MediaTek Helio G85 phones: benchmarks, gaming & which to buy

What the MediaTek Helio G85 delivers in real phones: benchmark scores, gaming performance, battery efficiency and the phones that ship with it.

What the Helio G85 is

MediaTek's entry-level staple from 2020 — a chip that has outlived entire flagship generations because it does the basics cheaply and reliably. It ranks #74 of 79 in our catalog (AnTuTu about 349K, Geekbench 6 near 420 single-core and 1,460 multi-core). Full scores on the Helio G85 page.

What it's like to use

This is not a performance chip — our gaming scale puts it at the very bottom, and that is the honest framing: calls, messaging, streaming and light apps work; anything demanding tests your patience. What G85 phones do deliver is screen and battery per dollar, which is exactly the trade the entry segment is about.

Phones that ship with it

PhoneYearLaunch price
Tecno Camon 192022$185
Tecno Camon 202023$160
Tecno Spark 202023$125
Tecno Pova 22021$150

Buying advice

New pricing is the whole story here — the Tecno Spark 20 launched at $125, and our Spark 20 review shows how far that money now goes on screen and battery. The Camon 20 review covers the camera-first variant at $160. Our used-price coverage for this roster is thin, so treat the used market cautiously and compare against new pricing first. One rung up, the Dimensity 7300 guide shows what a modern midrange budget buys.

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 single-core 419 #73 of 80 SoCs
Geekbench 6 multi-core 1,461 #69 of 80 SoCs
AnTuTu benchmark 348,562 #74 of 80 SoCs