Video: Is the SD480 underpowered? Nokia X20 performance fully tested

There is a lot of misconception going on regarding the SD480 5G, which some are calling a budget processor that shouldn’t be put on a premium device like the Nokia X20. But is this actually true? Let’s find out.

The video shows all benchmark results feature Antutu, Geekbench, CPU throttling, and Androbench, and how well the X20 holds up against the other Nokia devices like the 8.3, 7.2, 9PV, 5.4, and the newly released Samsung Galaxy A52 4G/5G.

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While we are at it, let’s talk about the 3 pillars of smartphone performance!

CPU/GPU Performance

While benchmarks aren’t an accurate representation of what to expect from a phone’s day to day performance, as they tend to measure peak performance only, they are a great indicator for how much power a CPU/GPU packs. So how does the Nokia X20 do here?

Antutu:

• Nokia X20 (SD480): 323,425
• Nokia 8.3 (SD765G): 374,406
• Galaxy A52 (SD720G): 310,904
• Galaxy A52 5G (SD750G): 303,493

Geekbench:

• Nokia X20: SC 513 / MC 1689
• Nokia 8.3: SC 586 / MC 1749
• Galaxy A52: SC 536 / MC 1,582
• Galaxy A52 5G: SC 415 / MC 1,492

CPU Throttling

This test measures how well the processor can maintain peak performance over a period of 15 minutes. Here is how the X20 compares against the 8.3:

• Nokia X20: Max performance: 155,320 GIPS / Average performance: 151,281 GIPS
• Nokia 8.3: Max performance: 161,397 GIPS / Average performance: 146,548 GIPS

This tells us that despite the 8.3’s superior upper limit of performance, the Nokia X20 can actually maintain a higher average performance over a prolonged period of time. Impressive.

Memory

What is just as important as the CPU/GPU combo is the type of memory that is used in our smartphones. Budget smartphones usually rely on EMMC type of storage, while more premium offerings go for the UFS standard (Ultra-Fast Storage). Think of it as an equivalent to having a laptop with HDD storage vs SSD, roughly. Based on my testing using Androbench, the Nokia X20 is most likely using UFS 2.2. Now this is huge news and makes a notable real-world usage difference when opening apps and getting info from cache, over the most commonly used and older UFS 2.1 found on devices such as the Nokia 8.3 and even the newly released Galaxy A52. But the theoretical advantage comes from a much-improved writing speed compared to UFS 2.1, and should definitely help keep the phone performing well over a 2+ years ownership cycle.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: An internal document has been shared with me that shows that the phone is in fact using UFS 2.1 and NOT UFS 2.2. I apologize for the mistake.

Optimization

The final and arguably just as important as the SOC and memory choices is the optimization. If you have used a phone that offers good specs on paper but then runs badly, you’ve encountered terrible optimization getting in the way of good hardware. I’m happy to say that the Nokia X20 has excellent optimization from my experience so far. It actually feels faster or at least on par with the Nokia 8.3 when it comes to speed and day to day performance when performing regular tasks.

I’ve installed over 200 apps on my phone to emulate usage for regular users that will download apps and forget to uninstall them over a long period of time, and I’m quite impressed. What also helps is that Android One is a very lightweight version of Android.

Conclusion

In conclusion, just because the 480 has a 4 in its number, doesn’t mean it’s a weak processor at all. It’s just that for Qualcomm, this is the entry-level 5G capable chipset, and definitely not an entry level chipset in Qualcomm’s lineup, and that is a huge difference..

In terms of performance and speed, the 480 is neck and neck with the SD720 and 732G, and even uses the same cores as the ones found on the SD765G., and in terms of gaming, the Adreno 619 is a very capable GPU. The only notable drawback of the 480 is that, for some artificial reason only Qualcomm knows, they limited its video recording capability to 1080p only. Sigh. I don’t expect every SD480 powered smartphone to feature the same levels of performance as the X20, unless they feature a similar optimization/component selection.

The UFS 2.2 memory is the icing on the cake though for the X20’s performance, making the device run very smoothly and open apps very quickly. I easily see this device lasting for 2+ years while still running smoothly, assuming the optimization is still done well on newer versions of Android and that completely depends on Nokia Mobile. So I hope they deliver in this regard.

So what do you guys think of the X20’s performance numbers? Did the results fall in line with what you were expecting, or exceeded your expectations? Share with us in the comments below.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: An internal document has been shared with me that shows that the phone is in fact using UFS 2.1 and NOT UFS 2.2. I apologize for the mistake.

Source for Galaxy A52 Benchmark scores.