The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
← Previous pageNext page →

    All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

    Discussion in 'Smartphones and Tablets' started by H.A.L. 9000, Aug 1, 2010.

  1. Phistachio

    Phistachio A. Scriabin

    Reputations:
    1,930
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    145
    Trophy Points:
    81
    And samsung did its homework too ;) The impressive Samsung Galaxy S III benchmarks are here - GSMArena.com news
     
  2. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,389
    Messages:
    10,552
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    456
    I have no complaints with my GNex. I love it.
     
  3. Phistachio

    Phistachio A. Scriabin

    Reputations:
    1,930
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    145
    Trophy Points:
    81
    I'm going to keep the GSII and pass the S3. The S2 will hold for at least 2 more years. Or at least until the next Nexus is released.
     
  4. Tree_Burner

    Tree_Burner Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    952
    Messages:
    1,708
    Likes Received:
    29
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Seems ok so far, however, the battery life seems WORSE than Stock. I thought it was supposed to be better?
     
  5. Phistachio

    Phistachio A. Scriabin

    Reputations:
    1,930
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    145
    Trophy Points:
    81
    Which build did you flash?

    Also, you have to wait for a few days until the ROM settles in and "assures" the battery life. But yes, battery life is a bit worse than stock, but the experience is much better.

    Galaxy S III Benchmarked by AnandTech : AnandTech - Samsung Galaxy S III Performance Preview: It's Fast
     
  6. Step666

    Step666 Professional chubby Chris Pratt impersonator

    Reputations:
    3,329
    Messages:
    1,922
    Likes Received:
    89
    Trophy Points:
    66
  7. Tree_Burner

    Tree_Burner Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    952
    Messages:
    1,708
    Likes Received:
    29
    Trophy Points:
    66
    using the most recent 5/3 build. i'll give it a few days.
     
  8. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    LOL. This.

    S4 with the Adreno 320 is going to be bawse.

    In the mean time though, Exynos 4412 has definitely not disappointed me. It's actually right where I expected it to be, performance wise. I bet that Samsung is using this now: CoreLink System IP & Design Tools for AMBA - ARM

    It would explain the ludacris performance increase from the Mali-400, since it was previously limited by bus bandwidth.
     
  9. Phistachio

    Phistachio A. Scriabin

    Reputations:
    1,930
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    145
    Trophy Points:
    81
    Not only that, but also shows that the GSII is still a hell of a contender in a quad core world.

    Ah, alright then. If you don't like, you can ultimately try AOKP ;)
     
  10. Step666

    Step666 Professional chubby Chris Pratt impersonator

    Reputations:
    3,329
    Messages:
    1,922
    Likes Received:
    89
    Trophy Points:
    66
    I'm not disappointed with the performance of the 4212, to give it it's new name.
    I'm just disappointed it's what they went for.


    Quad-core S4 with a PowerVR GPU for me please ;)




    Not really.

    It loses out to both the Galaxy S3 and the Tegra3-equipped One X in every CPU benchmark.
    It's only in the GPU benchmarks that it's competitive and that's only because nVidia can't make a decent mobile GPU to save themselves.

    Once a quad-core CPU is paired up with a decent *cough* PowerVR *cough* GPU, the Galaxy S2 will really show it's age.
     
  11. Rodster

    Rodster Merica

    Reputations:
    1,805
    Messages:
    5,043
    Likes Received:
    396
    Trophy Points:
    251
    What's the next Android super tablet I should wait for? I want one with a hi-res display. Now that I own an iPad 3, first one for me and a couple of Android tablets I gotta say I prefer Android over iOS. :)
     
  12. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    4212? New name?

    S4 with PowerVR will only be coming to Windows 8 tablets. Android will be keeping the S4+Adreno pairing.

    Indeed... and even then the S4 stomps them in everything that's not heavily multithreaded. Single thread performance is double plus some.
     
  13. gdansk

    gdansk Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    325
    Messages:
    728
    Likes Received:
    42
    Trophy Points:
    41
    S4 Krait is really a beast. I'd love to see them with their intended GPU (Adreno 3xx), but by that point I have a feeling the first Cortex A15's will be on the market. Maybe even with ARM's new "BigLittle" technology.
     
  14. Johnny T

    Johnny T Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    6,092
    Messages:
    12,975
    Likes Received:
    201
    Trophy Points:
    481
    What a horrible looking phone...............urgh..........
     
  15. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    The white model isn't altogether hideous... :p But that metal looking blue color, sweet Jesus. Looking at it makes me think of setting fire to my corneas.

    If they were going after the "nature" aspect of design, there would have been NO brushed metals. Soft earth tones and matte finishes are "natural".
     
  16. slapshot30

    slapshot30 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    50
    Messages:
    236
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    There is a wolfson DAC in the GSIII. That is a decision point for me. Voodoo + wolfson on the original SGS was amazing. Finally we can once again have a legitimate phone + music playing device for android. Hell, the original SGS could even amp some of my mid level cans to high enough volumes.

    Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
     
  17. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Well... that's it for me. I'll be promptly ordering/importing a GS3. :rolleyes:
     
  18. BigNerd

    BigNerd Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    538
    Messages:
    1,013
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I'd wait for the hi-res update to the Transformer Prime (TF700T?).

    Samsung was supposed to come out with a hi-res Galaxy Tab but who knows when that's going to happen. Plus if they do... it will probably have TouchWiz whereas Asus usually sticks with stock with small tweaks.
     
  19. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    I do hope the high-res Transformer uses something other than Tegra 3. I just don't know that it can competently push around that many pixels. Just like Tegra 2 was used in applications where it shouldn't have been... 1280x800 is just too much for T2.
     
  20. Pai

    Pai Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    464
    Messages:
    657
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    This is a bit off topic but it is still mobile related, applies to both Android and iOS. How come games like Persona 4 and Gravity Rush are never ported to/created for Tablet? The game themselves doesn't look that graphically demanding and there are already games in Play and App Store that have the graphic levels above the mentioned games. I wouldn't mind paying Vita price tag for game if the quality is there. Almost all of the well know games are port of older version (Soul Caliber 1, Original Max Payne), and the original titles are usually just rewrapped mini-games ie. angry bird, fruit ninja, cut the rope - all mini games.
     
  21. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    The developer doesn't want to put in the extra effort to port. It would likely mean reworking all the graphic elements and creating whole new UI layouts.
     
  22. Step666

    Step666 Professional chubby Chris Pratt impersonator

    Reputations:
    3,329
    Messages:
    1,922
    Likes Received:
    89
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Yeah, a week or two back when they announced it would be the 'Exynos 4 Quad' that would be inside the Galaxy S3, it seemed to adopt the name 4212 ( probably because that's what it was called in those leaked benchmarks) but that seems to have come and gone - it's neither the 4212 or the 4412 now.


    It's like Qualcomm hates Android :(

    I guess I just have to wait for an A15 SoC with a PowerVR GPU...
     
  23. Rodster

    Rodster Merica

    Reputations:
    1,805
    Messages:
    5,043
    Likes Received:
    396
    Trophy Points:
    251
    I bought a Vita because of Persona 4. :)
     
  24. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Quick exerpt from an article I'm writing...

    Exynos 3xxx denotes a Cortex A8 CPU, Exynos 4xxx denotes an a Cortex A9 CPU and Exynos 5xxx denotes a Cortex A15 CPU. The second number in the naming scheme denotes CPU core count while the last two numbers denote SoC revisions.

    Samsung hasn't abandoned that naming scheme. They've just given the public something easier to remember. ;)

    But I agree. S4 with a modern PowerVR GPU would be a force to be reckoned with. I guess they've got too much invested in driver and hardware development of Adreno for Android to drop it.
     
  25. Phistachio

    Phistachio A. Scriabin

    Reputations:
    1,930
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    145
    Trophy Points:
    81
    So, guys, what's the better choice : GSIII or wait for the next Nexus?

    Also, @Step, the GSII still is a damn powerful phone. Maybe not in benchmarks, but I have yet to throw anything at its mouth that doesn't fit.
     
  26. killkenny1

    killkenny1 Too weird to live, too rare to die.

    Reputations:
    8,268
    Messages:
    5,258
    Likes Received:
    11,615
    Trophy Points:
    681
    ^^^Do you really need a new smartphone?
     
  27. Phistachio

    Phistachio A. Scriabin

    Reputations:
    1,930
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    145
    Trophy Points:
    81
    Well... Kind of :rolleyes:

    The only thing that makes me move off the GSII is the screen res. Other than that I would stay much longer.

    If the next Nexus comes with Android 5.0, non pentile and quad core exynos, thrn I'm sold.
     
  28. killkenny1

    killkenny1 Too weird to live, too rare to die.

    Reputations:
    8,268
    Messages:
    5,258
    Likes Received:
    11,615
    Trophy Points:
    681
    So you're becoming a generic Apple user :D.
    Do you really need that resolution? Also, do you do some serious business that you would need all that power (lol quad core in a a smartphone, I still have an ARM6 600MHz, kill me now :D)? Mind you, you have not a bad phone at the moment.
     
  29. Phistachio

    Phistachio A. Scriabin

    Reputations:
    1,930
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    145
    Trophy Points:
    81
    I agree with you entirely!

    And no, I'm not becoming a generic Apple user, I'm becoming a generic Samsung/Google user :cool:

    I'm going to pass the S3, and will see how the next Nexus is, and if it is worth it.

    ALSO, HAL, I am now a Recognised Contributor on XDA now :D
     
  30. Step666

    Step666 Professional chubby Chris Pratt impersonator

    Reputations:
    3,329
    Messages:
    1,922
    Likes Received:
    89
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Don't take this the wrong way but I think you may need to re-write that article.

    If you go onto Samsung's Exynos site, everything is re-named - the only mentions of the old nomenclature is in old news articles.
    But the pdf data sheets, everything else now uses the new Exynos [x] Single/Dual/Quad names.


    I guess we need to look elsewhere then...

    The NovaThor A9600 uses A15 and a PowerVR Rogue GPU - problem is, it doesn't seem to have any on-board radio.
    OMAP 5 is A15 but only uses a dual-core PowerVR 5-series GPU.

    Both of those are supposed to be available later this year I believe.




    I didn't say it wasn't.

    But the truth is it's a generation behind the One X/XL and the Galaxy S3 and the gulf is only going to get bigger as newer, higher-specced handsets are launched.
     
  31. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Up until today I would have never agreed with you... but now the documents behind my login at SamsungSemiconductor have also changed. :(

    I REALLY wish Samsung would stick with a naming scheme. :mad: Now I'll have to rewrite that whole section on Samsung. :rolleyes:

    About the other deal though... good news is Exynos 5250 is sampling. :cool:
     
  32. Step666

    Step666 Professional chubby Chris Pratt impersonator

    Reputations:
    3,329
    Messages:
    1,922
    Likes Received:
    89
    Trophy Points:
    66
    It's not even just that they change the naming scheme, it's that they retro-actively change everything that came before as well - how many names has the i9000's CPU had now?


    Just slightly too late for the Galaxy S3 :(
    That said, maybe they'll use that instead of the Snapdragon S4 in the LTE variants?

    It would definitely be a leap forward IMO but I'm just not sure about the Mali GPU.
    I still think that PowerVR is the better choice.
     
  33. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Oh God, I know... it's been through 4 if you count pre-Hummingbird. *le sigh*

    Yep. Shame.
    I doubt it... but one can dream. That would put the US variant at a significantly higher performance level than the global variant. I don't think they'd do that.

    Mali-T604 is every bit as capable now that they've fixed the shortcomings of Mali-400. It's no longer a 2:1 ratio of pixel:vertex hardware. It's "unified".
     
  34. Step666

    Step666 Professional chubby Chris Pratt impersonator

    Reputations:
    3,329
    Messages:
    1,922
    Likes Received:
    89
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Dumb it down for me, what's this problem they've fixed?
    And did it not apply to the PowerVR GPUs as well?
     
  35. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Mali-400 had four pixel shaders and one vertex shader per core, along with other hardware. Compile that into 4 cores and you have a very unbalanced ratio of pixel:vertex hardware.

    PowerVR has been using a unified architecture since the SGX530, I believe. Any core on a PowerVR design can handle pixel OR vertex, in a sense making it FAR more capable than Mali. And that's why Mali-400 is geometry bound in some applications... like where the SGX540 on Atom Medfield and OMAP4 are just as good in geometry heavy applications/games, but Mali smokes them in other areas (mainly OpenVG/2D rendering).

    Mali-T604 corrects that, and offers a unified architecture with a LOT of power.
     
  36. killkenny1

    killkenny1 Too weird to live, too rare to die.

    Reputations:
    8,268
    Messages:
    5,258
    Likes Received:
    11,615
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Sorry, wanted to say becoming like a generic Apple user.
     
  37. Step666

    Step666 Professional chubby Chris Pratt impersonator

    Reputations:
    3,329
    Messages:
    1,922
    Likes Received:
    89
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Ok - is that the same thing you were talking about here?

    Also, even with that fixed, does it actually make it that competitive?
    I mean, as good as the Exynos 4 Quad is, does it's quad-core Mali 400 GPU match the quad-core PowerVR SGX543 the latest iPad has?
     
  38. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Yes. Mostly. The way Samsung implemented Mali-400 on the 4210 didn't give it all of it's avaliable bus bandwidth. By providing Mali-400 it's full bus bandwidth and also raising the clocks, it can compete with the SGX543 MP2 in most applications, but it can't hope to compete with the MP4 version. At 720p offscreen rendering the 441... Exynos 4 Quad will be sort of in between the MP2 and MP4 in some areas and actually slightly behind the MP2 in geometry heavy scenes.
     
  39. Step666

    Step666 Professional chubby Chris Pratt impersonator

    Reputations:
    3,329
    Messages:
    1,922
    Likes Received:
    89
    Trophy Points:
    66
    See, that's the thing - the only sensible/fair comparison IMO is between models with the same number of cores.
    And as you say, once you get them both up to MP4, the PowerVR 5-series is still ahead.

    So I just don't see Mali-604 closing the gap with the PowerVR Rogue/6-series.
     
  40. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,857
    Messages:
    16,212
    Likes Received:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    466
    You mean to tell me a Windows phone isn't going to be just as vulnerable to viruses, cassar? Oh yeah, that's right, their marketshare is a little low to be attracting hackers yet ;). Sucks to see this happen to Android but that's what you get with an open development platform that has no vendor-approved method of filtering and testing content to ensure it is not malware and relatively trouble free.
     
  41. Convel

    Convel Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,010
    Messages:
    736
    Likes Received:
    975
    Trophy Points:
    106
    For those that are interested LG has now announced their counter move to the Galaxy S III. Not much is known at this time apart from the non-PenTile 720p IPS screen, 2GB of RAM and 2150mAh battery.

     
  42. BigNerd

    BigNerd Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    538
    Messages:
    1,013
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    31
    So on Sprint... would the best phone be the Galaxy Nexus, the Galaxy SIII or the HTC EVO 4G LTE?

    Or something else (other than the iPhone5)?
     
  43. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Depends on what you do... Personally I'd go for the Galaxy Nexus or GS3 simply because one is a Google device and the other has voodoo audio with an unlocked bootloader. With the GS3 you'd just have to wait a bit for custom software.

    The EVO 4G LTE definitely isn't the prettiest thing I've seen lately. :rolleyes:
     
  44. Rodster

    Rodster Merica

    Reputations:
    1,805
    Messages:
    5,043
    Likes Received:
    396
    Trophy Points:
    251
    Gotta a chance to see the 7" Galaxy Tab 2. I like ICS, it looks sweet and felt snappy. :)

    I'm glad I kept my original Galaxy Tab 10.1 because it appears the new Galaxy Tabs are thicker.
     
  45. BigNerd

    BigNerd Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    538
    Messages:
    1,013
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I'm not a rooter... so I'm thinking the GNex would be the best thing.

    I would actually get the NexS because of the form factor but I don't like that it's WiMax.

    I've been tempted by the GNote (another possibility on Sprint) but that thing is huge.
     
  46. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

    Reputations:
    5,413
    Messages:
    10,711
    Likes Received:
    1,204
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Keep troll posts out of this thread or it will go to thread lock.
     
  47. Johnny T

    Johnny T Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    6,092
    Messages:
    12,975
    Likes Received:
    201
    Trophy Points:
    481
    So anyways, lets talk about Android devices.

    I am not sure if the GS3 or the Sprint EVO 4G LTE is worse. It's a tough one, the GS3 is mediocre all the way through, where as the EVO 4G LTE is decent for 75%, and absolutely disgusting for 25%. :p
     
  48. mrXniick

    mrXniick 8

    Reputations:
    1,548
    Messages:
    1,461
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    56
  49. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,857
    Messages:
    16,212
    Likes Received:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    466
    I, for one, am sick of locked bootloaders when some companies (Motorola) refuse to update their phones (Droid X here, no ICS, phone still within 2-year contract, phone continues to be buggy :mad:). At least Apple (locked bootloader) has a solid track record of updating their phones with the latest iOS even a few years after release (basically until they know all devices are eligible for upgrade).
     
  50. Phistachio

    Phistachio A. Scriabin

    Reputations:
    1,930
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    145
    Trophy Points:
    81
    So it's confirmed that it'll have an unlocked bootloader like the GSII?

    Well, if you're on the "GSIII is ugly" bandwagon, then go with the EVO 4G. If not, then definitely go with the GSIII :p

    All the whiners saying "Touchwiz this, touchwiz that" probably have no idea what "CyanogenMod 9" means. When CM9 reaches the GSIII, it'll definitely be the best device out there. (of course the design isn't for everyone, but I actually like it)
     
← Previous pageNext page →