Best Mobile Processor Ranking List 2021

Are you looking for the rankings of mobile processors? Or do you want to make sure that your next smartphone has the best processor?

Then, you’ve arrived at the right place.

A smartphone’s processor is unarguably one of the most important components. The performance of the processor directly impacts the phone’s speed, gaming performance, user experience, and battery efficiency.

A mobile phone with a fast processor will open all your favorite apps in a blink of an eye and your task will be done in no time. But a phone with a weaker processor will result in a bad user experience and may cause issues such as overheating, lag, and poor battery life (despite it having a higher battery capacity).

It also plays a huge role in gaming performance as the GPU is also integrated into the chip itself. This is why the proper term for a mobile chip is a SOC (System-on-chip).

At Tech Centurion, we have developed Centurion Mark which is one of the industry-leading benchmarking techniques to evaluate the performance of a processor. Centurion Mark evaluates the CPU performance, Gaming Performance, and battery efficiency of a chip based on real-world usage and we combine all that data to assign a score to every SOC.

We also have a separate article for gaming performance which you can check out here: Mobile GPU Rankings.

“Centurion Mark is a lot more than just raw benchmark. We also take the real-world performance into account while ranking the SOCs.“

Centurion Mark not only considers the raw benchmarks but also takes real-world performance into account. This not only makes it highly accurate, but it makes it easy for consumers to understand a phone’s performance without going much into technical details.

As of December 2020, the best mobile processor is Apple A14 Bionic which powers iPhone 12 Lineup. The second-best processor is Snapdragon 888 followed by Samsung Exynos 2100, A13 Bionic, and Kirin 9000.

Next up, we have Exynos 1080, Kirin 9000E, Snapdragon 870/865+, and MediaTek Dimensity 1200 and 1100. The Apple A12 Bionic is the 14th best SOC and it is slightly better than Snapdragon 855+.

If you’re also looking for the ranking Desktop & Laptop CPUs from Intel & AMD, check out this article.

    Best Mobile Processor List

Here’s the list of Top 30 Smartphone Processors as of April 2021.

The iPhone 12’s A14 Bionic chip wins the competition as it has the highest performing CPU (Both in Single-Core and Multi-Core tasks) and the fastest GPU. It is also the most power-efficient chip because it is the first mainstream product to be fabricated on TSMC’s 5 nm Process.

Kirin 9000 is also fabricated on TSMC’s 5nm Process while the Snapdragon 888 and Exynos 1080 are manufactured using Samsung’s 5nm Process.

Here’s the table that has the ranking of all the processors alongside the Centurion Mark.

*The performance of processors marked with a star is estimated based on their specification, leaked benchmarks, speculation, and the data gained during the testing of previous-gen processors. These scores may change once we have tested phones based on these SOCs.

How to make use of this data?

Processors having the same or a close score can be considered as equivalent or similar in performance. This data can help you to determine which processor from a particular brand (Qualcomm Snapdragon, Samsung Exynos, Huawei HiSilicon, MediaTek, and Apple) is equivalent or comparable to the other.

Above 125

The processors that scored above 125 in Centurion Mark deliver excellent performance in Gaming as well as Heavy usage. Selecting a phone with a processor from this category is highly recommended for the best user experience.

Between 100-125

High performance is General use as well as gaming. If you’re buying a mid-range phone, then you should pick a phone whose chipset falls in this range.

Between 70-100

In this range, performance is above average. But you’re unlikely to observe any lagging or other issues. But some older chips like Snapdragon 810 having poor thermal performance might also fall into this category. If you have a low budget, try to get a phone that fits in this category.

Between 55-70

The general performance of these chips is below average. But it is still acceptable in lower-end phones. These can suffer from occasional lags as well as throttling issues.

Below 55

The performance of these chips is below par, and you should avoid usually avoid them in 2021 unless you’re buying an extremely low-end phone whose price is below $100.

    Snapdragon 888 vs A14 Bionic vs Kirin 9000 vs Exynos 2100 vs Dimensity 1200

I understand that a single-digit score doesn’t tell the whole story. Therefore, here’s a detailed ranking of the current generation flagship SOCs in different aspects.

    Centurion Mark and its Significance

We not only test the raw performance but also check whether it is as good as per its specification. When a processor suffers from throttling/overheating on extended usage or lags frequently during general use or gaming, we deduct its score. But when a processor performs better than expected, we make sure to give it higher points.

Adding the User Experience section is essential to remove the high dependency on the raw performance scores. The scores are unbiased, and we do not favor any particular brand or processor. We also do not accept sponsored reviews by a smartphone or semiconductor manufacturer.

By giving almost equal weight to the Real-World Performance as the Raw score, Centurion Mark is one of the most accurate ways to judge the performance of a SOC. Here are some of the significant factors that influence the Centurion Mark.

Parameters that Influence Centurion Mark

There are more than 20 parameters on which we judge a processor’s performance. But the most significant ones are:

• User Experience
• Real-World Performance (Gaming, Social Media, Browsing, Battery Efficiency, and general phone usage)
• Raw CPU Performance
• Raw GPU Performance
• Features and Technologies

Things to Note

• Processors made by Apple run on a completely different OS and Apple doesn’t reveal the full specification. There is no real way to determine whether an Apple Processor will perform the same when running another OS such as Android. There’s also a difference in APIs, Kernal, and Programming Language. Even though the raw performance of an Apple chips seems unbelievably good, the performance difference in the real-world is not too significant. Lastly, the sustained performance of Apple chips isn’t as good as Qualcomm chips.

That’s why the Centurion Mark of Apple Processors is determined in a slightly different way and there’s a possibility of an error between 0 to 5%. But still, it is worth noting that Apple Processors are top-notch and the A13 Bionic is the best mobile processor as of now.

• Because we determine Centurion Mark based on over 20 different parameters, one SOC with a better CPU but a weaker GPU can have the same Centurion Mark as another SOC with a weaker CPU but a better GPU. Thus, make sure to look at our GPU Benchmarks to find out which SOC has a better Graphics Processor. You are also free to ask any questions in the comment section or message us on our social media pages.

• Custom UIs or skins may also affect the user experience of a device. UIs such as Samsung Experience, MIUI, and EMUI may improve or degrade the experience when compared to Stock Android. We do not take this factor into consideration. You can always flash a Custom ROM to improve the experience.

• These scores may change whenever we change our algorithm and benchmarking process.

    Best Processors in Each Price Segment

This list contains the best processors in each price segment. Depending on your budget, try to get a phone with one of the best processors available.

Flagship

High-End

Mid-Range

Low-Budget

    Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Which is the best chipset?
Answer: Apple A14 Bionic is currently the best Mobile Chipset. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 comes next, and it is followed by Kirin 9000, A13 Bionic, and Kirin 9000E. Next, we have the Exynos 1080 and Snapdragon 865+ chipsets.

Question: Which is the best processor for smartphones?
Answer: For Apple iPhones, A14 Bionic is the best processor, and for Android smartphones, Snapdragon 888 is the best processor. While both these Processors have exceptional gaming and Multi-Threaded Performance, the A14 Bionic leads in Single-Core Performance.

Question: What is the fastest smartphone?
Answer: iPhone 12 is the fastest phone in the world. Among Android phones, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, Asus ROG Phone III, and OnePlus 8 Pro are the fastest.

Question: Which is better processor Kirin or snapdragon?
Answer: Processors from both Kirin and Snapdragon are excellent, but if we compare their top Processors, the Snapdragon 888 outperforms Kirin 9000 by a significant margin. The major performance difference is because most Snapdragon chips have a better GPU compared to that of Kirin.

Question: Which mobile processor is best in 2020?
Answer: The iPhone 12’s Apple A14 Bionic is the fastest processor in 2020. It is fabricated using TSMC’s 5nm Technology and has made improvements in multiple dimensions.

Question: Which chipset is best MediaTek or snapdragon?
Answer: Most of the top Snapdragon processors outperform their MediaTek alternatives, and so does their flagship chipsets. The Snapdragon 865+ is slightly better than MediaTek Dimensity 1000+. A huge contributing factor to this difference is that Qualcomm’s Adreno GPUs are comparatively better than that of MediaTek Mali GPUs.

    Final Words

I hope this list helps anyone looking to purchase a new smartphone. I’ll constantly be updating the list of best mobile processors as new devices launch. If you have questions on why a particular SOC is better, feel free to ask in the comments. I’ll get back to you as early as possible.

How much priority should you give to Centurion Mark?

Centurion Mark covers three significant aspects of a phone: General Performance, User Experience, and Gaming. A general consumer should give a high priority to Centurion Mark, followed by the factor that matters the most to you (Camera/Battery/Features/Design/UI).

An in-depth review of a particular smartphone will always give a better idea than just benchmarks. So, you shouldn’t only consider the Centurion Mark to judge a phone. It’s not always about choosing a phone with the best mobile processor, but the one that fulfills all your requirements.