MediaTek announces Helio G96 and G88 chipsets with minimal upgrades

Helio G96 G88 announced HyperEngine 2.0 Lite Game technology gaming chipsets
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Since its inception in 2019, MediaTek’s Helio G series chipsets have been a popular choice in budget and lower-midrange smartphones. Yesterday, MediaTek announced two new silicons in this lineup—Helio G96 and Helio G88.

MediaTek Helio G96 Overview:

Here, the Helio G96 builds on the specs of last year’s Helio G95. It has the same core configuration with 2x Cortex-A76 and 6x Cortex-A55 CPU cores. Interestingly, MediaTek has downgraded the GPU from Mali G76 to Mali G57. The new GPU has half the core count of the G76.

On the other hand, the chipset supports LPDDR4X RAM @ 2133 MHz and UFS 2.2 storage. The latter is an upgrade over G95’s UFS 2.1.

Moving on, Helio G96 has support for up to 108MP cameras, which is gaining popularity in the mid-range segment. Other camera features include dual-camera bokeh capture, Camera Control Unit (CCU), Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS), and Rolling Shutter Compensation. Video recording capability is still capped at 4K/30fps.

Over on the display, it supports up to 120Hz refresh rate on an FHD+ panel. Other features include Cat 13 LTE connection and Bluetooth 5.2.

Helio G96, G95 Specifications:

G96 G95
Core Arrangement 2x Cortex-A76 + 6x Cortex-A55
Max. Clock Frequency 2.05GHz
GPU Mali G57 MC2 Mali G76 MC4
RAM LPDDR4X @ 2133 MHz
Storage UFS 2.2 UFS 2.1
Display 120Hz @ FHD+ 90Hz @ FHD+
Camera Up to 108MP Up to 64MP
Video Recording Up to 4K/30fps
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth v5.2 v5.0

MediaTek Helio G88 Overview:

Moving on, the Helio G88 retains the CPU core configuration of its predecessor (Helio G85) as well. It features 2x Cortex-A75 and 6x Cortex-A55 cores. The Mali G52 MC2 is also left untouched.

The only notable difference lies in the display and camera departments. This processor supports up to 64MP cameras—up from 48MP on the G85. Similarly, Helio G88-powered phone will support a 90Hz refresh rate on an FHD+ panel, which is not possible on G85.

Helio G88, G85 Specifications:

G88 G85
Core Arrangement 2x Cortex-A75 + 6x Cortex-A55
Max. Clock Frequency 2.0GHz
GPU Mali G52 MC2
RAM LPDDR4X @ 1800 MHz
Storage eMMC 5.1
Display 90Hz @ FHD+ 90Hz @ HD+
Camera Up to 64MP Up to 48MP
Video Recording Up to 1080p/30fps
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth v5.0

Both MediaTek Helio G96 and Helio G88 support HyperEngine 2.0 Lite game technologies. However, the company has not detailed what’s new here.

  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite.