Today’s smartphones are so sophisticated, you can almost do anything you can do on a computer on a smartphone. The biggest difference, of course, is the size.
Smartphones are much smaller than computers and even laptops, yet they pretty much perform similar tasks. At the heart of every computer is a CPU, a central processing unit that executes all the tasks and instructions from the user.
If smartphones can do what computers can do, do they also have similar internal components? Do smartphones also have CPUs that control all their functions? And if so, are they similar or different to the ones found in laptops and computers?
Do smartphones have CPUs?
Yes. Unlike simpler mobile phones of the past, today’s smartphones all have processors or CPUs. A smartphone CPU (central processing unit) is the brains of the entire device. Without one, no smartphone would be able to function.
There are, in fact, quite a few popular companies that make processors for smartphones. Qualcomm is probably the most widely known company because its Snapdragon smartphone processor can be found in quite a number of today’s smartphones.
Other companies include Apple (A-series), Samsung (Exynos), MediaTek (Helio), and others. Interestingly, although Apple designs their own processors, some of the Apple iPhone processors have been made by Samsung, as well as TSMC, a semiconductor manufacturing company based in Taiwan.
Smartphone CPU manufacturers don’t just make one type of processor and put it in all the devices they service. They usually have a series of processors that perform differently. They are placed in different phones according to their price range.
High-end flagship smartphones are commonly fitted with the best and fastest CPUs, while smartphones on the low end of the spectrum get the raw end of the deal.
Is a smartphone CPU the same as a computer CPU?
Computers have, obviously, been around for much longer than smartphones. So, when someone talks about a CPU inside a smartphone, it can be a bit difficult for some people to wrap their heads around that because they’re used to CPUs inside computers, and those are quite big for a smartphone.
Though the name and functions of a smartphone CPU are similar to those of a computer CPU, their design and architecture a very different, for obvious reasons. A smartphone has to pack a lot of computing power into a small device.
Inside a smartphone system-on-a-chip (SoC) where part of the components is an 8-core CPU.
With smartphones, if you talk of the CPU, you’re not necessarily talking about the phone’s processor but a component that’s on the processor. The term ‘processor’ in mobile phones most commonly refers to what is known as the SoC or system-on-a-chip, which houses, amongst other things, the actual smartphone CPU.
What is the function of CPUs in mobile phones?
In smartphones, the CPU is responsible for the execution of most of the functions of the phone. These functions include running apps and the operating system, as well as relaying input instructions from the user to the rest of the device.
For example, when you’re typing a text on your phone, part of the CPUs job is to take your input and displaying the letters you type on the screen in the app you’re using.
The faster the CPU, the faster it can process information and execute tasks. Having more than one CPU makes the phone run faster.
What is a multi-core smartphone processor?
Not only do smartphones have CPUs, but they can also have more than one. A smartphone with more than one CPU is said to have a multi-core processor.
What is a ‘core’? A core is basically a processor inside the CPU. On its own, a core works exactly like a standalone CPU. When there are multiple CPUs that are designed to work together, they are referred to as cores. Together, these cores work under the central processing unit umbrella.
There is only so much a single CPU can do without slowing down the phone’s performance or heating it up. A multi-core processor harnesses the power of multiple CPUs to help the smartphone to run better and reduces overheating by distributing the workload among the cores.
It is common to find smartphones with processors that have two cores (dual-core) and four cores (quad-core). Some manufacturers claim to have processors with eight cores (octa-core). Though that may be the case on paper, in practice, smartphones only use at most four cores at a time.
Having a phone with more than one core/CPU is great because it makes it is ideal for graphics-intense tasks such as mobile gaming, as well as editing photos and mobile videos on your phone. However, it’s worth noting that smartphone processors (SoCs) have a dedicated processor specifically for graphics (GPU) and a processor for smartphone photos and videos (ISP).
What makes a good mobile CPU?
The underlying factor that determines the performance of a CPU is the clock rate, which is expressed in GHz (e.g. 2.4GHz). The higher the clock rate, the faster the CPU can process information. For example, a 1.7GHz processor will process information slower than a 2.4GHz processor.
When it comes to multi-core processors, more can be better. No doubt, there is a big noticeable difference between the performance of a smartphone that only has one CPU core and that of a phone that has multiple CPU cores.
It’s not uncommon to find multi-core processors that have cores with different clock rates. In fact, it’s more common than not, even in high-end phones. This is aimed at conserving power by reserving the faster, and more power-consuming, cores for demanding tasks such as gaming.
For example, a quad-core smartphone processor can have two cores that run at 1.6GHz and another two that run at 2.2GHz or however else it’s configured. Everyday tasks such as sending emails and making calls are handled by the 1.6GHz processors. Editing mobile videos, on the other hand, may require more processing power than that. And that’s when the more powerful, faster processors come into play.
To identify a good smartphone CPU, look out for one with a high clock rate. A good smartphone CPU will have multiple cores with a good balance of clock rates. Smartphone CPUs generally have clock speeds of anywhere between 1.6GHz and 2.4GHZ, approximately. Anything at the higher end of the spectrum is most desirable.
Conclusion
Smartphones are small yet powerful computers. So, of course, they’d have CPUs in order to process all the data and instructions the phone has to carry out. However, the architecture of smartphones and computers is very different. But one thing is the same– a fast processor means a fast smartphone.