OPPO introduced MariSilicon Y, a new system-on-chip (SoC), at OPPO Inno Day 2022. The new chipset is designed to provide superior audio quality over Bluetooth compared to Bluetooth solutions integrated into SoCs such as the Exynos 2200 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The company refers to this chipset as its “Flagship Bluetooth Audio SoC” and asserts that it has numerous first-to-market features.
Bluetooth supports a 12Mbps data transfer rate and 24-bit/192kHz audio
The MariSilicon Y, according to OPPO, is manufactured using TSMC’s N6RF fabrication technology. Supposedly, chips based on this technology provide powerful network reception while consuming considerably less energy. The exciting feature of the MariSilicon Y is its 12Mbps data transfer rate, which is the industry’s highest Bluetooth bandwidth.
OPPO’s proprietary audio codec, URLC (Ultra Resolution Lossless Codec), is combined with a high-speed Bluetooth connection to “achieve stellar sound quality and a smarter, more personalized audio experience without draining the battery.” OPPO claims it has the industry’s first 24-bit/192kHz data transfer speed for audio (compared to Samsung Seamless Codec HiFi’s 16-bit 44.1KHz).
OPPO also boasts of the chipset’s computing power, which is 590GOPS (Giga operations per second). As we have no data on the processing power of Bluetooth chipsets in smartphone SoCs, we cannot determine whether OPPO’s numbers are good or bad.
OPPO also asserts that the MariSilicon Y is 33% smaller and consumes 66% less power, but has not provided a comparison point. Perhaps OPPO is referring to Bluetooth solutions integrated into smartphone chipsets by Qualcomm and MediaTek.
MariSilicon Y is designed for premium smartphones
According to the website for the chipset, “MariSilicon Y helps next-generation flagship devices,” which suggests that OPPO will use this SoC in its next flagship smartphone. Given that this chipset offers superior sound quality compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Bluetooth solution, OPPO’s upcoming flagship smartphone may offer superior Bluetooth audio quality compared to the Galaxy S23 series.
Do you believe Samsung should create a similar Bluetooth chip to improve connectivity and performance?
