This summer Huawei and its sub-brand Honor introduced a new graphics processing acceleration technology called GPU Turbo. Announced on the same date as the Honor Play, the new feature is said to be able to increase processor performance in demanding games, while also improving graphics and reducing latency for smoother gameplay.
The two companies claim that GPU Turbo can improve the graphics processing efficiency by up to 60%, while at the same time reducing the SoC energy consumption by 30%.
The new feature will be applied to a number of Huawei/Honor smartphones including the Honor 10 and Honor 7X via a software update. So is your device getting GPU Turbo? Check out the list below to find out which devices are getting the graphics processing acceleration technology.
GPU Turbo device list, eligibility and release date
Here is a full device list of the Huawei and Honor Android phones as regards the GPU Turbo. We have provided the device’s eligibility, release date status and the software version of the update (if applicable) for the GPU turbo software update.
| Device | Eligibility | Release and software version |
| Honor 10 | Yes | Since September 11 | Version COL-L29 8.1.0.143 (C636) |
| Honor 5X | No | NA |
| Honor 6A Pro | No | NA |
| Honor 6X | Yes | Not released yet |
| Honor 7 | No | NA |
| Honor 7A Pro | No | NA |
| Honor 7C | No | NA |
| Honor 7S | No | NA |
| Honor 7X | Yes | Since September 11 | Version B360 8.0.0.360 |
| Honor 8 | No | NA |
| Honor 8 Pro | Yes | Since September 11 | Version DUK-Al00 8.0.0.388 |
| Honor 8X and 8X Max | Yes | Available out of the box |
| Honor 8X Max | Yes | Available out of the box |
| Honor 9 | Yes | Since September 11 | Version STF-Al00 8.0.0.388 |
| Honor 9 Youth ed. (aka Honor 9 Lite) | Yes | Since September 11 | Version B187 8.0.0.187 |
| Honor 9i | Yes | Since September 12 | Version RNE-L21 8.0.0.330 (C185) |
| Honor Note 10 | Yes | Available out of the box |
| Honor Play | Yes | Available out of the box |
| Honor V10 (Honor View 10) | Yes | Since August 28 | Version BKL-L09 8.0.0.170 (C675) |
| Honor V9 | Yes | Since September 11 | Version DUK-Al00 8.0.0.388 |
| Huawei Mate 10 | Yes | Since August 11 | Version ALP-L09 8.0.0.137 (C02) |
| Huawei Mate 10 Pro | Yes | Since August 24 | Version BLA-L29 8.0.0.148 (C432) |
| Huawei Mate 10 RS | Yes | Since August 10 | Version NEO-L29 8.1.0.150 (C721) |
| Huawei Mate 10 Lite (Maimang 6) | Yes | Since September 11 | Version RNE-L21 8.0.0.334 (C185) |
| Huawei Mate 20 Lite | Yes | Available out of the box |
| Huawei Mate 8 | No | NA |
| Huawei Mate 9 | Yes | Since September 20 | Version MHA-AL00 8.0.0.360 (beta) |
| Huawei Mate 9 Porsche | Yes | Since September 20 | Version LON-AL00 8.0.0.360 (beta) |
| Huawei Mate 9 Pro | Yes | Since September 20 | Version LON-AL00 8.0.0.360 (beta) |
| Huawei Nova | No | NA |
| Huawei Nova 2 Lite | No | NA |
| Huawei nova 2 plus | No | NA |
| Huawei Nova 2i | Yes | Since September 11 | Version RNE-L21 8.0.0.334 (C185) |
| Huawei Nova 2s | Yes | Since July 18 | Version HWI-TL00 8.0.0.192 (C01) (beta) |
| Huawei Nova 3 | Yes | Available out of the box |
| Huawei Nova 3i | Yes | Available out of the box |
| Huawei Nova 3e | Yes | Not released yet |
| Huawei Nova Lite | No | NA |
| Huawei P Smart (Enjoy 7S) | Yes | Since August 30 | Version FIG-LX1 8.0.0.158 (C432) |
| Huawei P10 | Yes | Since September 11 | Version VTR-L09 VTR 8.0.0.383 |
| Huawei P10 lite | yes | Since September 19 | Version WAS-LX1A 8.0.0.362 (C33) |
| Huawei P10 Plus | Yes | Since September 11 | Version VKY-L09 VTR 8.0.0.383 |
| Huawei P20 | Yes | Since August 15 | Version EML-L29 8.1.0.152 (C432) |
| Huawei P20 Lite | Yes | Not released yet |
| Huawei P20 Pro | Yes | Since August 15 | Version CLT-L29 8.1.0.152 (C432) |
| Huawei P9 | No | NA |
| Huawei P9 lite | No | NA |
| Huawei P9 Plus | No | NA |
| Huawei Y3 2017 | No | NA |
| Huawei Y5 Prime | No | NA |
| Huawei Y6 2018 | No | NA |
| Huawei Y7 Prime | No | NA |
| Huawei Y7 Prime 2018 | No | NA |
| Huawei Y9 2018 (Huawei Enjoy 8 Plus) | Yes | Since September 11 | Version FLA-TL10 8.0.0.168 (TL10) |
But does GPU Turbo actually work?
Obviously, the real question here is, does GPU Turbo actually work, or is this just a gimmick? Well, opinions vary across the board. For example, the folks at XDA developers and GSM Arena conducted tests using a GPU Turbo-enabled Honor 10 while playing demanding games like PUBG and Mobile Legends. Both tests resulted in higher, more consistent frame-rate and improved battery efficiency.
However, there are people who argue that GPU Turbo is merely a cheap trick of rendering games at a lower resolution while overclocking the GPU. Case in point, there are many reviewers out there who claim they have not noticed any real improvements while playing.
But eminent tech website, Anandtech has a more balanced approach. In an in-depth piece about the technology, we find the following paragraph: “GPU Turbo itself is not just a marketing ploy, but rather a very real and innovative solution that tries to address the weaknesses of the current generation Kirin chipsets […] However much of the technical merit of the GPU Turbo has been largely overshadowed by the quite overzealous marketing claims.”
So the more realistic conclusion to be drawn here is that Huawei’s GPU Turbo does make a subtle difference in gameplay, just don’t expect anything too miraculous.
