MediaTek reveals two new gaming-focused chipsets destined for the low-end

MediaTek has just taken the wraps off two new G-series gaming chipsets: the Helio G25 and G35.  These new chips fill a void at the lower end of the companies lineup, supplementing the previous G90, G85, G80, and G70. Whether you call that entry-level, budget, or “mainstream,” as MediaTek does, either way it means faster gaming performance for cheaper phones.

The two new chips are both 8-core affairs with no big.LITTLE configuration, sporting eight Cortex A53 cores at two different max clock speeds — 2.3GHz for the higher-end G35 and 2GHz for the G25. Both also include IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPUs at slightly different clock speeds (680MHz for the G35, 650MHz for the G25) and support for eMMC 5.1 storage, dual-band Wi-Fi 5, and Bluetooth 5, all produced at a 12nm node.

There are other differences, though, like maximum display resolution: the G35 supports up to “Full HD+” 2400×1080, while the G25 can only do 1600×720. The G35 can also use a higher resolution primary camera (25MP vs. 21MP), and the G35 has the chops for extra camera features like simulated software bokeh. They both share support for multi-camera configurations at up to 13MP+8MP, though.

When it comes to connectivity, you aren’t getting 5G. It’s too early for that in “mainstream” phones. Both of these chipsets have LTE “WorldMode” modems with dual SIM support and VoLTE/ViLTE.

MediaTek tells us we can anticipate seeing these chips land in phones from unnamed but “major” smartphone brands “in the coming months.” While they probably won’t convince anyone to give up a flagship, if it means better gaming performance in cheap phones, they’ll probably be popular among device manufacturers. We’ll just have to wait and see how well they perform in real life.