MediaTek brings new Helio P70 for mid-range devices

MediaTek has announced the Helio P70 system-on-chip (SoC) with an enhanced AI engine combined with CPU and GPU upgrades for more powerful AI processing. Helio P70 also comes with upgraded imaging and camera support, a gaming performance boost and advanced connectivity features.

Built with TSMC’s 12nm FinFET technology, the Helio P70 features a multi-core APU operating at up to 525MHz for fast and efficient edge-AI processing. To maximise the performance of demanding AI applications, the chipset packs four ARM Cortex-A73 2.1GHz processors and four ARM Cortex-A53 2.0GHz processors in an octa-core big.LITTLE configuration. For an additional power boost, the chipset has an improved ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU operating at up to 900 MHz, which provides a 13 per cent performance improvement compared to the Helio P60.

Helio P70’s enhanced AI engine delivers a 10 to 30 per cent AI processing boost compared to the Helio P60. MediaTek’s AI  video encoder enhances video call quality even when connection bandwidth is limited. It can be used for video calls including Skype calls, Facebook video calls and Youtube live video streaming.

The Helio P70 is built on MediaTek’s NeuroPilot platform, which supports common AI frameworks, including TensorFlow, TF Lite, Caffe, Caffe2 and custom third-party offerings. The Helio P70 GPU enhancements also deliver a better overall gaming experience. It’s optimised to reduce frame-rate jitter and improve latency for touch controls and display visuals for a smooth, fluid gaming experience.

The P70 supports a variety of AI-infused photo and video experiences including real-time beautification, scene detection and artificial reality (AR) capabilities. The chipset features improved deep-learning facial detection with up to 90 per cent accuracy. With support for a super-sized 32MP single camera or 24+16MP dual cameras, the chipset gives device makers more design flexibility. Its three ISPs are tuned to provide significant power savings, reducing consumption by 18 per cent compared to previous Helio generation dual-camera setups.

Lastly, the Helio P70 comes with a 4G LTE modem and 300MBit/s of download performance. Dual 4G VoLTE support provides a seamless user experience across two different SIMs for higher quality calls and faster connection times. The Helio P70 also features MediaTek’s smart antenna technology, which automatically uses the best antenna combination to sustain signal quality.

The Helio P70 is in volume production now and is expected to be available in consumer devices by November of this year.