Chipsets for tablets and chipsets for smartphones: what are the differences?
I have noticed for a long time that there are quite a few tablets on Qualcomm chipsets. Apple is a separate song, it uses its solutions. Samsung most often produces two versions of almost every model: one without LTE with its own Exynos chipsets, the second with LTE and Qualcomm chipsets. Sony, perhaps, one tightly "sitting" on Qualcomm. But the rest ... The rest, that is, manufacturers of tablets and smartphones of lower rank, previously used mainly chipsets Rockchip, Allwinner, Amlogic and MediaTek.
However, by 2014, the first three manufacturers practically “retired”: as representatives of companies offering purely Chinese tablets under their brands told me more than once, they were bored with an unstable level of quality, soft software, high power consumption (which people, in a literal sense, regularly complained about users) and other “pitfalls”, which the Chinese engineers of Rockchip, Allwinner and Amlogic couldn’t understand.
As for Qualcomm, the answer to the question “why isn't Qualcomm after all?” Almost always sounds the same: “Expensive!”. In addition, this large American corporation has no desire to work with small device manufacturers. She needs birds of high flight - Sony, Samsung, LG and so on. Another point: tablet developers in informal conversations say that it’s quite difficult to work with Qualcomm - its chipsets are “sharpened”, first of all, for smartphones, and it’s not always possible to “re-optimize” them under the tablet. Of course, I became interested in: what does it mean to “re-optimize”? To answer this question, it was necessary to understand what the differences between platforms for smartphones and tablets are in principle. However, the comparative tables, widely presented in the same Wikipedia, did not give an answer to this question. If so, then the only way out is to turn to knowledgeable guys directly involved in the development of tablets. What was done.
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To begin with, what is meant by the word "platform" only one chip in our time is fundamentally wrong. The tablet is a comprehensive solution, which includes a set of hardware components (a chipset with a processor, graphics, wireless modules, etc.), a set of drivers for other hardware components, and the assembly of Android, and even in most cases also a motherboard. For example, the Taiwanese company MediaTek has two clearly separated platform lines - one for smartphones (the indices start at “6”), the second for tablets (at “8”). If we compare the top solutions with 8 cores - MT6592 and MT8392 - then according to the specifications and the "numbers" they will be the same. But the first is intended for “smart phones”, the second - for “tablets”.
MT8392 seems like MT6592 twin, but there are differences between them.
The differences between them are as follows. MediaTek actively applies the concept of “complete platform solution”. That is, one in which the device manufacturer is offered not just a chipset and software, but also a reference design of the motherboard. So, the design of boards with chipsets for smartphones and tablets varies, and quite significantly. Smartphones are smaller than tablets, which means that the layout of the board should be more dense.
In addition, in most cases, tablets have more capacious batteries (for example, if an average smartphone has 2500 mAh, then an average tablet has from 4000 and more). However, users would like to charge them for the same couple of hours as in the case of “smart phones”. Therefore, the MediaTek MT8392 chipset is optimized for more powerful chargers - so that the tablet charges quickly, but without sacrificing battery life. This is especially important in the situation with tablet computers, since smartphones most often have removable batteries, but the “tablets” are built-in in 99.9% of cases.
Next come the differences in the set of drivers - and, above all, concerning the work with the screen. Smartphones typically use displays with a resolution of 2560x1440, 1920x1080 or, for example, 1280x720 pixels, that is, 16: 9 format. But in the tablets everything is a little different: 2560x1600, 1920x1200 and 1280x800. Therefore, the driver bundles that come with MediaTek MT6592 and MT8392 are different. There are, of course, “monsters who love perversions” - they are trying to make tablets on the MT6592, trying to take some of the drivers from the MT8392 package. Such devices work acceptable, but ... In this case, the user is completely insured against glitches.
Finally, the Android builds offered by MediaTek complete with MT6592 and MT8392 are also slightly different. For example, in the case of MT8392, the ability to display the entire interface, including the desktop, in both vertical and horizontal mode is implemented. Because tablets are usually exploited in both ways. The interface of the Settings section is also completely different - simply because the screens of tablet computers are larger (from 7 inches and more), and in their case it is logical to make this menu with two columns, and not with one, like with smartphones. There are a lot of such differences - it’s enough to twist the smartphone on the MT6592 and the tablet on the MT8392 in hands.
Design of the “Settings” section in the tablet (left) and in the smartphone
As far as I can tell, Qualcomm does not offer such a clear “separation”, and that is why small and relatively small players in the tablet market increasingly prefer MediaTek solutions. Just because with the decisions of the Taiwanese manufacturer is easier to work. And, as a result, finished products are faster and cheaper for the end user. My sources call the figure at 20-30% - that is how much lower the time spent on creating a tablet on the MediaTek hardware.
Of course, time costs can be compensated for by a human resource - read, by a huge development team; However, it is only in the grandees of the market - the same Samsung, as well as Sony and, say, HTC. But those who have neither the time nor the people do not, stop on the MediaTek chipsets. In addition to small manufacturers, those who may have enough resources are increasingly paying attention to MediaTek solutions - companies just can count money - Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, Alcatel. By the way, I’ve been using the Alcatel OneTouch Hero 8 D820 tablet on MediaTek MT8392 for two weeks already - an extremely nice and fast device. More about him - at another time.
Alcatel OneTouch Hero 8 D820
Such is the situation with the differences between chipsets for smartphones and tablets. During the study of this issue, I was once again convinced that in the field of high technologies everything is exactly the same as in life: things that look the same can turn out to be completely different. Yes, the individual components of the MT6592 and MT8392 are unified, but the “bundling” (primarily software) of each of these solutions has its own unique features. And it is this (“bundle”) that makes these chipsets most suitable for devices of a particular type.
PS I would like to thank Mikhail Chernyshov, director of business development for PocketBook smartphones, for detailed consultations in the process of preparing the material. Also, I thank Evgeny Kosmosov, a representative of the Russian brand of bb-mobile tablets.
However, by 2014, the first three manufacturers practically “retired”: as representatives of companies offering purely Chinese tablets under their brands told me more than once, they were bored with an unstable level of quality, soft software, high power consumption (which people, in a literal sense, regularly complained about users) and other “pitfalls”, which the Chinese engineers of Rockchip, Allwinner and Amlogic couldn’t understand.
As for Qualcomm, the answer to the question “why isn't Qualcomm after all?” Almost always sounds the same: “Expensive!”. In addition, this large American corporation has no desire to work with small device manufacturers. She needs birds of high flight - Sony, Samsung, LG and so on. Another point: tablet developers in informal conversations say that it’s quite difficult to work with Qualcomm - its chipsets are “sharpened”, first of all, for smartphones, and it’s not always possible to “re-optimize” them under the tablet. Of course, I became interested in: what does it mean to “re-optimize”? To answer this question, it was necessary to understand what the differences between platforms for smartphones and tablets are in principle. However, the comparative tables, widely presented in the same Wikipedia, did not give an answer to this question. If so, then the only way out is to turn to knowledgeable guys directly involved in the development of tablets. What was done.
')
To begin with, what is meant by the word "platform" only one chip in our time is fundamentally wrong. The tablet is a comprehensive solution, which includes a set of hardware components (a chipset with a processor, graphics, wireless modules, etc.), a set of drivers for other hardware components, and the assembly of Android, and even in most cases also a motherboard. For example, the Taiwanese company MediaTek has two clearly separated platform lines - one for smartphones (the indices start at “6”), the second for tablets (at “8”). If we compare the top solutions with 8 cores - MT6592 and MT8392 - then according to the specifications and the "numbers" they will be the same. But the first is intended for “smart phones”, the second - for “tablets”.
MT8392 seems like MT6592 twin, but there are differences between them.
The differences between them are as follows. MediaTek actively applies the concept of “complete platform solution”. That is, one in which the device manufacturer is offered not just a chipset and software, but also a reference design of the motherboard. So, the design of boards with chipsets for smartphones and tablets varies, and quite significantly. Smartphones are smaller than tablets, which means that the layout of the board should be more dense.
In addition, in most cases, tablets have more capacious batteries (for example, if an average smartphone has 2500 mAh, then an average tablet has from 4000 and more). However, users would like to charge them for the same couple of hours as in the case of “smart phones”. Therefore, the MediaTek MT8392 chipset is optimized for more powerful chargers - so that the tablet charges quickly, but without sacrificing battery life. This is especially important in the situation with tablet computers, since smartphones most often have removable batteries, but the “tablets” are built-in in 99.9% of cases.
Next come the differences in the set of drivers - and, above all, concerning the work with the screen. Smartphones typically use displays with a resolution of 2560x1440, 1920x1080 or, for example, 1280x720 pixels, that is, 16: 9 format. But in the tablets everything is a little different: 2560x1600, 1920x1200 and 1280x800. Therefore, the driver bundles that come with MediaTek MT6592 and MT8392 are different. There are, of course, “monsters who love perversions” - they are trying to make tablets on the MT6592, trying to take some of the drivers from the MT8392 package. Such devices work acceptable, but ... In this case, the user is completely insured against glitches.
Finally, the Android builds offered by MediaTek complete with MT6592 and MT8392 are also slightly different. For example, in the case of MT8392, the ability to display the entire interface, including the desktop, in both vertical and horizontal mode is implemented. Because tablets are usually exploited in both ways. The interface of the Settings section is also completely different - simply because the screens of tablet computers are larger (from 7 inches and more), and in their case it is logical to make this menu with two columns, and not with one, like with smartphones. There are a lot of such differences - it’s enough to twist the smartphone on the MT6592 and the tablet on the MT8392 in hands.
Design of the “Settings” section in the tablet (left) and in the smartphone
As far as I can tell, Qualcomm does not offer such a clear “separation”, and that is why small and relatively small players in the tablet market increasingly prefer MediaTek solutions. Just because with the decisions of the Taiwanese manufacturer is easier to work. And, as a result, finished products are faster and cheaper for the end user. My sources call the figure at 20-30% - that is how much lower the time spent on creating a tablet on the MediaTek hardware.
Of course, time costs can be compensated for by a human resource - read, by a huge development team; However, it is only in the grandees of the market - the same Samsung, as well as Sony and, say, HTC. But those who have neither the time nor the people do not, stop on the MediaTek chipsets. In addition to small manufacturers, those who may have enough resources are increasingly paying attention to MediaTek solutions - companies just can count money - Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, Alcatel. By the way, I’ve been using the Alcatel OneTouch Hero 8 D820 tablet on MediaTek MT8392 for two weeks already - an extremely nice and fast device. More about him - at another time.
Alcatel OneTouch Hero 8 D820
Such is the situation with the differences between chipsets for smartphones and tablets. During the study of this issue, I was once again convinced that in the field of high technologies everything is exactly the same as in life: things that look the same can turn out to be completely different. Yes, the individual components of the MT6592 and MT8392 are unified, but the “bundling” (primarily software) of each of these solutions has its own unique features. And it is this (“bundle”) that makes these chipsets most suitable for devices of a particular type.
PS I would like to thank Mikhail Chernyshov, director of business development for PocketBook smartphones, for detailed consultations in the process of preparing the material. Also, I thank Evgeny Kosmosov, a representative of the Russian brand of bb-mobile tablets.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/364241/
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