Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek unveiled a new mid-tier processor it says brings the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) powered “experiences, brilliant photography and reliable high-speed connectivity to more affordably-priced devices”.

Vivo will offer “one of the first” smartphones powered by the silicon: its 5.5-inch screen Y83 smartphone which runs the device maker’s Jovi AI assistant.

MediaTek’s Helio P22 chip is said to be the first to bring a 12nm manufacturing process to mid-tier devices. It follows the launch of Helio P60 earlier this year, which has already seen strong customer adoption, including use in devices from Vivo and Oppo in India and China.

The silicon features AI enhancements powered by MediaTek’s NeuroPilot technology, which enables developers to either specifically target certain processing units (CPUs, GPUs and AI processors) or enable the system to intelligently allocate processes. AI-enhanced camera features including face ID, smart photo albums, and single- and dual-camera depth of field features are supported.

Helio P22 offers hardware-driven dual camera capabilities for 13MP+8MP configurations, with 1600×720-pixel display compatabilitiy to enable “beautiful, full-screen smartphones”. Dual SIM LTE connectivity and 802.11ac Wi-Fi offer “high-internet throughputs”.

MediaTek said P22 also supports dual 4G SIM cards, with octacore ARM Cortex A53 processors operating up to 2GHz offering high performance with low power input.

The chip is in volume production now and is expected to be available in consumer devices by the end of the current quarter (presumably the Vivo smartphone).