Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

MediaTek says the new Helio X20 deca-core chip is too clever to overheat

By

MediaTek
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Processor manufacturer MediaTek’s new Helio X20 chip is getting plenty of attention ahead of its forthcoming debut, but not in the way the company would really want. Rumors spread the chip was prone to overheating, and some smartphone firms had dropped plans to use it, something MediaTek went on to deny.

Updated 0n 02-04-2016 by Andy Boxall: Added in MediaTek’s denial of any problems

Following the overheating rumors, MediaTek wrote on the Weibo social network that the Helio X20 is working perfectly, and it has some clever technology inside that stops overheating becoming an issue. Apparently, if the chip detects it’s getting too hot, it turns off two cores and drops down to eight. If this sounds like a workaround, MediaTek’s quick to clarifies this is a fail-safe system that’s unlikely to be used.

Related

A few days earlier, several major smartphone manufacturers were rumored to have canceled plans for future devices powered by the MediaTek Helio X20 processor, due to concerns regarding the chip overheating. The word spread from the Weibo social network, and the companies named were HTC, Lenovo, and Xiaomi. If that sounds familiar, it’s eerily similar to the situation faced by Qualcomm and the ill-fated Snapdragon 810. The apparent cancellation is due to manufacturers inability to optimize the chip to overcome excessive generation of heat.

MediaTek’s Helio X20 is shaping up to be a mobile processing powerhouse. The deca-core chip has already been announced, and can run at a speedy 2.5GHz while consuming 30-percent less power than the Helio X10, seen in phones including the HTC One X9 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2. The X20 cleverly uses a “three gear” tri-cluster set up, where only selected cores are active depending on the tasks running. This improves on the “two gear” system seen on octa-core chips.

HTC uses MediaTek chips in phones often destined for markets other than the U.S., where it competes with Xiaomi and Lenovo, among others. Rumors surrounding the HTC Perfume/M20 have mentioned there may be two versions, one with a Snapdragon chip, and the other a MediaTek chip. HTC will certainly be wary of any heat-related issues, having stuffed the revised Snapdragon 810 inside the One M9, only to find it still didn’t cure the problem entirely.

Any problems faced by the MediaTek Helio X20 are rumor for now. MediaTek says mass production is already underway, and the first devices are coming very soon. Zopo Mobile, a Chinese brand, has been teasing the arrival of its Speed 8 phone for a while, for example, and it may be announced at MWC at the end of February.

Article originally published on 02-02-2016

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Andy Boxall
Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
MediaTek’s new Kompanio 1300T chip puts 5G on tablets, not phones
mediatek 5g plans office

MediaTek has announced the Kompanio 1300T processor, which will add 5G connectivity to Android tablets later this year, along with plenty of power for video and gaming. The chip is the latest in its Kompanio processor range, which has so far mostly been used in Chromebooks. While we associate 5G connectivity with smartphones, the fast data connection is becoming more common on tablets too. Samsung recently announced the Galaxy Tab S7 FE with 5G, and you can get an Apple iPad Pro with 5G, while Huawei was one of the first to show a 5G tablet with the MatePad Pro in 2019.

The Kompanio 1300T is an octa-core chip is made up of ARM Cortex A78 and Cortex A55 cores, plus a nine-core ARM Mali G77 MC9 graphics processing unit (GPU), and is built using a 6nm process. It’s capable of supporting screens with an up to 2.5K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ certification, and dual-monitor output. Cameras up to 108-megapixels are supported, along with 4K HDR video recording at 60fps.

Read more
HMD Global wants you to love, trust, and keep the Nokia X20, but will you?
hmd global nokia x20 hands on features price photos release date hand back

HMD Global has revamped the Nokia smartphone line-up for 2021 and introduced six models in the brand new C, G, and X series. Digital Trends was given the opportunity to take a look at one of the first Nokia X20 phones, the new top-of-the-line phone, just before the announcement.

The X series, along with the other new phones, have been made to embody HMD Global's new mission of making devices you trust, love, and want to keep. Sounds pretty standard when looked at simply, but the company is going about reaching its goal in an unusual way -- it's using good value and longevity through software and support, rather than just a spec sheet filled with big numbers. Our first look examines whether it's likely to succeed.

Read more
MediaTek heralds ‘new era’ of 5G with high-spec Dimensity 800 chip
MediaTek

MediaTek firmly believes the demand for 5G smartphones will begin in earnest during 2020, particularly for less expensive models, and following the announcement of its flagship Dimensity 1000 5G processor for phones, it has now come along with the Dimensity 800, a midrange chip. Except, MediaTek needs a new dictionary because it’s not very midrange at all.

The Dimensity 800 is a competitor to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 700 series, says MediaTek; but it has blurred the line between its flagship, high-end Dimensity 1000 processor and the mid-range chip so much, it’s difficult to separate them.

Read more