I think I don’t want an AMD RZ738 (MediaTek MT7927) after all; I expect AMD will release an RZ800-series chip at some point that uses MediaTek’s new Filogic 360 chipset announced Nov 2023.
The old Filogic 380 in the RZ738 / MT7927 only supports dual Bluetooth 5.3. The Wi-Fi 7 is listed as dual-band dual-concurrent 2x2 + 2x2, whatever that means. If dual-concurrent just increases speed then I don’t really care. I want Wi-Fi 7 for its improvements in congested environment like my apartment.
The new Filogic 360 supports triple-band Wi-Fi 7 2x2, Bluetooth 5.4, LE Audio, and LC3. Seems to me that’s the latest and highest-end chip that would be what we’d all want. It’s quite confusing that lower number 360 = newer than higher number 380. This Digital Trends press article says devices incorporating the new chips should come out mid-2024. I really hope it also supports Bluetooth multi-stream audio and Auracast (broadcast audio), which should make Bluetooth headphones way nicer in video games with voice chat, switching between music and Teams/Zoom meetings, and even switching between phone+computer audio.
Here are all the MediaTek Filogic chipsets I could find:
| AMD name | MediaTek name | Chipset name | Wi-Fi | Bluetooth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | MT7921P/T | Filogic 320 | 6 | 5.0 |
| RZ608,RZ616 | MT7921,MT7922 | Filogic 330 | 6E | 5.2 |
| ? RZ8xx | — | Filogic 360 | 7 | 5.4 |
| RZ717,RZ738 | MT7925 ¹,MT7927 | Filogic 380 | 7 | 5.3 |
| — | — | Filogic 615 | 6 | — |
| — | MT7916 | Filogic 630 | 6E | — |
| — | MT7992 | ??? Filogic 660 | 7 | — |
| — | — | Filogic 830 | 6E | — |
| — | — | Filogic 860 | 7 | — |
| — | MT7995 / 6 / 7 | Filogic 680/880 ² | 7 | — |
¹ MT7925 uses Filogic 360 or Filogic 380, I found both stated in different places on internet. I believe it’s the older Filogic 380, not the 360. So weird. Found this wiki that was quite helpful, except it says MT7925 is Filogic 360 which I do not believe.
² Filogic 880 uses Filogic 680 per AnandTech.
In case you’re curious why I do not believe the MediaTek Filogic 380 supports IAL, it’s thanks to a friendly Redditor who found you can search Launch Studio - Listing Search for products supporting the features you care about. For example select “Advanced Search”, “Layers”, and “LC3” to filter to stuff supporting LC3. Add “IAL” to check for potential multi-stream and Auracast support. Filtering for both LC3 and IAL, and going back through September 2023, I can find no laptops from MediaTek supporting both LC3 and IAL. The RZ738 and so on pop up if you filter for just LC3, but not if you also filter for IAL. A number of laptops do come up, but those all use Intel chips:
- HP 14t-eu000 which comes with either Intel AX211 or BE200 chip
- A bunch of Lenovo, Samsung GalaxyBook, Panasonic Toughbook, Asus, Fujitsu Lifebook and other models which come with AX210 and other chips
Lastly, here’s a bunch of abbreviations I found; note only LC3 and IAL are layers available in the search above. According to the Bluetooth® Core Specification Version 5.4, multi-stream and broadcast audio are within the IAL layer, so I guess that makes sense.
- LC3 = Low Complexity Communications Codec, similar to aptX quality and latency but without all the vendor lock-in and licensing issues
- IAL / ISOAL = Isochronous Adaptation Layer, should enable listening to stereo sound and using Bluetooth mic at the same time – or even stereo audio and stereo mic, if you’re using earbuds or hearing aids
- CIS = Connected Isochronous Stream, for multi-stream bidirectional audio, an individual audio stream
- CIG = Connected Isochronous Group, for multi-stream bidirectional audio, for synchronizing CIS together
- BIS = Broadcast Isochronous Stream, like CIS but for Auracast / broadcast audio
- BIG = Broadcast Isochronous Group, like CIG but for Auracast / broadcast audio