The MSM8953 SoC has found its way into some recent Android headunits and is also known as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, as it is more commonly known in some circles.
MSM8953
Having 8 cores of ARM Cortex A53, this is an octa-core processor. Running at up to 2GHz is seen in some mid-range smartphones under the Snapdragon 625 name.
64 Bit
The ARM cortex A53 design means this octa-core processor is 64-bit capable, as you would expect with modern SoC processing powerhouses.
RAM
Currently, they are often supplied with 4 GB RAM. But being a 64Bit capable processor, you can expect to see Android headunits with 8Gb RAM with an 8953 processor.
MSM8953 or SD625 for android Headunit?
The Android headunit market is picking up SoC chips from the phone and tablet designs, often designed for low power drain with good performance. The android headunit, being connected to a car with a big 12v lead acid battery or the alternator, won’t benefit significantly from the low power features of these chips. Other than keeping the heat produced by the head unit down, the battery life problem is non-existent.
Compromise
Another compromise but a step up from some of the processors still being used to run the Android operating system. The SD625/MSM8935 would behave like a mid-range modern phone. This SoC has eight ARM Cortex A53 CPU cores clocked at up to 2 GHz and an Adreno 506 GPU for the display. Fitted with the 4 GB RAM, these Android headunits should perform acceptably and be in the top quarter of the Android headunits for speed.
USB 3.0
Modern processors used in Android headunits bring more than just incredible speed benefits; there are other spin-off gains. For the MSM8953, this comes in the guise of USB3 compatibility if it remains to be seen if all the manufacturers of the Android head units build in the supporting hardware for USB3.0 connectivity.
