Helio G99 is a well-rounder in the midrange segment, which is why brands often choose it for budget gaming phones.
Tired of seeing Helio G99 on so-called gaming phones? Well, there are reasons why brands market them that way. The first and foremost reason is price.
That said, we listed the common factors behind Helio G99 powering several budget gaming smartphones. When combined, these factors typically lead to affordable yet capable phones for gaming, photography, and multitasking.
Reliable Network
MediaTek Helio G99 is an octa-core processor announced in 2022 and is manufactured using a six-nanometer process. It’s considered an old chipset considering the number of releases in a year. But it remains in use and equipped in so many smartphones.
One of the reasons is being 4G/LTE ready. If you put a 5G-ready chipset on a phone, its price will skyrocket for low-income regions. Using a 4G chip instead can lower the price while giving a user enough processing power for gaming.
Thus, budget gaming phones are typically not 5G-enabled. This is not a true downside if the 5G coverage in your area is unreliable.
Tried and Tested
As mentioned, Helio G99 is created using the 6nm process, big compared to some standards. However, process technology isn’t everything.
One reason why Helio G99 is still in the game is because it’s already tried and tested on numerous devices. It’s out of the research and development phase and now a well-understood processor.
Don’t get it? When semiconductor firms work on a chipset, they spend time, effort, and money on R&D (research and development). The money spent on R&D must be regained so they can work on future models and other innovations.
Helio G99 is no longer in R&D and after three years, it’s likely half or more of its original investment has been returned. But MediaTek worked on it a bit longer to open certain modifications, such as for the clock speed or power consumption. The tweaked version creates a variant with a slightly different name.
Raw Performance
The raw performance of Helio G99 remains good despite its age. It has a clock speed of up to 2.2GHz and can support LPDDR4X memory and UFS 2.2 storage and 120Hz refresh rate. You can definitely play games on smartphones powered by this chipset.
The more curious thing is how phone brands will apply Helio G99. They are allowed to change the clock speed and make necessary adjustments to suit select parameters for their devices. So, it’s not entirely MediaTek’s fault if a chipset performs a bit off on some devices.
Helio G99 still scores 412,885 points on AnTuTu and can run the following games on these FPS and graphics settings:
| Gaming Title | Frames Per Second (FPS) | Graphics Settings |
| PUBG Mobile | 86 FPS | Low |
| Call of Duty: Mobile | 37 FPS | Ultra |
| Mobile Legends Bang Bang | 55 FPS | Ultra |
| World of Tanks Blitz | 66 FPS | Ultra |
| Genshin Impact | 48 FPS | Ultra |
As you can see, it performs fairly well on Genshin Impact at a very high preset at 48 FPS. If you crank the graphics settings down, you can play it at 60 FPS. It also means that Helio G99 can handle other visually pleasing games, particularly turn-based like Honkai Star Rail, Lord of Heroes, and Black Clover Mobile.
Very Tweakable
You may have seen the Helio G99 Ultra somewhere and that’s based on the original Helio G99. As mentioned earlier, a tried-and-tested chipset is more open for modifications. Although MediaTek doesn’t have to do it, a brand can apply its own preferred settings.
Let’s take the recently released Redmi Note 13 Pro 4G, powered by Helio G99 Ultra, up to 12GB RAM, and 5000mAh battery. This phone even has a 200MP main rear sensor. So, what’s the difference from the OG Helio G99?
The Helio G99 Ultra is specifically fine-tuned for this Redmi device. If you check MediaTek, Helio G99 can only support 108MP for the main sensor, but the Ultra version supports 200MP.
However, the changes aren’t massive enough to turn Helio G99 into Dimensity 9200, that’s not possible.
If the Redmi got a better and more recent Dimensity 5G chipset, the price will go above 15K. So, don’t be shocked why the phone is below 15K.
Good Camera
Helio G99 isn’t a Dimensity CPU but has Dimensity-class photography. Although not capable of flagship-level shots, no flagship can take totally perfect shots at all conditions.
Here’s the deal. Helio G99 can yield pics and vids with enough details when you zoom them. The quality won’t look like some watercolor paintings. It can do well on social media postings and even 1080p video recordings.
Some of its camera features include:
- 108MP camera
- 16MP + 16MP camera setup
- 32MP at 30 FPS ZSL
- 16MP + 16MP at 30 FPS ZSL
- AI Face Detection
- HW depth engine
- Single-cam/dual-cam Bokeh
- Hardware Warping Engine (EIS)
- Multi-Frame Noise Reduction
Takeaway
Helio G99 is and will never be a flagship chipset, but people don’t know that it’s well-rounded, compared to many others.
It can perfectly handle light to moderate gaming and manage some heavy gaming, depending on the settings. It supports 120Hz refresh rate, a lot smoother than 90Hz, and that means up to 120 FPS.
It has no issue on mobile data because 5G is only strong in major cities. If you have Wi-Fi 5 at home, Helio G99 can use that instead.
The camera support and features are enough for daily experiences. If you love to watch online, you can increase the resolution to 2K, which will look crispier on 1080p screens.
If you really want a genuine gaming phone, be sure to have 30K to 80K on your account. But if the plan is to just play favorite titles on your phone, Helio G99 may not be a bad start.
