MediaTek has announced two new 64-bit quad-core chipsets designed specifically for mid-range tablets. The announcement was made at the Hong Kong Electronics fair. Both ARM based SOCs are built on the latest ARMv8 architecture, dubbed MT8163 and MT8735. The SOCs are intended to be used with the latest Android Iteration Lollipop 5.1.
MediaTek MT8163: Performance on a Budget
The cost-effective MediaTek MT8163 is slated to be powerful enough to drive 1080p displays at 60Hz and even upto 120Hz if required. It is assumed that the MT8735 is capable to do the same or outperform the cheaper variant but specifics have not been mentioned at the announcement. Both SOCs include FM Radio support, dual-band Wifi at 2.4GHz and 5GHz (though Wifi ac might not be supported to keep the costs down), they also come with Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS support.
MediaTek MT8735: The Higher End Option
The MT8735 comes with additional features and supports the Russian GLONASS and Chinese Beidou alongside the aforementioned GPS. It also includes support of 6 mode 4G LTE networks and is compatible with both FDD and TDD networks. The SOC also has camera features such as PIP (Picture-in-Picture) and VIV (Video-in-Video) advertised for the MT8735.
Availability:
According to the information at the Hong Kong event, first tablets running the latest chipsets should be out this month. As is is common with MediaTek chipsets, the tablets powered by these chipsets will first appear in various Asian markets.
MediaTek poses a great threat to Qualcomm with its cheaper and battery efficient chipsets and these new ones will only strengthen the MediaTek’s control in the region. According to reports, MT8163 will be made available to manufacturers for just $5 making it a direct competitor to both SD410 and Intel processors part of the low and mid-range tablet solutions.
But in pakistan you will be only able to find tablets powered by these cpu’s next year.