Since 2020 the global world has increasingly shifted to a digital aspect with people working from home, students studying on zoom, and businesses being conducted on video calls. Several small businesses have started using social media as their platforms as well. These elements have resulted in high demand for smart devices like laptops and Chromebooks along with smartphones because almost all digital functions can be completed with these smart devices. Although people usually choose a laptop, there are others who opt for a Chromebook because they offer a similar size aspect to the laptop but are more affordable and lightweight making them easier to carry around. This popularity of Chromebooks has allowed several smart device brands to add their own options for interested consumers.
MediaTek’s Kompanio chipset series is for Chromebooks and they have added numerous features in this chipset series with the sole goal to offer optimum user support in a consistent manner and to enhance the overall Chromebook user experience to an exponential level. They recently added a new processor called the Mediatek Kompanio 520, an entry-level Kompanio processor.
It comes with the following features:
- This processor features two, premium Arm Cortex-A76 CPU cores within its octa-core CPU along with an upgraded dual-core graphics engine resulting in smoother and more responsive user support. The upgraded GPU offers over 20% greater performance compared to the previous generation.
- The Mediatek Kompanio 520 supports a Full HD+ display and enables users to add a Full HD external display, providing more than twice the resolution of the previous generation’s chipsets. It is worth mentioning that devices powered by this processor can be used as an ideal option for a second display or viewing on a projector or smart TV.
- This processor integrates an AI processing unit (APU) to deliver accelerated AI enhancements to applications, along with AI camera features.
- This new Kompanio chipset allows device makers to build Chromebooks with large 32MP cameras for highly detailed image capturing. It also supports 60fps Full HD video recording for seamless video conferencing. The cameras are supported by MediaTek’s hardware imaging engine that enhances the quality of the photo and video captured in all lighting conditions.
- In the area of multimedia, the Kompanio 520 includes VP9 decoding and a dedicated HiFi-5 DSP that provides ultra-low power audio microphone processing for an enhanced audio experience.
- In the area of connectivity, the Kompanio 520 comes with WiFi 6 options supported by Filogic.
Although the brand did not specifically mention about gaming abilities of this processor, it can be assumed that the Kompanio 520 will support basic games in a decent manner. So far there have been no confirmations regarding the launch of Chromebooks powered by this new processor but according to certain reports, we will see new options in the early part of 2023. For an entry-level processor, there is no doubt that Mediatek has done a good job with reliable features in all areas resulting in a smooth user experience. I like the upgrades in the CPU and GPU, personally. Hopefully, we will get to see the complete extent of this chipset’s performance power in the coming months. What do you guys think about this new Kompanio addition from Mediatek?
