Why GE8320 vs. Mali-G52, and which is better?
GPU
The GE8320 and Mali-G52 are graphics processing cores in the Android head units. They are often referred to as GPUs, and they are built into the chip silicon and provide the good 2D and 3D processing that Android apps need. Other GPUs are available in the chips that run the Android headunits, but the Mali-G52 vs. GE8320 is helpful in the MT8667 specifications.
PowerVR GE8320
Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR GE8320, designed in 2014, is a mid-range GPU found in mobile phones. It is an integrated graphics core for ARM-based processors.
ARM Mali-G52
The Mali-G52 by Arm Technologies was released in 2020 as an improvement over their previous G51 model of GPU.
Compare
The Mali-G52 is a much newer design graphics core over the GE8320, which the benchmarks show. The newer design of the G52 is many times faster at graphics processing than the older GE8320.
G52 has newer features but comes at a higher cost than the GE8320.
Better
Which is better for an Android headunit, Android car player, or Android-based car entertainment system, be it a double DIN or custom fit? The answer may come as a surprise, but the cheaper and slower GE8320 PowerVR design is often integrated into even the high-end SoC chips for head units.
The quicker Mali-G52 is found on mobile phones. Some judge phones by their game-playing ability. Phones need hard candies falling and high-frame-rate 3D explosions of match multipliers. These features require a good, powerful, and more expensive GPU to achieve the expectations of phone-game players.
No Games
android Headunits are not (usually) used to play games. Of course, they have a screen, play video, zoom, and swipe. But that is not very taxing for even the 2014 design by Imagination Technologies for their PowerVR GE8320. The reduced cost of utilizing the older GPU core in a massive production run makes excellent financial sense, mainly when most head unit sales are based on cost comparison.
Overall
Although not a workhorse and not very powerful, the PowerVR GE8320 is the best fit for its expected use and helps keep production costs down, which is critical to selling more Android headunits.
