno 308 @ 0.50 GHz
24 (27%)
MediaTek MT8173 MediaTek MT8173
PowerVR GX6250 @ 0.70 GHz
90 (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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Qualcomm Snapdragon 215
4C 4T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)
MediaTek MT8173 MediaTek MT8173
4C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
331 (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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Qualcomm Snapdragon 215
4C 4T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)
MediaTek MT8173 MediaTek MT8173
4C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
768 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Qualcomm Snapdragon 215
4C 4T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)
MediaTek MT8173 MediaTek MT8173
4C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
348 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Qualcomm Snapdragon 215
4C 4T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)
MediaTek MT8173 MediaTek MT8173
4C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
610 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 Qualcomm Snapdragon 215
4C 4T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)
MediaTek MT8173 MediaTek MT8173
4C 4T @ 1.80 GHz
609 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 MediaTek MT8173
Unknown Amazon Fire HD 10 (2017)

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