Snapdragon 430 (+Adreno 505) vs Snapdragon 617 (+Adreno 405) – performance, benchmarks and temperatures

Back in late 2015 Qualcomm officially announced Snapdragon 430 and Snapdragon 617. We already had the chance to test both of them and that is why we want to make a quick comparison between the two. Just like Snapdragon 4XX, Snapdragon 6XX CPUs are built for mid-range devices. Nonetheless, the Snapdragon 6XX series products are found in more expensive models and they are expected to provide better performance. To conduct this comparison we used Lenovo K6 with Snapdragon 430 and Motorola Moto G4, which is one of the cheapest smartphones with Snapdragon 617.

You can check the two models over here:
Lenovo K6: Buy from Amazon.com Moto G4: Buy from Amazon.com

Spec sheets

The first smartphones running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 MSM8952 hit the market in the second half of the last year. Lenovo K6 is the first device with this chipset that we have tested. Snapdragon 430 is a 64-bit mobile processor built on the 28nm process technology. The CPU has eight Cortex-A53 cores with a maximum frequency of 1.4GHz. It’s specs include Full HD display support, up to 21MP camera sensors with up to Full HD video capturing (30fps), Quick Charge 3.0 technology for faster recharging ( 38% more effective than Quick Charge 2.0), Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and LTE Cat 4 with download speeds of up to 150Mbps. The chip also includes the Adreno 505 graphics card which brings a major step up in graphics capabilities compared to its predecessor.

You can find more information about the Snapdragon 430 at Qualcomm’s official web page: https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/processors/430

On the other side of the ring, we have the Snapdragon 617 MSM8952 which is found in the Moto G4. This chip is also manufactured by Qualcomm and it offers us eight Cortex-A53 cores grouped into two equal parts. There is a small difference in their clock speeds. The first four are clocked at 1.21 GHz, while the second four have a frequency of 1.52GHz. Snapdragon 617 is a 64-bit mobile CPU built on the 28nm process technology as well. QuickCharge 3.0 technology is also present (up to 38% more effective than QuickCharge 2.0) and it provides four times faster recharge times than the convenient charging. Specs also include the support of LTE Cat. 7 with a download speed of up to 300 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11n/ac, LPDDR3 933MHz memory, Bluetooth 4.1, Full HD display, up to 21MP cameras with Full HD video capturing at 60fps. The SoC uses the Adreno 405 graphics card clocked at 550MHz.

You can find more information about the Snapdragon 617 at Qualcomm’s official web page: https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/processors/617

Benchmark scores

The two chips provide smooth performance but the comparison is interesting for sure. To compare the two chips we conducted a few benchmarks that test both the CPU performance (first four tests) and the GPU capabilities as well (last four tests). You can see the results in the table below. It comes to our attention, that while the CPU performance is notably better on the Snapdragon 617 the GPU performance is on par.

External temperatures

Smartphones with Snapdragon 4XX SoC have always performed well in our temperature tests. Because of this, we were not surprised when Lenovo K6 stayed cool after continuous use. The hottest point remained at just 34.3 degrees Celsius. it’s another story when ot comes to Moto G4 and its Snapdragon 617 where temperatures raised to 44.8C. We should note that these are the highest temperature points recorded and they are that high just because they were registered immediately after continuous 3D gaming (simulated by the Epic Citadel app). The mobile chip is not the only thing that affects the overall temperature of a device so these results are more of a marker rather than actual numbers that you will get on a different smartphone.

You can check the prices of both smartphones over here:
Lenovo K6: Buy from Amazon.com Moto G4: Buy from Amazon.com