The mid-range MediaTek 828 SoC shows out in new benchmark comparison

Late last year, MediaTek released some early benchmark comparisons of the company’s new Kompanio 820 SoC for mid-range Chromebooks. Those results were based on a variety of benchmark tests where the Arm-based processor went head-to-head with Intel’s latest small-core Jasper Lake N4500 CPU. While the Kompanio put up some impressive numbers and there’s no question that Intel’s small CPU is a decent little performer, we’ve yet to get our hands on the MediaTek SoC to do any real-world testing of our own. Still, if MediaTek’s comparisons are anywhere near accurate, Intel is going to have a fight on its hands to maintain a foothold in the low to mid-range Chrome OS space.

Fast forward three months and MediaTek has now put their money where their mouth is. In a relatively quiet manner, the company has released a side-by-side benchmark video of the Kompanio 828 SoC and an Intel-powered Chromebook. However, instead of the dual-core N4500, MediaTek has pitted its Arm SoC against the quad-core N5100 from the same family of Intel Jasper Lake chips. The results were – well – impressive, to say the least. The video is only about three minutes long if you’d like to take a quick look. Then, we’ll go through some of the key moments. For reference, NotebookCheck gives the N5100 an average benchmark score that’s 64% higher than the N4200.

MediaTek Kompanio 828 vs. Intel N5100 Jasper Lake

Benchmarks

So, starting off the competition, MediaTek went with the tried and true Geekbench single and multi-core benchmark tests. This is, presumably, the Android version of the test suite. Single-core scores were similar with the Kompanio 828 edging out the Intel N5100 with a score of 627 to 572. A marginal win of roughly ten percent. Multi-core, however, tells a bit of a different story. MediaTek squarely squashed the Intel CPU with a very respectable score of 2210. That’s 51% better than 1462 put up by the N5100.

Next up, we get a taste of the graphics performance with Manhattan 3.0 benchmarks. Manhattan 3.0 is GCXBench’s “comprehensive cross-platform OpenGL ES 3 benchmark designed for measuring graphics performance, render quality and power consumption.” MediaTek once again shines with an output of 61fps, besting the Intel chips 40fps by nearly fifty-three percent. The MediaTek-powered Chromebook also bests the Intel device with roughly double the frame rates while playing the online game Modern Strike. This should equate to smoother gaming and video experiences on a device powered by the Kompanion SoC.

Now we get into some more practical real-world use cases. The two devices are both running a Google Meet session in the background while compiling a project on TinkerCad. TinkerCad is a web-based 3D modeling platform. Running the exact same project, the MediaTek Kompanio 828 finishes in 22 seconds while the Intel N5100 takes 38 seconds. That’s forty-two percent faster and another win for MediaTek.

Last but not least, we get a look at how the battery life looks on these two machines when making a video call with a virtual background. Both laptops are also running a screen recording for the entirety of the call. Here’s a look at the battery sizes and the conditions used for testing. The MediaTek Chromebook has a slightly larger battery but it is also pushing a few more pixels than the Intel-based device.

One hour in, things are looking fairly comparable with the Intel CPU falling only slightly behind with 83% battery life remaining compared to the Kompanio which sits at 91%. Fast forward three and a half hours and the narrative changes entirely. The Intel device is down to 1-percent of its battery while the MediaTek machine still has an ample 36-percent left. To add insult to injury, the Kompanio Chromebook keeps on trucking for almost two and a half hours after the Intel laptop gives up its ghost. The power of Arm prevails again. We’ve always hoped that Arm SoCs would eventually give Chromebooks a great balance of performance and battery life. Based on these early tests, it seems that day has finally arrived.

Now, we still have to get our hands on one of these new MediaTek devices to see how it handles everyday scenarios. Still, based on these tests, I suspect that MediaTek and Arm, in general, are finally ready to play ball with Intel. I suspect that we will see a large number of devices with the Kompanio 828 SoC over the next year or two. What do you think? Is Arm the future of Chrome OS or would you rather see monster Intel devices with dedicated GPUs and all that jazz? Drop a comment below and let us know what you think.