Why is MediaTek bad?
If you say that something is bad without knowing much about it, that’s being judgmental and ignorant. A lot of people make a point to bash Mediatek every chance they get. If you are someone who prefers smartphones powered by Qualcomm processors, well that’s your choice and you’re entitled to it. But hating one brand only because you love another is frankly absurd.
I’m not trying to be a spokesperson for Mediatek or defend it. I’m only trying to make a fair and coherent point. Reports said that MediaTek overtook Qualcomm in Q3 2020, to become the biggest chipset supplier for smartphones. Now, there has to be some substance and meaning as to why more brands prefer Mediatek chipsets in their devices. Brands like Xiaomi, Realme, Vivo etc. are big enough to not be stupid enough and integrate a chipset that is ‘bad’, right? So if you have judged Mediatek as bad there should better be a convincing reason, which personally speaking, I don’t see any.
The major aspect of Mediatek that differentiates it from its rivals is that it focuses on providing consumers with efficient as well as affordable products multiplying its accessibility to the masses. And this very reason, sometimes acts like a double edged sword, because most people with incomplete knowledge assume that anything which costs more is naturally better than an alternative that may be more cost effective. This preconceived notion of Mediatek being bad just because it is more affordable than others is not fair.
Mediatek is one of the fastest growing organisations in the world, with its chipsets powering over 1.5 billion devices throughout a year. Various smartphones belonging to well-known brands are powered by Mediatek chips. These include- OPPO, Realme, Vivo, LG and many others. The Helio series chipsets are chiefly used for 4G smartphones and the new Dimensity chipsets power the 5G smartphone. The Dimensity series is Mediatek’s most recent development in successfully bringing the 5G chips to the masses and coming a step closer in bridging the ever-expanding connectivity gap in the world.
Before the launch of Dimensity processors from Mediatek, especially the 700 and 800 series, it was hard to imagine that a 5G enabled smartphone could be priced below 30k but it was made possible. Yes, Mediatek powered smartphones are more affordable, but that is not at the cost of performance. It’s a well established fact that before buying phones, customers would look into the hardware and the processor powering the smartphone. In so many cases, at similar price points, Mediatek processors have outperformed rival chipsets. So, people who only decide to buy or not buy a smartphone by fixating on the name of the integrated processor, should make sure they look up scores, benchmarks and other stats for making an informed choice and not just because they are biased.
Mediatek’s vast technological advancements has made it one of the biggest manufacturers of fabless chipsets in the industry. But it’s important to remember that nothing is all good or bad so we should trust figures before passing judgement. With so many new chipsets from Mediatek, especially the very recent 6-nm Dimensity 810 SoC for mid-range smartphones, the game has changed. Mediatek isn’t bad, it’s only making the competition look bad.
