What does it mean when a smartphone has a deca-core processor?

Deca-core processor: From a technical view

Many people assume that a smartphone with more cores will offer better performance. This is correct in SOME cases. Before getting specific, I want to explain about two basic terms: the core and the clock speed. You must have heard about phones with quad-core, octa-core or even deca-core processor. Actually, each core is a physical tiny CPU that works independently. The more cores, the more tasks your phone can conduct AT THE SAME TIME.

About the clock speed, it is realised by the GHz number attached to the processor. The higher clock speed, the faster a SINGLE CORE can complete one mission. At this point, you may think that a deca-core processor is really powerful. Well, you should think again! Most smartphone apps and functions are single-threaded, which means each app or function will be handled by ONLY ONE core at a time. So if you play a super heavy single-threaded game on a deca-core phone, only one core will be used.

In that case, the clock speed counts THE MOST! If you play that game on a dual-core phone with higher clock speed, the performance is still better! There are only a few apps which are multi-threaded (the app can separate itself into parts so that each part is handled by one single core) because it’s very complicated to develop such apps. So a deca-core processor with low clock speed still can not compete with a fewer-core processor with high clock speed.

Deca-core processor: Is it worth the money?

We all know that deca-core processor is a rare and expensive feature in the mobile industry. So is it really worth the money? It depends on! If the deca-core processor comes with high clock speed, it is a masterpiece! However, if you are the one that often runs 10 different apps at the same time (I bet most of you don’t), this feature is made for you! In another case, a quad-core or an octa-core processor with high clock speed already offers seamless performance!