MediaTek’s Dimensity 720 is a mid-range offering that strikes the right balance between performance, power efficiency, and connectivity. According to the manufacturer, it’s the “most efficient 5G chip” for modern smartphones. Built on a 7nm process node, its main highlight is the amazing power efficiency, ideal for phones that need to go the extra mile in offering juice.
This is our review of the Dimensity 720 socket-on-chip (SoC).
Dimensity 720 Benchmark
It’s offered by the majority of smartphones that claim an all-day battery life. Add to that a bigger battery, something like the Oukitel RT7’s 32000mAh beast of a battery, and you have a device that can go on for multiple days at peak performance. That’s the power held within the Dimensity 720 chip.
MediaTek unveiled its 5G UltraSave technology with the 700 series. It’s a network environment detection technology that helps conserve battery power. It also added better content awareness to the mix to further optimize the processing power depending on the workload.
Now, let’s talk specs.
• CPU: It uses two processors, Arm Cortex-A76 and Arm Cortex-A55, both clocked at up to 2GHz. This 64-bit octa-core CPU combination offers best-in-class performance across different workloads – whether it’s media streaming, operating system functions, or gaming. The CPU’s TDP is just 10W.
• GPU: The GPU inside the Dimensity 720 is the Arm Mali-G57 MC3 – one of the most well-known for fluid graphics and responsive gameplay. It can encode 4K videos at 30 FPS, which is stellar performance given the small energy footprint. The GPU offers 243 gigaflops of processing power and a frequency of 850 MHz.
• RAM: The chip uses 12GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR4X memory. Samsung’s LPDDR4X offers significant gains over not only older LPDDR variants used in smartphones and tablets but even DDR4 SDRAM memory used in modern desktop PCs and laptops.
• Camera: The chip offers the maximum capture resolution of 4K (3840 x 2160px) and can process HDR, 3D noise reduction, AI-FD, and depths quite easily.
The chip has support for all the latest technologies. It has an AI accelerator, support for 5G, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, and so on. What’s more, the chip can support displays of up to 90Hz, display HDR10+ content, offer UFS 2.2-class storage, and output 2520 x 1080 resolution natively. All in all, it’s a powerhouse that’s low on the power use.
Here are the scores for the Dimensity 720 chip:
• AnTuTu 9 Total Score: 344254
• Geekbench Single-Core: 523
• GeekBench Multi-Core: 1701
All in all, you can easily hit 30-50 FPS even in the most demanding games at ultra settings. Turn those settings down, and you’re looking at 60-80 FPS even during clutch gameplay.
Real-World Performance
Benchmarks can only take you so far. They are good to compare two products within the same category but don’t always translate to real-world examples. Here are some of our results with actual use across multiple devices.
Powered by a combination of two high-performance ARM Cortex-A76 cores and six power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores, the Dimensity 720 strikes a commendable balance between processing power and energy efficiency. Daily tasks and moderate multitasking are handled smoothly, offering a responsive user experience. While it may not match the raw power of flagship SoCs, it certainly holds its ground in the mid-range segment.
And that’s the USP here. It’s a balanced chip for the mid-range segment. Nothing beats it when it comes to marrying power with power efficiency. It’s simply one of the most well-rounded chips that can sometimes punch above its weight, given the extra headroom with a larger RAM or better optimization.
The Mali-G57 GPU ensures respectable graphics performance. This makes room for smooth gameplay in most mainstream mobile titles like PUBG, Call of Duty, Genshin Impact, and Mobile Legends. While it may not be the top choice for hardcore mobile gamers, it delivers a satisfying gaming experience for the average user. One game where we had less-than-ideal performance was Fortnite. Genshin Impact also had to be set to medium, more often than not, regardless of the device, to hit a constant 30 FPS without thermal throttling or overheating.
One of the standout features of the Dimensity 720 is its 5G modem support, bringing next-gen connectivity to the mid-range market. This is a notable inclusion for users looking to future-proof their devices and take advantage of evolving 5G networks. In addition to 5G, the SoC supports a range of connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC. Ultimately, manufacturers looking to release a mainstream device that has it all have fewer better options than the Dimensity 720 chip.
Manufactured using a power-efficient process, the Dimensity 720 strikes a good balance between performance and battery life. Devices powered by this SoC are expected to offer satisfactory endurance for daily use, aided by its intelligent power management features. You can easily gauge its performance against contenders by looking up a few charts online. In terms of battery power and overall power efficiency, it’s very likely to be in the top 5 spots across all modern SoCs in production today.
It's a solid choice for mid-range smartphones. That’s our final verdict for this chip. It’s positioned gently between performance and power efficiency and comes with all the leading technologies as well as the bells and whistles that smartphone enthusiasts are going to love. 5G connectivity and power efficiency make it a well-rounded chip for mid-range devices that don’t come with a premium price tag. If you’re after something like that, you can’t go wrong if you limit your prospects to devices with the Dimensity 720 chip.
The mobile SoCs market is quite competitive. And it’s not that rare for manufacturers to design chips that offer a good mix of performance and perks. But there’s something special about the Dimensity 720, making it a crowd favorite. It’s an excellent option for mid-range devices and can cut it for some high-end ones as well, given there are some optimizations and other powerful hardware in place. After all, the Dimensity 720 has it all that you’d need out of a smartphone for years to come including Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, 5G connectivity, AI accelerators, and more.
