Huawei and the HiSilicon chip developers belonging to the group have a 7 nm SoC in their range with the Kirin 990, which is only available in Germany in comparatively small numbers with the Mate 30 Pro. Benchmarks attest to the processor's higher GPU performance than its predecessor.
HiSilicon's Kirin 990 is offered in two versions: the Kirin 990 tested here with an integrated LTE modem, which is produced at TSMC using the N7 process, and the Kirin 990 5G with Balong 5000 modem from modern N7 + production. In the 5G version, the chip also has a slightly higher clock rate for two of the four Cortex-A76 and for the Cortex-A55. The following table shows the current SoCs from Qualcomm, Samsung and HiSilicon.
Kirin 990 is available in the Mate 30 Pro
The Kirin 990 (5G) had its premiere last year in the Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro. Due to the lack of Google services, the smartphone was initially sold in Germany, after a first test sale in November in Spain, the smartphone finally made it to Germany in December. Instead of Google Mobile Services (GMS), the Huawei Mobile Servies (HMS) with its own AppGallery are preinstalled as a store for Android apps.
CPU relies on well-known architecture
The rather moderate increase in CPU clock rates compared to the Kirin 980 when the 7-nm production was adopted for higher, but not blatantly better measurement results in the CPU benchmarks. Two of the Cortex-A76 have got 260 MHz more clock, the other two Cortex-A76 have an increase of 170 MHz. The four Cortex-A55 are 60 MHz more than the Kirin 980. In the Kirin 990 5G HiSilicon deploys larger guns with 260 MHz, 440 MHz and 150 MHz. The higher clock speeds are also possible thanks to TSMC's N7 + production including EUV lithography.
Geekbench 5 – single core total
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Geekbench 5 – single-core crypto
Unit: points
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Geekbench 5 – single core integer
Unit: points
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Geekbench 5 – single-core floating point
Unit: points
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Geekbench 5 – multi-core total
Unit: points
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Geekbench 5 – multi-core crypto
Unit: points
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Geekbench 5 – multi-core integer
Unit: points
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Geekbench 5 – multi-core floating point
Unit: points
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Geekbench 5 – Compute volcano
Unit: points
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Geekbench 5 – Compute OpenCL
Unit: points
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
PCMark Work 2.0
Unit: points
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 855 (OnePlus 7 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (Pixel 3 XL)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 855 (ZenFone 6)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Exynos 9820 (Galaxy S10 +)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
PCMark Computer Vision
Unit: points
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Snapdragon 845 (Pixel 3 XL)
Snapdragon 855 (OnePlus 7 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (ZenFone 6)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Exynos 9820 (Galaxy S10 +)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
SunSpider 1.0.2
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Exynos 9820 (Galaxy S10 +)
Snapdragon 855 (OnePlus 7 Pro)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 855 (ZenFone 6)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 845 (Pixel 3 XL)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Google Octane 2.0
Unit: points
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 855 (OnePlus 7 Pro)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 855 (ZenFone 6)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Exynos 9820 (Galaxy S10 +)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 845 (Pixel 3 XL)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
Mali-G76 MP16 is wider and clocks lower
The differences to the Kirin 980 in GPU performance are clearer. Because where the CPU uses a familiar design with only higher clock speeds, the GPU uses 60 percent more computing units. The Mali-G76 MP10 has replaced HiSilicon with the much wider Mali-G76 MP16 and has reduced the maximum clock from 720 MHz to 600 MHz in order to maintain efficiency.
GFXBench Manhattan 1080p Offscreen OpenGL ES 3.0
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 855 (OnePlus 7 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (ZenFone 6)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Exynos 9820 (Galaxy S10 +)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 845 (Pixel 3 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
GFXBench T-Rex 1080p Offscreen OpenGL ES 2.0
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Exynos 9820 (Galaxy S10 +)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Snapdragon 855 (OnePlus 7 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (ZenFone 6)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (Pixel 3 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
3DMark Sling Shot Unlimited OpenGL ES 3.0
Unit: points
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 855 (OnePlus 7 Pro)
Snapdragon 855 (ZenFone 6)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 845 (Pixel 3 XL)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Exynos 9820 (Galaxy S10 +)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited OpenGL ES 2.0
Unit: points
A13 Bionic (iPhone 11 Pro Max)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD) (PM)
Snapdragon 865 (QRD)
Snapdragon 855 (Pixel 4 XL)
A12 Bionic (iPhone XS Max)
Snapdragon 855+ (OnePlus 7T)
Snapdragon 845 (OnePlus 6T)
Snapdragon 845 (Pixel 3 XL)
Snapdragon 855 (ZenFone 6)
Snapdragon 855 (OnePlus 7 Pro)
Exynos 9820 (Galaxy S10 +)
Exynos 9825 (Galaxy Note 10+)
Kirin 990 (Mate 30 Pro)
Kirin 980 (Huawei P30 Pro)
Snapdragon 670 (Pixel 3a)
In GFXBench using the Vulkan API, the performance of the Mali-G76 MP16 is over 30 percent higher than with the Mali-G76 MP10, with OpenGL ES 3.1 it is up to 23 percent, with OpenGL ES 3.0 32 percent and when using the older OpenGL ES 2.0 still 15 percent. The distances are larger in 3DMark.
Mate 30 Pro fluctuates under constant load
The Kirin 990 loses the direct comparison with the latest models from Qualcomm and Apple, however, the SoC also weakens with continuously retrieved performance – at least installed in the Mate 30 Pro. Here, under continuous load, there are significant fluctuations in performance from the 7th round, which cannot be determined by the competition.
The next smartphone expected with HiSilicon Kirin 990 is the P40 Pro, which will be presented in Paris at the end of March and is said to have a total of seven cameras.
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