Which is better MediaTek Helio G90T vs Snapdragon 730G? Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro vs Realme X2 benchmarked

MediaTek announced the Helio G90T a few months ago and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro is the first and only phone to use this chipset.

MediaTek is not particularly well known for their high-performance chipsets so this launch has come as a bit of a surprise with the specification looking like it should provide better overall performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G.

With the recent launch of the Realme X2, I now have both phones so I have been able to benchmark them thoroughly to see which is best.

MediaTek Helio G90T vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Specs Comparison

	Snapdragon 765G	Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G	MediaTek Helio G90T
CPU	1x Kryo 475 Prime (CA76) @ 2.3GHz (non-G) @ 2.4GHz (765G) 1x Kryo 475 Gold (CA76) @ 2.2GHz 6x Kryo 475 Silver (CA55) @ 1.8GHz	2 x Kryo 470 Gold – Cortex A76 Clock frequency: Up to 2.2 GHz 6 x Kryo 470 Silver – Cortex A55 Clock frequency: Up to 1.8 GHz) 8 nm, 64 bit	2x ARM Cortex-A76 up to 2.05GHz 6X ARM Cortex-A55 up to 2GHz 12 nm, 64 bit
GPU	Adreno 620 +20% perf (non-G) +38% perf (765G)	Adreno 618	Mali G76 3EEMC4 800 MHz
AI	Hexagon 696 HVX + Tensor 5.4TOPS AI (Total CPU+GPU+HVX+Tensor)	Hexagon 688 HVX + Tensor
Memory	2x 16-bit CH @ 2133MHz LPDDR4X / 17.0GB/s	2x 16-bit CH @ 1866MHz LPDDR4X 14.9GB/s
Camera	Dual 14-bit Spectra 355 ISP 1x 192MP or 36MP with ZSL or 2x 22MP with ZSL	Up to 192 MP single camera Up to 22 MP dual cameras	Up to 24 + 16 MP dual cameras Up to 64 MP single camera
Video features	2160p30, 1080p120 H.264 & H.265 10-bit HDR pipelines	Up to 4K Ultra HD at 30 fps (video recording) Up to 4K Ultra HD (video playback)	Up to 4K Ultra HD at 30 fps
Display		Up to Quad HD 3360 x 1440 pixels	Up to Full HD+
Connectivity		Wi-Fi 5. Bluetooth 5.0 NFC Cellular Modem: Snapdragon X15 LTE, up to 800 Mbps, upload speed up to 150 Mbps	Wi-Fi 5 Bluetooth 5.0 Cellular Modem: LTE Cat.12 Download,  Cat.13  Upload
Memory		LPDDR4X	Up to 10 GB, dual-channel LPDDR4X at 2133 MHz eMMC 5.1 / UFS 2.1 internal storage
Location		GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, SBAS	GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
Battery Charging		Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+	Fast battery charging

Antutu Benchmarks

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Antutu has been upgraded to v8 on the Play Store so this is what I used for the benchmarks, it is therefore different that results that may have been posted a few weeks ago.

The phones score:

	Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro	Realme X2
Total	281295	258311
CPU	98263	98328
GPU	79755	67574
MEM	57285	47945
UX	45992	44464

It probably comes as no surprise that the CPU score is similar, the Qualcomm has a higher clocks primary core but lower for the efficient cores, the Meditek does things the other way around.

Things are very different when you move to the GPU, the Mali G76 comfortably outperforms the Adreno 618 on the Qualcomm.

Similarily the memory is clocked higher on the MediaTek Helio G90T which allows it to pull ahead for the memory test.

The MediaTek is then able to score slightly above with the UX test.

Antuntu v8 test results from recent reviews

The results below are from recent reviews carried out by myself. The Black Shark 2 is currently having issues loading Antuntu so I have only used its total score, but it gives you a good idea of how each chipset performs.

	Chipset	Total	CPU	GPU	MEM	UX
OnePlus 7T	Snapdragon 855+	487050	144155	199255	70043	73597
Realme X2 Pro	Snapdragon 855+	473329	142596	190964	799966	59803
Black Shark	Snapdragon 855	442971
Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G	Snapdragon 855	429859	144036	172351	56044	57428
Xiaomi Redmi K30 5G (Leaked score)	Snapdragon 765G	302847	98651	87564	57985	58647
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro	Mediatek Helio G90T	281295	98263	79755	57285	45992
Realme X2	Snapdragon 730G	258311	98328	67574	47945	44464
Realme 5 Pro	Snapdragon 712	216501	73459	61872	42013	39157
Honor 9X	Kirin 710F	172710	64742	21250	50747	35971
Realme 5	Snapdragon 665	167866	71157	33489	36568	26652

3DMark Benchmarks

With the GPU result from Antutu, you might think the MediaTek Helio G90T in the Redmi Note 8 Pro would storm ahead, but not so. Things are much closer with each phone doing better in a separate result.

The MediaTek Helio G90T scores 2377 in Sling Shot Extreme OpenGL with a graphics score of 2209 and a physics score of 3241.

Then in Sling Shot Extreme Vulcan, it gets a total of 2454 with a graphics score of 2379 and physics of 2760.

For the Realme X2 using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G, for Sling Shot Extreme OpenGL it scores a total of 2405 with graphics at 2248 than the physics at 3181.

Then in Sling Shot Extreme Vulcan, it gets a total of 2270 with a graphics score of 2162 and physics of 2751.

In terms of overall points, the MediaTek Helio G90T has the overall lead, but in real-world the difference is so small I doubt it would be noticeable.

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Geekbench Benchmarks

In Geekbench 5 the MediaTek Helio G90T gets 504 for the single-core and 1641 for multi-core.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G gets 546 for the single-core and 1729 for multi-core.

The higher clocked Kryo 470 Gold cores of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G clearly come into play here.

Geekbench 5 results for reviews

	Chipset	Single-Core	Multi-Core
Realme X2 Pro	Snapdragon 855+	622	2660
Black Shark	Snapdragon 855	535	2059
Realme X2	Snapdragon 730G	546	1729
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro	Mediatek Helio G90T	504	1641
Realme 5 Pro	Snapdragon 712	321	1481
Honor 9X	Kirin 710F	326	1346
Realme 5	Snapdragon 665	316	1363

AI Benchmarks

Not as important as the other benchmarks, but companies are determined to highlight how good the AI on their devices is.

The MediaTek Helio G90T comes out with a surprise result of 13232 which is more than double the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G which only gets 6372.

This is inconsistent with the AI Benchmarks chart, and there are a few discrepancies with it overall, which could indicate that this benchmark may not be the best representation of AI performance.

For example, the Oppo Reno Z with a Mediatek Helio P90 scores higher than some SD855 phones, and higher than the OnePlus 7T. The Xiaomi Redmi K20 with Snapdragon 730 scores higher than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro with the Mediatek Helio G90T. So the ranking table is a complete mess of questionable results.

Androbench

Not completely relevant for a chipset comparison, Androbench tests storage speeds, but I have done it anyway.

	Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro	Realme X2
Seq Rd	524	504
Seq Wr	187	190
Rnd Rd	38549	34073
Rnd Wr	39972	35734

PCMark

Finally, for PCMark Work 2.0, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro receives a score of 10148

Overall

The results won’t necessarily be the same across different phones from other brands, software optimisation will have an effect plus the specification differences with RAM etc.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro with the MediaTek Helio G90T is the clear overall winner in terms of performance. How much of a difference this makes in the real world is another question. I doubt it is noticeable if I am honest, and I haven’t noticed any differences between the two yet.

It is worth noting that the MediaTek Helio G90T uses the 12nm fabrication process which will make it far less power efficient than the Snapdragon 730G. However, in the case of this phone, you get a 4500mAh battery which I suspect will counter any problems it causes.