Taiwanese chip maker MediaTek is probably already best known for making the processors found in low-end and mid-range smartphones (and a handheld Android/Linux computer with a deca-core processor). But the company is introducing a whole new series of chips specifically designed for the mid-range market.
The new MediaTek Helio AÂ are basically a step below the company’s Helio P series chips, with “P” standing for Premium and “A” meaning Advanced.
But MediaTek says the new A-series chips will bring high-end features to low-cost devices including support for dual cameras, AI-powered face and object recognition, and energy efficiency for long battery life.
The first A series chip is the MediaTek Helio A22, which is a 12nm quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor with PowerVR GE8320 graphics.
It supports phones with display resolutions up to 1600 x 720 pixels, dual camera setups with up to 13MP + 8MP cameras, support for LPDDR3 or LPDDR4 memory, and Bluetooth 5.0, 802.11ac WiFi, and 4G LTE Cat-6 support.
MediaTek says the Helio A22 is already in production, and the first phone to ship with it will be Xiaomi’s Redmi 6 (which was announced last month as a phone that would feature a Helio P22 processor).
The chip maker also says we should start to see Android P Go Edition phones powered by the new Helio A22 processor before the end of the year.