This thread I dedicate to sharing information about DAC chips used in smartphones.
Until now there has been many phones that audiophile comunity is familiar with, these have DAC models either listed explicitly by manufacturer or it was revealed by tech oriented users. Also, for quite some years Qualcomm chipsets feature embedded audio parts and these are well documented. I’m curious of the whole rest of smartphone army, usually with chipsets with no audio subsystem, borrowing DAC/amps from 3rd parties.
I’m no engineer but I’ve looked up webpages of chipsets manufacturers Mediatek (Dimensity and Helio) and Hisilicon (Kirin) and they don’t mention audio parameters, so if I get it right, they don’t have embedded DACs.(?) Similar with Samsung Exynos I suppose (although I guess they have some in-house external DAC chips..?)
Some links and info to start with:
Known phones - “Best Smartphone for audiophile” (courtesy of Head-Fi)
- google docs table (jan 2020)
My initial "wishlist to be identified” [mostly OLED phones with 3,5mm jack]
Until now there has been many phones that audiophile comunity is familiar with, these have DAC models either listed explicitly by manufacturer or it was revealed by tech oriented users. Also, for quite some years Qualcomm chipsets feature embedded audio parts and these are well documented. I’m curious of the whole rest of smartphone army, usually with chipsets with no audio subsystem, borrowing DAC/amps from 3rd parties.
I’m no engineer but I’ve looked up webpages of chipsets manufacturers Mediatek (Dimensity and Helio) and Hisilicon (Kirin) and they don’t mention audio parameters, so if I get it right, they don’t have embedded DACs.(?) Similar with Samsung Exynos I suppose (although I guess they have some in-house external DAC chips..?)
Some links and info to start with:
Known phones - “Best Smartphone for audiophile” (courtesy of Head-Fi)
- google docs table (jan 2020)
List of Qualcomm chipsets and corresponding DACs:
Snapdragon 205 | n/a |
Snapdragon 212 | n/a |
Snapdragon 215 | n/a |
Snapdragon 429 | WCD9335 ?? |
Snapdragon 439 | WCD9335 ?? |
Snapdragon 460 | WCD9370 |
Snapdragon 480 5G | WCD9385 |
Snapdragon 480+ 5G | WCD9385 |
Snapdragon 630 | WCD9335/WSA881x |
Snapdragon 632 | WCD9335/WSA881x |
Snapdragon 636 | WCD9335/WSA881x |
Snapdragon 660 | WCD9335/WSA881x |
Snapdragon 662 | WCD9370 |
Snapdragon 665 | ? |
Snapdragon 670 | WCD9335, WCD9341 |
Snapdragon 675 | WCS9341; Speaker amplified via WSA8815 |
Snapdragon 680 4G | WCD9385 |
Snapdragon 690 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8815 |
Snapdragon 695 5G | WCD9385 |
Snapdragon 710 | WCD9335, WCD9341 |
Snapdragon 712 | ? |
Snapdragon 720G | WCD9385 |
Snapdragon 730 | |
Snapdragon 730G | |
Snapdragon 732G | ? |
Snapdragon 750G 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8835 |
Snapdragon 765 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8815 |
Snapdragon 765G 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8815 |
Snapdragon 768G 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8815 |
Snapdragon 778G 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8835 |
Snapdragon 778G+ 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8831 |
Snapdragon 780G 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8835 |
Snapdragon 820 | WCD9335 |
Snapdragon 821 | WCD9335 |
Snapdragon 835 | WCD9335, WCD9341 |
Snapdragon 845 | WCD9335, WCD9341 |
Snapdragon 855 | ? |
Snapdragon 855+/860 | ? |
Snapdragon 865 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8815 |
Snapdragon 865+ 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8815 |
Snapdragon 870 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8815 |
Snapdragon 888 5G | WCD9385 // WSA8835 |
Snapdragon 888+ 5G | WCD9385 |
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | WCD9385 // WSA8835 |
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 | WCD9385 // WSA8835 |
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | ? |
My initial "wishlist to be identified” [mostly OLED phones with 3,5mm jack]
Motorola | Edge 20 Fusion | Mediatek MT6853 Dimensity 800U |
Motorola | Edge 20 Lite | Mediatek MT6853V Dimensity 720 |
Motorola | G31 | Mediatek MT6769Z Helio G85 |
Motorola | G41 | Mediatek MT6769Z Helio G85 |
Motorola | G72 | Mediatek MT8781 Helio G99 |
TCL | TCL 30 | Mediatek MT6765V/CB Helio G37 |
TCL | TCL 30+ | Mediatek MT6765V/CB Helio G37 |
TCL | TCL 30 5G | Mediatek MT6833 Dimensity 700 |
Xiaomi | Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Discovery | Mediatek MT6877V Dimensity 1080 |
Infinix | Infinix Note 12 Pro | Mediatek MT8781 Helio G99 |
Infinix | Infinix Note 12 Pro 5G | Mediatek MT6833P Dimensity 810 |
Huawei | Huawei Mate 30 | Hisilicon Kirin 990 |
Huawei | Huawei Mate 30 5G | Hisilicon Kirin 990 5G |
Huawei | Huawei Mate 40 | Hisilicon Kirin 9000E 5G |
Huawei | Huawei Mate 40E | Hisilicon Kirin 990E 5G |