Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 vs Snapdragon 675 vs Helio P70 Detailed Comparison

Qualcomm has been predominantly dominating the market for android phones mainly because of its wide range of offering across different budget segments. They have refined their processor with every passing year and now they challenge the very likes of the A series of the processor from Apple. Now, that’s some saying. On the other hand, MediaTek was nowhere near the vicinity of Qualcomm. However, MediaTek believes to change this with the introduction of the Helio P series.

To be very specific it’s the Helio P70 that holds a major threat to not only the Snapdragon 660 which is a tried and tested processor but also to the Snapdragon 675. Not to mention it also gives this two a run for its money, Thus, we come to the 3-way lumberjack for today towing the Snapdragon 660 vs Snapdragon 675 vs Helio P70 head-on with one another.

We will be defining the features and characteristics of each of these processors and compare them on the basis on CPU and GPU performance, camera, audio, and connectivity.

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 660

To kick things off we first have the Snapdragon 660. The 660 is currently the 2^nd most powerful processor in the 600 series falling behind the 675. The 660 comes equipped with the very powerful Artificial Intelligence Engine by Qualcomm. It also happens to be the 1^st processor in the 600 series to feature the Hexagon Vector which is basically used for high-level image processing. It does not just do image processing right but it also supports on-device artificial intelligence. The 660 also brings with itself up to 30% better graphics performance than the prior generation.

The SD660 is based on Snapdragon’s Kryp 260 CPU. This is a combination of 4 Cortex-A53 and 4 Cortex-A73 processor clocked at 1.8 GHz with maximum turbo boost till 2.2 GHz for short periods. Not only this but the 660 also improves on the network connectivity by improving 2 times in cellular LTE and WIFI download speeds too. Phones like Redmi Note 7, Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2, Realme 2 Pro are powered by Snapdragon 660.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 675

Our 2^nd competitor for this comparison is the Snapdragon 675, which sits right above the 660. The Snapdragon 675 is the only 600 series processor based on the latest Kryo 460 CPU. This is basically a combination of 6 Cortex-A55 and 2 Cortex-A76. The SD675 is also like the SD660 clocked at 2.0 GHz. This makes it the most powerful processor of the 600 series, period.

Now wait a minute the 675 goes up to only 2.0 GHz, so how is the 675 more powerful you ask? Read on to find out when we compare the 2 processors in the CPU section down below. Not only this but the 675 also brings with itself the monstrous Adreno 612 from 600 series of GPU.

The Snapdragon 675 comes with the Qualcomm Spectra 250L ISP with this 480fps HD slow-mo for the first time is made possible in the processor of this price segment. The spectra 250L ISP also enables phones with a Snapdragon 675 in it to do a 5X optical zoom too.

Redmi Note 7 Pro is one of the first phones to feature this powerful Snapdragon 675.

MediaTek Helio P70

We finally come to our last contender for the day. The Helio P70 is all about the peak usage of AI. The P70 packs a punch by adding an enhanced APU or Artificial Intelligence Processing Unit. It also includes a power mode for a performance boost in gaming.

The Helio P70 is an 8-core beast boasting 4 low powered A-53 cores for efficiency and 4 high powered A-73 cores. The Helio P70 simply delivers. It also comes with MediaTek CorePilot 4.0 technology what it basically does is this that it monitors the processes in the background delivering absolutely the best performance.

The NPU or Neural Processing Unit of the processor is also 30% more powerful than its prior generation i.e. the Helio P60. This basically allows the P70 to identify real-time human pose detection for enhanced picture quality and also faster album classification.

MediaTek P70 also found Realme as its first takers and we saw the processor appearing in Realme U1 and Realme 3 which are under 10k smartphones. Oppo F11 Pro also comes with Helio P70 but it is priced around 25k in India.

Snapdragon 660 vs Snapdragon 675 and MediaTek Helios P70 Comparison

Before going into the details, let's take a look at the specifications comparison table of Snapdragon 660 vs Snapdragon 675 vs Helios P70

Now, to give you better insight, we have 6 point by point comparison to find out which is the best processor among the SD660 vs SD675 vs Helios P70 which are put into the scanner.

Performance CPU Comparison

First, let’s get the specs out the way for all the 3 contenders.

Beginning with the Snapdragon 660. We find a 14nm manufactured Kryo 260 based processor here. The Kryo 260 divides the 660 into 4 Kryo gold cores and 4 Kryo silver cores. Which basically converts to 4 low power efficient A-53 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz. and 4 high powered A-73 cores clocked at 2.2 GHz. This is great for day to day multitasking and performance is no slouch unless you have too many apps running in the background.

As the 660 is based on the 14nm manufacturing process the battery life is not going to be as good as the 12nm P70 or the 11nm Snapdragon 660.

This brings us to the Helio P70 which is based on the 12nm manufacturing process. The P70 is a balanced breakfast. Based on the same cores from the 660 the P70 runs way more efficiently when compared to the 660. It has deep AI integration to look over the CPU operating temperature with the prior mentioned MediaTek CorePilot 4.0.

Not just this but due to the comparatively small footprint at 12nm the P70 is able to run more efficiently and have a 30% performance edge over its prior generation. Multitasking much like the 660 will not be a problem and again due to the MediaTek CorePilot, 4.0 performance priority will be given to the apps that require more power. Thus, giving you better performance than the 660.

Finally, we come to the Snapdragon 675. This is 2 words is the ‘real animal’. The 675 is basically the best processor amongst the 3. The 675 is based on a mere 11nm manufacturing process and is the only 600 series processor to feature the Kryo 460 architecture. With a total clock speed of 2.0 GHz, you must be questioning how is the best as both the prior mentioned processors are faster right? Well, the answer is the Kryo 460 on the 675 brings 6 Cortex-A55 and 2 Cortex-A76 giving the 675 an edge that none of its 2 competitors even at a higher clock speed can’t offer. This is due to the use of the A-76 and A-55 cores and great optimization. In terms of the CPU comparison

CPU comparison: Snapdragon 675 > Helio P70 > Snapdragon 660

Performance GPU Comparison

Coming to the GPU side of things the order is pretty much the same.

The Snapdragon 675 simply reigns winner with the introduction of the 600 series of the Adreno line up. The 675 is equipped with the powerful Adreno 612. By this, we don’t mean that the other 2 versus the Adreno 512 on the Snapdragon 660 and the Mali-G72 MP3 on the P70 are bad GPU. But when comparing with the Adreno 612 the later 2 can simply not keep up.

The Adreno 512 on the Snapdragon 660 is now getting a tad old. But that does not mean that it is bad by any chance. Any modern-day title like PUBG can be played easily as long as the settings are kept between low to medium.

The only reason the Mali-G72 MP3 GPU on the P70 is slightly better than the Adreno 512 as it is clocked at 900MHz which is 13% better than the previous generation. Also, the P70’s Mali-G72 MP3 is slightly tweaked to give a 15% boost over games like PUBG and KOG. The Adreno 612 allows games like PUBG to be played at medium to high settings without any issues. Not only does it offer for high-end gaming experience but also great image processing while capturing photos too.

GPU Comparison:  Snapdragon 675 >  Helio P70 > Snapdragon 660

Camera Comparison

Things start to rearrange when we come to the camera now.

The P70 takes the trophy in this round by a very thin margin. This is because this is the only processor in today's competition to offer HDR photos to be taken in RAW. Not just this but the P70 supports up to dual 24+16MP cameras or a single 32 MP camera delivering 48MP snapshot. This again is achieved by the AI integration that the P70 has.  In total thep70 supports dual cameras with a combination of 24+16 MP or 32 MP single camera. Nor again due to the AI integration that the P 70 comes with the 32 MP Snap that it takes can be bumped up to 48 MP thanks to the HDR driven hardware that the P70. Not only this but the high-resolution engine of the P70 allows it to deliver a 3X boost in depth mapping for real-time bokeh. The seamless integration of the APU and the front-facing camera allows for accelerated facial detection. The overall image coming from the P70 delivers great samples provided good lens are used for the phone.

Coming to the Snapdragon 660 we have dual 14-bit Qualcomm spectra 160 ISP which allows phones with 660 in it to capture up to 25MP snaps with zero shutter lag. The 160 ISP also allows for true-to-life colors processing. Apart from this, the 660 supports features like slow motion video recording at 720p at 240fpS. When tuned properly the SD660 is also capable of recording 1080p video at up to a whopping 120 fps. Other camera features include 4K UHD recording at 30fps and also support for popular codec like H.265, H.264 and V, 8 and VP9.

Finally, we come to the Snapdragon 675. The SD675 is only slightly better than the 660. Supporting again a 14-bit ISP or Image Signal Processor. However, this is also happening to be the only processor on the list to support Accelerated EIS or Accelerated Electronic Image Stabilization. What does that mean? This basically converts to those stable videos that is only possible through some sort of OIS or EIS. Fortunately, the 675 delivers all the other features mentioned in the Snapdragon 660.

So, who reigns champion in this round?

If shooting photos are the only thing you are looking for the P70 is a clear winner as it offers way more features and the processing for the price. However, if you’re going to shoot a lot of videos then the 675 is the way to go. In the camera comparison of SD675 vs SD660 vs Helios P70, the ranking stands as follows

Camera Comparison:  Helio P70 >  Snapdragon 675 >  Snapdragon 660

Audio Comparison

To be very clear this is one area that the 2 snapdragon processors just win by leaps and bounds.

The Snapdragon 660 is going to support all of the standard audio technologies like aptX classic and aptX HD. This basically means is that you are going to get decent performance from the processor. The Snapdragon 675 ups the game by miles as in addition to the technology formats that is supported by the 660, it also supports aptX adaptive and stereo Plus Technology too. Not only this but the 675 can also support inbuilt speaker output up to 4W.

This is one area where the P70 lacks behind as no major technology is provided for supporting Hi-Fi sound technology. Apart from this MediaTek has also not revealed much on the audio front.

Audio Comparison: Snapdragon 675 >  Snapdragon 660 > Helio P70.

Connectivity (Modem) Comparison:

We finally come to one of the most important aspects of this 3-way lumberjack. The connectivity. This is again piece of cake for the 2 snapdragon processors. How you would ask?

That’s due to the introduction of the powerful Snapdragon X12 LTE modem into both of these processors. The X12 LTE modem gives each of the Snapdragon 660 and the 675 up to 600 Mbps of download speed and up to 150 Mbps of upload speeds. Not only this but both the processors support Dual SIM dual VoLTE enabling both the SIM cards on the phones with not only the best speeds but with also the best signal strength and call clarity too.

The P70 however, takes a major hit in connectivity performance as it offers only up to a 300 Mbps download speed. This is not bad by any means but it definitely falls short of the offering from the Qualcomm counterpart. However, the P70 does support dual 4G with Dual VoLTE on both the SIM cards.

Things only get worse with the P70 as it only offers a much older Bluetooth 4.2 with no support for NFC. On the other hand, the Snapdragon 660 and the 675 goes miles ahead and supports not only Bluetooth 5.0 but NFC for too.

Connectivity comparison: Snapdragon 675 =  Snapdragon 660 > Helio P70

Snapdragon 660 vs Snapdragon 675 vs Helios P70 Comparison Summary

Wrapping everything up we can say that the Snapdragon 675 is definitely the clear winner when it comes to performance, graphics, connectivity and extra features. It simply knocks the other 2 out of the water. However, it is not to be forgotten that more performance comes at the cost of more money that is where the 675 falls as the 660 is found to be present in phones in around the sub 12K mark whereas the 675 is seen in phones only above the 15K segment.

This is where the P70 steals the show as it is the best bang for the buck in the entire segment. The P70 is seen to be present in phones as low as rupees 9000 i.e. the Realme 3. This just becomes undeniably good of a deal when we consider the low price point. To an extent,  the compromises that he P70 makes is actually forgivable. Thus, truly speaking the P70 in a way is the winner for today.

But this being said, by no means is the 660 a bad processor it is just this that when we compare it with the P70 and observe the price at which it comes we simply can’t truly recommend the 660 over the P70. In the end, we’d like to say that if performance and features are must on your list, then go for the Snapdragon 675. If your low on budget but don’t wanna compromise on performance, go for the Helio P70.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5