Many of you may be aware that there are different variants of MediaTek MT6589 chipset being used. The MT6589M is the cheapest version and MT6589T is better than the rest.
MediaTek MT6589M
The is a budget quad core chipset and don’t be surprised if you see it on some low cost quad core handset priced under Rs. 10,000. The best example is the Xolo Q700 that comes with the same chipset. The MT6589M is clocked at 1.2GHz and houses the PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU but operating at a lower frequency of 156MHz.
In terms of performance it will be slightly lower than the intermediate MT6589 (the one that is used on the Micromax A116 and the Xolo Q800 handsets).This chipset supports max qHD resolution and can decode / encode only up to 720p videos at 30FPS. This means that any handset using the MT6589M chipset will support max 8MP resolution and will be able to record in 720p (Max) resolution only.
MX player will not play 1080p videos in H/W mode; however you could probably be able to view it smoothly using the S/W decoder mode.
MediaTek MT6589
We have already seen this in action on many quad core handsets like the Micromax A116, Xolo Q800 and Zopo ZP980 to name a few. Now this chipset is slightly costlier than the MT6589M chipset. This one too is clocked at 1.2GHz and can decode / encode 1080p @ 30fps.
This MediaTek chipset supports max full HD resolution (1920×1080) and camera megapixel can be up to 13MP. It can record videos in full HD and can easily play full HD videos in H/W decoder mode. The PowerVR SGX 544MP on this chipset is clocked at 286MHz more than as compared to MT6589M.
MediaTek MT6589T
This is the advanced quad core version and slight costlier than the MT6589 chipset. It is clocked at 1.5GHz and has the same features as on MT6589 except that the PowerVR SGX 544MP is clocked at 357MHz higher than both the MTK variants.
Gaming experience should not be an issue on any handset using any of these 3 chipsets however it will be much better on MT6589T version as the PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU is operating at a higher frequency.
For gaming and advance users, before you jump in to buy a quad core don’t just go with the price but also make sure about the chipset that is used. For general users (not much into gaming), just look for the design and the price you can afford.