MediaTek today announced the MediaTek Helio P20 system-on-chip, an ultra-power saving SoC and the latest addition to its top-tier MediaTek Helio family of mobile processors. The company said the new chip offers significant improvements in smartphone battery life, performance and power consumption compared with MediaTek’s earlier Helio P10, released last year.

The P20 chipset is manufactured using 16nm process technology, and is the first SoC to support low power double data rate random access memory – LPDDR4X. In performance improvements, the SoC features upgraded CPU and GPU capabilities with its True Octa-Core architecture clocked up to 2.3GHz, taking advantage of ARM Cortex A53 cores. The new Mali T880 graphics unit is clocked at 900MHz, perfect for demanding video and gaming apps, and is currently the highest end GPU offered by ARM.

In addition, the MediaTek Helio P20 is equipped with the company's latest modem technology supporting WorldMode LTE Cat.6 and 2x20 carrier aggregation at 300/50Mbps data speeds. The SoC supports global Dual-SIM Dual Standby for connectivity wherever a user goes. For regions where GSM is no longer available, the SoC will have simultaneous standby on WCDMA network. Additionally, MediaTek Helio P20 supports LTE multimedia broadcast and multicast service. This allows mobile devices to receive HD video content over LTE.

For improved processing power and optimum battery performance, MediaTek Helio P20 integrates LPDDR4X, providing 70 percent more bandwidth than the LPDDR3 and 50 percent power savings by lowering supply voltage to 0.6v.

Another P20 highlight is the MediaTek Imagiq Image Signal Processor (ISP), which leverages the same design from MediaTek Helio X20, to improve camera ease-of-use and picture and video quality. MediaTek Imagiq's features include:

• 12bit Dual ISP supports Bayer and Mono sensors – elevates picture quality by reducing noise and capturing three times more light than conventional Bayer + Bayer sensors
• Dual phase-detection autofocus – achieves real-time auto focus that is four times faster than traditional autofocus systems
• 3A HW engine upgrades for more detailed photographs
• Multi-scale temporal de-noising technologies – renders videos and photography more accurately, with less noise, even in low light

The company said the Helio family now has more than 100 design wins, and a major Japanese smartphone brand is expected to announce a Helio-based handset within the next few days.

MediaTek said samples of the P20 will be available in the second quarter.