• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Rumors and Speculation on Features and Specifications

Sammael said:
I have a question on the performance, why is it so much better than other dual cores? It can't just be clock speed, tegra 2 is only 200 MHz difference and it is getting completely smoked by the galaxy s 2, it is so far and away ahead of the others it seems like they are on some different class of chips which is why it needs an extra 200mhz to keep up with the A9 1Ghz chips.


did samsung just better optimize their software for exynos like their silky browser? Would a 1.5GHz exynos chip beat out a 1.5 GHz qualcom dual core or a 1.5GHz tegra 2 chip?

if so, why are their chips so far ahead?
Click to expand...

The omap 4 dual core 1Ghz chips are roughly the same performance as the 1Ghz Tegra 2 dual core chips and the 1.2Ghz dual core qualcomm chips. The qualcomm chip is an A8 based architecture and isn't as fast per clock cycle as the A9 based tegra 2 and OMAP4 (which is why it needs an extra 200mhz to compete w the A9 chips).

The exynos is a dual core A9 based chip as well... the 20% bump in clock speed is the primary reason it's faster but I'd guess it may also be because samsung did some work on the memory subsystem (since they also make memory chips) and possibly tweaked the software a bit. But honestly, I haven't found a good explanation of why the exynos is so much faster than the other dual core chips.

I'm waiting for anandtech to release their review of the SGSII series... they are about the only site I know of that digs into the low level architecture to explain these types of things.
 
will the Galaxy s 2 be the fastest phone, faster then evo 3d and photon? what makes this phone stand out compared to the photon or evo 3d? Why would I buy this over the photon or evo 3d?
 
Androidalltheway said:
will the Galaxy s 2 be the fastest phone, faster then evo 3d and photon? what makes this phone stand out compared to the photon or evo 3d? Why would I buy this over the photon or evo 3d?
Click to expand...

Although I'm very intrigued by the SGS2, all three devices are definitely considered a "Power House." They're all very fast, top-of-the-line and capable; and, at this point, are not even being used to their full potential. Upcoming Android updates will unleash their full potential by making full use of the dual-core CPU's. You really cannot go wrong with any of the 3 phones... Most of it comes down to personal preference.
 
Androidalltheway said:
will the Galaxy s 2 be the fastest phone, faster then evo 3d and photon? what makes this phone stand out compared to the photon or evo 3d? Why would I buy this over the photon or evo 3d?
Click to expand...

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is said to be the best or fastest phone out, mainly because of Samsung's Exynos Dual-Core chip which is arguably the best mobile Dual core chip inside of any phone out. The GPU is also very powerful so you wouldn't have to worry about not being able to play any High-Graphic games. Some other things that make this phone the best is the Super Amoled + screen which, In my opinion, is the best screen I've seen on a phone. The colors are amazing and you can't get true blacks on any other screen. Plus, it actually is more energy efficient so your battery life lasts a little bit longer (besides the battery life is said to be top-notch). The camera is better than the Photon or the EVO 3D (From what I've seen) and the browser is supposed to be blazing fast. Samsung phones can also playback more video formats than most devices like xVid and Divx (something like that).

So if the Within (or whatever they call it) is made exactly like the European Galaxy S2, it will be the best phone on Sprint. Check out this review to see more about the European version:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/28/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-review/
 
I'm primarily looking at a new phone because I want faster web browsing. All current smartphones are cpu limited when browsing desktop based websites... and the lag associated with that really bothers me.

Pocketnow did a running series for a while where they did head to head matchups between some of the latest and greatest androids... here's one comparing the Evo 3D to the SGS2:
HTC EVO 3D vs. Samsung Galaxy S 2 (Video)

The SGS2 has pretty handily beat every phone it's gone up against.

The speed is the primary draw for me but the fact that it has solid battery life, one of the best camera/camcorders and a really nice screen is all icing on the cake.

Supposedly the sprint version that has gone thru the FCC is closer in size to the infuse on AT&T... which is a bummer as far as I'm concerned (4" screens are the sweet spot IMO), but outside of that I'm pretty excited about this phone.

...and I don't mean to bag on the Evo 3D or the Photon, both of which are really nice, fast phones (I love HTC's sense and the build quality on the photon is top notch).
 
apinkel said:
I'm primarily looking at a new phone because I want faster web browsing. All current smartphones are cpu limited when browsing desktop based websites... and the lag associated with that really bothers me.

Pocketnow did a running series for a while where they did head to head matchups between some of the latest and greatest androids... here's one comparing the Evo 3D to the SGS2:
HTC EVO 3D vs. Samsung Galaxy S 2 (Video)

The SGS2 has pretty handily beat every phone it's gone up against.

The speed is the primary draw for me but the fact that it has solid battery life, one of the best camera/camcorders and a really nice screen is all icing on the cake.

Supposedly the sprint version that has gone thru the FCC is closer in size to the infuse on AT&T... which is a bummer as far as I'm concerned (4" screens are the sweet spot IMO), but outside of that I'm pretty excited about this phone.

...and I don't mean to bag on the Evo 3D or the Photon, both of which are really nice, fast phones (I love HTC's sense and the build quality on the photon is top notch).
Click to expand...

I agree. I suppose the problem here is that alot of the current rumors and info (such as the FCC leak) are pointing to this phone NOT being like the european version. This is a true bummer IMHO. I was drawn to this phone because of the size (european size), the Exynos CPU, etc. However, now it seems the rumors are pointing towards a different chip and we already have confirmation that the size is larger in two dimensions. Bummer.....
 
apinkel said:
The omap 4 dual core 1Ghz chips are roughly the same performance as the 1Ghz Tegra 2 dual core chips and the 1.2Ghz dual core qualcomm chips. The qualcomm chip is an A8 based architecture and isn't as fast per clock cycle as the A9 based tegra 2 and OMAP4 (which is why it needs an extra 200mhz to compete w the A9 chips).

The exynos is a dual core A9 based chip as well... the 20% bump in clock speed is the primary reason it's faster but I'd guess it may also be because samsung did some work on the memory subsystem (since they also make memory chips) and possibly tweaked the software a bit. But honestly, I haven't found a good explanation of why the exynos is so much faster than the other dual core chips.

I'm waiting for anandtech to release their review of the SGSII series... they are about the only site I know of that digs into the low level architecture to explain these types of things.
Click to expand...


I just saw some reviews of the motorola photon 4g, it seems like their tegra 2 inside that phones performs a bit closer to the galaxy s 2, the quadrant ranges from 2300s to 26-2700s, apparently motorolas skin on this newer phone is much lighter so that may have something to do with the performance increase. I have also heard the browser is snappier than some others, though I would really like to see a side by side test with the photon 4g and the s2.

If the galaxy s ii is announced to be released later than september or possible at the very tail end of september, I may just bite the bullet on the photon.


motorolaphoton4greview05-1313404360.jpg



The photon is in the center, and though it has a pentile display, it looks like a higher quality display, and shots of it compared to the evo 3d are favorable, look at the whites here...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjDbyQBO3dE#t=5m47s

... I hate the auto embedding of youtube, it does not preserve my precise time skip marker, skip manually to around 5m47s

or paste this after youtube.com/

watch?v=kjDbyQBO3dE#t=5m47s



the blacks look better, and the whites whiter, not s amoled + level, but acceptable screen imo, especially if I am forced to wait more than another god damn month.


I hope I don't have to switch, the photons camera is still weaker, and still a hair slower, and does not have that super amazing screen, but the wait... so long...


edit:

crap, just saw a another sample of the gs II camera @ 1080p...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjANZs2e0vE


god in heaven I don't believe in, give me the strength to hold on just a bit longer...
 
Yeah, I should have mention, I'm focused on web browsing performance so I look for browsing speed comparisons. Benchmarks have their place but it's not something that I've found very useful for determining browsing performance. The tegra 2 tends to do very well in benchmarks since most benchmarks weight 3D/gaming performance pretty strongly (a strong suit of the tegra 2).

Here's a head-to-head of the SGS2 against a tegra 2 based phone:
Dual-Core Face Off: Optimus 2x vs. Galaxy S 2 (Video)

The photon screen is incredibly bright. It has a pentile sub-pixel arrangement with an extra white sub-pixel that allows the screen perform very well outdoors, but the arrangement also doesn't render some screen elements as smoothly as a traditional rgb sub-pixel screen. The Evo 3D has a very good screen, accurate, good contrast, etc.. The SAMOLED on the SGS2 has unmatched contrast, deep blacks, it's bright and has good outdoor performance. About the only downside is the fact that it's still 800x480 instead of qHD resolution like the Evo 3D and photon.
 
apinkel said:
Yeah, I should have mention, I'm focused on web browsing performance so I look for browsing speed comparisons. Benchmarks have their place but it's not something that I've found very useful for determining browsing performance. The tegra 2 tends to do very well in benchmarks since most benchmarks weight 3D/gaming performance pretty strongly (a strong suit of the tegra 2).

Here's a head-to-head of the SGS2 against a tegra 2 based phone:
Dual-Core Face Off: Optimus 2x vs. Galaxy S 2 (Video)

The photon screen is incredibly bright. It has a pentile sub-pixel arrangement with an extra white sub-pixel that allows the screen perform very well outdoors, but the arrangement also doesn't render some screen elements as smoothly as a traditional rgb sub-pixel screen. The Evo 3D has a very good screen, accurate, good contrast, etc.. The SAMOLED on the SGS2 has unmatched contrast, deep blacks, it's bright and has good outdoor performance. About the only downside is the fact that it's still 800x480 instead of qHD resolution like the Evo 3D and photon.
Click to expand...

But you have to realize that pentile matrix on Moto's qHD screen reduces the sharpness to WVGA level effectively. So SAMOLED+ with square RGB pixels would be just as sharp as pentile matrix qHD on PHOTON. Evo 3D doesn't have this pentile matrix problem though.
 
toolwarrior said:
I agree. I suppose the problem here is that alot of the current rumors and info (such as the FCC leak) are pointing to this phone NOT being like the european version. This is a true bummer IMHO. I was drawn to this phone because of the size (european size), the Exynos CPU, etc. However, now it seems the rumors are pointing towards a different chip and we already have confirmation that the size is larger in two dimensions. Bummer.....
Click to expand...

Right now, it looks like T-mobile and Verizon are getting 1.5Ghz dual core snapdragon in their versions of SGSII instead of Exynos. I guess it's probably because Exynos doesn't get along well with LTE radio for Verizon. Not sure why T-mobile Hercules is also getting dual snapdragon though.

However, there have been no indication that AT&T Attain, Sprint Within are getting difference processor as far as I know. So it may end up that AT&T and Sprint are getting true SGSII like devices while other two are getting dual snap based devices. 1.5Ghz dual snapdragon is no slouch either but I prefer Exynos.
 
jinwons said:
But you have to realize that pentile matrix on Moto's qHD screen reduces the sharpness to WVGA level effectively. So SAMOLED+ with square RGB pixels would be just as sharp as pentile matrix qHD on PHOTON. Evo 3D doesn't have this pentile matrix problem though.
Click to expand...

It depends what you are viewing... anandtech's review of the Driod X2 did a good job of covering the pros and cons of the RGBW screens (the same type of screen moto is using in the photon):
AnandTech - Motorola Droid X2 Review - A Droid X with Tegra 2

I went in to check out a photon and I agree with their assessment... on black and white text it's a sharp screen, I didn't notice any adverse affects of the pentile screen in that usage scenario... but it is noticeable on colors. The big advantage is the brightness is outdoor visibility... reading owner posts it sounds like there's not a situation where you can't easily read the screen.
 
jinwons said:
Right now, it looks like T-mobile and Verizon are getting 1.5Ghz dual core snapdragon in their versions of SGSII instead of Exynos. I guess it's probably because Exynos doesn't get along well with LTE radio for Verizon. Not sure why T-mobile Hercules is also getting dual snapdragon though.

However, there have been no indication that AT&T Attain, Sprint Within are getting difference processor as far as I know. So it may end up that AT&T and Sprint are getting true SGSII like devices while other two are getting dual snap based devices. 1.5Ghz dual snapdragon is no slouch either but I prefer Exynos.
Click to expand...

+1 No doubt. I can live with the 1.5Ghz dual core Snapdragon, as well. :D
 
toolwarrior said:
+1 No doubt. I can live with the 1.5Ghz dual core Snapdragon, as well. :D
Click to expand...

Now here are some more interesting reports, food for thoughts.

If Hercules going to T-mobile is really getting this kind of performance, the AP in it must be Exynos. That kind of quadrant score is not achievable with dual snapdragon. It makes wonder if Sammy downplayed SGSII spec for t-mobile in medias to surprise us when it's announced finally?

Also in the second link, they say Verizon SGSII is getting Exynos plus LTE, which is hard to believe. They didn't mention any source, so not sure if this is true. But if that's real, it would be like dream comes true.:cool:

TELUS Samsung Galaxy S II Hercules surfaces again! | MobileSyrup.com

Samsung Galaxy S II Verizon Full Specifications And Price Details - Gadgetian
 
jinwons said:
Now here are some more interesting reports, food for thoughts.

If Hercules going to T-mobile is really getting this kind of performance, the AP in it must be Exynos. That kind of quadrant score is not achievable with dual snapdragon. It makes wonder if Sammy downplayed SGSII spec for t-mobile in medias to surprise us when it's announced finally?

Also in the second link, they say Verizon SGSII is getting Exynos plus LTE, which is hard to believe. They didn't mention any source, so not sure if this is true. But if that's real, it would be like dream comes true.:cool:

TELUS Samsung Galaxy S II Hercules surfaces again! | MobileSyrup.com

Samsung Galaxy S II Verizon Full Specifications And Price Details - Gadgetian
Click to expand...

:D I like the way you think sir.......
 
Sounds like Samsung is feeding rumors to keep people from forgetting about the phone. This is the US, out of sight, out of mind. You can't tell me it makes any business sense whatsoever to let your competitors products come out first and have people locked into contracts by the time your phone comes out. They've cost themselves plenty by being slow to get this phone out.

Samsung is just slow, just like they are with the software updates.
 
Anyone know of a way to determine what processor is in a phone if you have said phone in your hand?
Ie exynos or tegra2
 
Mr. Ed said:
Anyone know of a way to determine what processor is in a phone if you have said phone in your hand?
Ie exynos or tegra2
Click to expand...

First of all, you can see the clock speed from spec when it comes out. If it's 1.2Ghz it must be Exynos as Tegra2 has been always 1.0Ghz.

If you still doubt after checking clock speed, you can run standard Quadrant (though it's not really proper for dual cores) on it. If it gets over 3000, it must exynos as tegra2 will perform near 2500. You may also try Antutu which breaks it down to many categories (cpu, memory, I/O, graphics) and compare it to published results on exynos and tegra2.
 
Thank you everyone!!!

It scored 3100+ on the benchmarks!

55 mflops on linpack.

this was an att variant but I imagine the two will be similar.
 
Mr. Ed said:
Thank you everyone!!!

It scored 3100+ on the benchmarks!

55 mflops on linpack.

this was an att variant but I imagine the two will be similar.
Click to expand...

This is very good news. So you got your hands on the AT&T S2? What size display? How does it look? God, I have a hundred questions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom