The new Kirin 990 chipset is built like Apple A13 and bests it in a key feature
Samsung took the laurels of announcing the first second-gen 7nm processor – Exynos 9825 – before Huawei this year, unlike what happened with Huawei’s Kirin 980 last fall. Samsung was also the first to announce an integrated all-in-one 5G chipset – the Exynos 980 – which solders midrange chippery together with a 5G modem for the first time. Until now, all 5G phones came with one extra Qualcomm, Samsung or Huawei 5G modem tacked on separately that puts extra drag on the battery and RAM capacities.
Both the Kirin 990 processor cores and the 5G modem chip are laid out with the most efficient process available at the moment – a second generation 7nm EUV lithography, just like the Exynos 9825. Here’s a quick specs comparison between the two and Snapdragon 855+:
| Kirin 990 | Samsung Exynos 9825 | Snapdragon 855+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production process | 7nm EUV | 7nm EUV | 7nm (TSMC FF) |
| Processor cores | 2xCortex-A76 at 2.86GHz
2xCortex-A76 at 2.34GHz 4xCortex-A55 at 1.9GHz ~10.3 billion transistors |
2x Exynos M4 @2.73GHz
2x Cortex A75@2.4GHz |
1x Kryo 485 Gold (custom Cortex-A76) @ 2.96GHz
3x Kryo 485 Gold (custom Cortex-A76) @ 2.42GHz 4x Kryo 485 Silver (custom Cortex-A55) @ 1.80GHz |
| GPU | Mali-G76 MP16 (16 cores) | Mali-G76 MP12 | Adreno 640 |
| Modem | Balong 5G (integrated)
Downloads: 2.3Gbps Uploads: 1.25Gbps no mmWave, just sub-6Ghz, 4 antennas |
Shannon LTE (Category 20) Downloads up to 2Gbps, 8xCA Uploads: up to 316 Mbps Exynos 5100 5G modem add-on, mmWave and sub-6Ghz |
Snapdragon X24 LTE (Category 20) Downloads: up to 2Gbps, 7xCA Uploads: up to 316Mbps X50 5G modem add-on, mmWave and sub-6Ghz |
| AI co-processor | Yes, quad-core NPU | Yes, dual-core NPU | Yes |
| Video encode | 8K HDR at 30fps | 4K HDR at 150fps 8K HDR at 30fps |
4K HDR10+ |
| Misc. | Most power-efficient AI and image processing
First BM3D DSLR-level image and Dual Domain video noise reduction support |
Computational photography
UFS 3.0 storage support for up to 2.9GB/s speeds |
Computational photography
4K HDR Bokeh Video 8K 360 VR video playback Always-on noise cancelation Dual-frequency GPS |
Kirin 990 5G and AR features
Sadly, these don’t include the high-frequency mmWave bands that Verizon, T-Mobile and the US carrier networks currently use for 5G in general. In 2020, however, all major US carriers will start rolling out their low-band 5G networks en masse. Needless to say, Huawei has a snowball’s chance in hell to have phones on US carriers given the White House administration animosity towards its products but it’s cool that we are finally getting a true 5G SoC for high-end phones.
Huawei is keen to underline that its 5G modem is the most power-efficient and signal-friendly one to date, and knowing its leadership in 5G research, we are inclined to take its word without Himalayan pink salt.