MediaTek Kompanio 838 is a chip for “premium Chromebooks”
by Brad Linder · LiliputingChromebooks with ARM-based processors have been around for a while, but they’re typically positioned as low-cost alternatives to higher-priced models with Intel Core or AMD Ryzen processors. But MediaTek says its new Kompanion 838 processor is designed for “premium Chromebooks.”
I’d take that phrase with a grain of salt, but the new chip does seem like a nice upgrade over the previous-gen Kompanio 528 processor.
At first glance, the two chips have a lot in common. They’re both octa-core processors with two high-performance cores and six efficiency cores. They both support DDR4 and LPDDR4x-3733 memory. And they both support eMMC 5.1 storage.
But the new 6nm processor’s Performance cores are newer and faster. The new chip also has a higher-performance GPU, support for up to two 4K displays, support for a PCIe x1 interface, and an AI accelerator.
MediaTek says the Kompanio 838 processor features a Mali-G57 MC3 GPU, a MediaTek NPU 650 with up to 4 TOPS of on-device AI processing power and Imagiq 7 series ISP, which can be leveraged for image processing and other applications, helping improve low-light performance when using a Chromebook camera to snap photos or join video calls, among other things.
The company says compared with MediaTek Kompanio 500 series processors, the Kompanio 838 should deliver:
- Up to 76% faster graphics
- Up to 66% improvement in CPU-based benchmarks
- Up to 60% improvement in web-based benchmarks
Other features include support for WiFi 6E and 4K video recording and playback.