MediaTek Helio X30 showcased in all its glory


Qualcomm, with its 800 series chipsets, has ruled the smartphone market for quite some time now. With every flagship smartphone sporting a Snapdragon 800 series chipset, MediaTek had to come up with something.

That’s when the Helio X series happened. And now, in a bid to beat Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835, MediaTek Helio X30 has been showcased in all its glory. Even though it hasn’t found its way into any smartphone as of now, it does have some significant improvements over its predecessor, the Helio X20.

MediaTek has started promoting the Helio X30 via a video presentation on its Weibo account. From what sources say, the MediaTek Helio X30 is the first and only chipset in the world that features a deca core processor built on the 10nm manufacturing process.

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As compared to its predecessor, the Helio X20, the X30 provides a 35% bump up in performance and 50% bump up in battery life, meaning, it can provide twice as much on time as the X20. In addition to this, the X30 features a new CorePilot verification system, Imagiq 2.0 and lots more.

On the spec front, the Helio X30 features a deca core processor with three CPU clusters.  It uses two Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.5GHz, four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and four Cortex-A35 cores clocked at 1.9GHz. On the memory front, it has support for up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM with UFS2.1 for the secondary storage. On the GPU front, the X30 has the PowerVRXTP-MT4 GPU clocked at 800MHz. It has Cat 10 as the highest baseband.

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38 Comments

  1. MattD
    May 10, 2017

    Usual: big claims, but nothing you’ll see in real life… Closed sources… And a decent gpu killed by adding half of the cores it would need… Will they ever stop putting an mp4 gpu on their flagship chips and mp2, at best, for whatever is below that?!

    • Assefa Hanson
      May 10, 2017

      That’s what’s annoying why do they use such low amount of GPU cores? Remember how they said the x20 was efficient

      • goodwill
        May 10, 2017

        Probably why there’s a 50% battery improvement. haha. But we’ll see how the battery life plays out with the performance.

    • Plumplum
      May 10, 2017

      PowerVR mp4 is like Mali mp8…
      With PowerVR mp6 at lower clock rate, Apple reaches top perfs even on (unoptimized OpenGL)
      I think PowerVR mp4 on X30 will be as powerfull as Adreno 530 with no drop (sustained performances)…according to frequencies it will be between Apple A9 and A10…GPU on A9 is faster than Adreno 530

      See what Qualcomm does in 20nm with eMMC : S810/S808…total failure…A57 turn off in 2 minutes even on so called “v2.1”

      See what Mediatek does in 20nm with eMMC : X20-27 nearly as fast as S820 in 14nm with UFS2.0 (except GPU)…able to run the ten cores at full speed during 10 minutes with only 6% performances drop! (own test, not rumors!)

      Now imagine that X30 will be in 10nm with UFS2.1

      Imagine X30 used by a more serious brand which will release sources

      Imagine Google helping Mediatek like they help Qualcomm when they release 2 or even 3 devices

    • Zero
      May 10, 2017

      Err… Power VR GPU is as strong as 2.5X times as Mali… So Power VR GT7600 is like having Mali T880-MP15 with fewer cores and more clock speed…

      So Spreadtrum went on Dual Core GT7200 Plus is as strong as a Mali T860-MP4

    • lildwell
      May 15, 2017

      What’s really going to destroy then are their shitty closed fucking sources. Nobody can reliably update the pieces of shit.

  2. Allanitomwesh
    May 10, 2017

    PowerVR GPU? That should be interesting to see against Adreno.

  3. julian noordennen
    May 10, 2017

    I think the SoC it’s efficienty is more because this new chip is baked on a newer 10nm production compared to the Helio X20 it’s 20nm.

  4. Zero
    May 10, 2017

    And the benchmarks?
    If this chip manages over 150 K, Qualcomm will be royally screwed.

    • David Košič
      May 11, 2017

      it could have over 500 K and it wouldn’t make difference to Qualcomm.

  5. Vincent
    May 10, 2017

    only 2 A73 ? well it might not be THAT important but the last flaships have 4 A73 cores :O , lets see battery tests anyway

    • Zero
      May 11, 2017

      Just like Apple…

  6. Tommi
    May 10, 2017

    No use, maybe better luck with next generation.

  7. MattD
    May 10, 2017

    Usual: big claims, but nothing you’ll see in real life… Closed sources… And a decent gpu killed by adding half of the cores it would need… Will they ever stop putting an mp4 gpu on their flagship chips and mp2, at best, for whatever is below that?!

    • Assefa Hanson
      May 10, 2017

      That’s what’s annoying why do they use such low amount of GPU cores? Remember how they said the x20 was efficient

    • Plumplum
      May 10, 2017

      PowerVR mp4 is like Mali mp8…
      With PowerVR mp6 at lower clock rate, Apple reaches top perfs even on (unoptimized OpenGL)
      I think PowerVR mp4 on X30 will be as powerfull as Adreno 530 with no drop (sustained performances)…according to frequencies it will be between Apple A9 and A10…GPU on A9 is faster than Adreno 530

      See what Qualcomm does in 20nm with eMMC : S810/S808…total failure…A57 turn off in 2 minutes even on so called “v2.1”

      See what Mediatek does in 20nm with eMMC : X20-27 nearly as fast as S820 in 14nm with UFS2.0 (except GPU)…able to run the ten cores at full speed during 10 minutes with only 6% performances drop! (own test, not rumors!)

      Now imagine that X30 will be in 10nm with UFS2.1

      Imagine X30 used by a more serious brand which will release sources

      Imagine Google helping Mediatek like they help Qualcomm when they release 2 or even 3 devices

    • Zero
      May 10, 2017

      Err… Power VR GPU is as strong as 2.5X times as Mali MP8XX or twice as strong as a G7X… So Power VR GT7600 is like having Mali T880-MP15 with fewer cores and more clock speed…

      So Spreadtrum went on Dual Core GT7200 Plus is as strong as a Mali T860-MP4

      In this case Mediatek has the power of having a Mali G71 at 1Ghz on 4 Power VR cores at 800Mhz… And that is the X30… I can’t imagine how strong can be the X35….

    • goodwill
      May 11, 2017

      Probably why there’s a 50% battery improvement. haha. But we’ll see how the battery life plays out with the performance.

    • goodwill
      May 11, 2017

      Probably why there’s a 50% battery improvement. haha. But we’ll see how the battery life plays out with the performance.

    • lildwell
      May 15, 2017

      What’s really going to destroy then are their shitty closed fucking sources. Nobody can reliably update the pieces of shit.

  8. Allanitomwesh
    May 10, 2017

    PowerVR GPU? That should be interesting to see against Adreno.

  9. julian noordennen
    May 10, 2017

    I think the SoC it’s efficienty is more because this new chip is baked on a newer 10nm production compared to the Helio X20 it’s 20nm.

  10. julian noordennen
    May 10, 2017

    I think the SoC it’s efficienty is more because this new chip is baked on a newer 10nm production compared to the Helio X20 it’s 20nm.

  11. Zero
    May 10, 2017

    And the benchmarks?
    If this chip manages over 150 K, Qualcomm will be royally screwed.

  12. Sansa
    May 10, 2017

    We want to see screens with 50% power saving too.

  13. Vincent
    May 10, 2017

    only 2 A73 ? well it might not be THAT important but the last flaships have 4 A73 cores :O , lets see battery tests anyway

    • Zero
      May 11, 2017

      Just like Apple…

  14. Guest
    May 10, 2017

    No use, maybe better luck with next generation.

  15. Sansa
    May 11, 2017

    We want to see screens with 50% power saving too.

  16. David Košič
    May 11, 2017

    It doesn’t matter what they claim. It going to be anemic in the gpu performance again compared to the best of the snapdragon, Samsung and even kirin chips. Its gps won’t be as reliable and forget stable software updates.

  17. Marius Cirsta
    May 11, 2017

    I see a lot of people complaining about this one and I can understand them but actually for me the Xelio X20 is really good. It has many cores and good everyday performance, low power cores are usually used for everyday tasks so it uses less power and yes the GPU is weak but since I don’t play games I don’t care.
    Oh and best of all I was able to buy it in a Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 for only $140 so honestly it’s really good for some people. If it’s not for you there’s the Snapdragon 835 or Kirin or Exynos but for me this the Helios are really great.

  18. Marius Cirsta
    May 11, 2017

    I see a lot of people complaining about this one and I can understand them but actually for me the Xelio X20 is really good. It has many cores and good everyday performance, low power cores are usually used for everyday tasks so it uses less power and yes the GPU is weak but since I don’t play games I don’t care.
    Oh and best of all I was able to buy it in a Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 for only $140 so honestly it’s really good for some people. If it’s not for you there’s the Snapdragon 835 or Kirin or Exynos but for me this the Helios are really great.

  19. Nolan
    May 12, 2017

    * No GPS
    * No GPU

    (GPS requires EPO files and MobileUncle MTK tools engineering mode and then outdoor lock times with good weather can be around 1 hour)

    No thanks MediaWreck, I’ll pass.

    • Jh1
      May 14, 2017

      I believe you’re thinking of the old mediatek. GPS performance for the last few years has been just fine.

  20. Guest
    May 12, 2017

    * No GPS
    * No GPU

    (GPS requires EPO files and MobileUncle MTK tools engineering mode and then outdoor lock times with good weather can be around 1 hour)

    No thanks MediaWreck, I’ll pass.

    • Jh1
      May 14, 2017

      I believe you’re thinking of the old mediatek. GPS performance for the last few years has been just fine.

  21. Partha Dutta
    July 4, 2017

    Please be informed that Mediatek x30 will use the same GPU as Apple. It will be the 1st chip to have dual sim both of which shall use 4G Volte which we cannot at present. I am using Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Mtk being imported from Hong Kong. It’s a nice phone and games are a breeze, plus cheaper. Why the need of Qualcomm or Apple? We want cheaper good phones not a costly phone forever. Mediatek is just doing that. We in India want a bezelless dual rear camera and a good selfie camera led flash phone with Mediatek Helio x30 chip under $299.

  22. Guest
    July 4, 2017

    Please be informed that Mediatek x30 will use the same GPU as Apple. It will be the 1st chip to have dual sim both of which shall use 4G Volte which we cannot at present. I am using Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Mtk being imported from Hong Kong. It’s a nice phone and games are a breeze, plus cheaper. Why the need of Qualcomm or Apple? We want cheaper good phones not a costly phone forever. Mediatek is just doing that. We in India want a bezelless dual rear camera and a good selfie camera led flash phone with Mediatek Helio x30 chip under $299.