Top 75 Best Processors for Mobile Phones in 2023 with Ranking List

The first thing you look at on the specifications sheet of a smartphone is the processor that powers it. The processor is the smartphone’s brain, determining how fast and responsive your device is. With the amount of processors available in the market for you to choose from, it can get tough to choose the right one. We rank the processors or SoCs on smartphones with a ranking list. With this list, you can get the best smartphone based on the performance benchmarks such as AnTuTu and Geekbench. 

What Is a Processor or CPU?

A smartphone processor, or CPU, is essentially the brain of a computer system, like a smartphone. It handles everything going on in the smartphone – handling every computation and instruction required for the functioning of a smartphone. 

The CPU executes the instructions from the device’s operating system, processes the input and output, and manages the device’s memory. 

The difference between a smartphone’s CPU and a traditional computer’s CPU is that a computer CPU is a stand-alone component, while a smartphone CPU is part of a larger chipset called a system on a chip or simply an SoC. 

What Is an SoC?

A System on a Chip or SoC is an integrated circuit that integrates many components in a computer system in a single chipset. An SoC always comes with a CPU, GPU, memory interface, input-output interfaces, cellular modem, image signal processor, and more. 

Android phone brands use a variety of SoC manufacturers, such as:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon
• Mediatek
• Unisoc
• Samsung Exynos
• Hisilicon
• Google Tensor
• Spreadtrum

Samsung Exynos is used almost exclusively by Samsung, while Google Tensor is exclusive to Google Pixel devices. 

Apple uses Apple A series of SoCs on its phones and tablets. 

What Are Benchmarks?

Benchmarks are a set of applications whose primary purpose is to run standard tests to assess the relative performance of a component or device.

Some benchmarks test the device’s overall performance, while others test specific components like CPU, GPU, memory, or a combination of CPU and GPU.  

There are many benchmarks, such as AnTuTu, Geekbench, 

What Is AnTuTu Benchmark & How To Understand It?

AnTuTu is the most popular benchmark among smartphone enthusiasts. You hear about AnTuTu scores from every other YouTuber when they mention the performance of a smartphone. 

AnTuTu benchmark analyzes the performance of a smartphone; it tests the CPU, GPU, RAM, and more. It provides a comprehensive score after running the benchmark.

AnTuTu has an overall and component-specific score, such as CPU, GPU, RAM, and UX scores.

AnTuTu benchmarks run across Android and iOS, giving us a direct performance comparison between the competing platforms.

What Is Geekbench Benchmark & How To Understand It?

Geekbench is a cross-platform benchmarking tool that works not only on Android and iPhone but also on computers. This tool is primarily used for benchmarking computers, precisely CPU benchmarking. 

Geekbench benchmark scores consist of single-core scores and multi-core scores. As the name suggests, the single-core score represents the performance figures of a single-core in the CPU, while the multi-core score represents the performance figures of the CPU as a whole, but just under multi-thread loads. 

How To Determine the Performance Of A Processor Using Benchmarks?

The benchmark scores alone don’t mean anything. It means something when you compare the scores of one processor with other competing processors.

Generally, the latest flagship chipsets usually have the best benchmark scores across benchmarks. The benchmark scores also usually push the envelope in benchmark scores, making the older chipsets lower in the benchmark list if we make a list of processors ranked along with corresponding benchmark scores.

We can use this list of benchmarks to compare the performance of a processor with other processors.

List of Best Processors for Mobile in 2023 

Best Apple Processors

Best Snapdragon Processors

Best Mediatek Processors

Frequently Asked Questions:

Which is better? Mediatek or Snapdragon?

Mediatek and Snapdragon are great chipset manufacturers, leading the popularity charts and dominating other counterparts. Snapdragon focuses more on the flagship side of the chipsets, with most flagships coming with Snapdragon chipsets. Mediatek, meanwhile, focuses more on budget and mid-range chipsets. Both are equally good, but the choice will be made on a chipset basis. 

Which processor is the best choice?

The best smartphone processor currently is the Apple A17 Pro in terms of performance.

Is Exynos chipset better than Snapdragon?

Samsung has slowed down on the development of Exynos chipsets, so Snapdragon chipsets are currently better than Samsung Exynos chipsets.

Is Apple A chipsets better than Snapdragon in Android phones?

Usually, Apple A series chipsets are more powerful than their Snapdragon counterparts.

Which is the fastest Android phone?

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powered chipsets are the fastest bunch of Androids out in the market.