Today Samsung announced the Galaxy S III which features their own Exynos 4 Quad processor. According to some leaked benchmark scores, it should offer the fastest graphics performance, topping NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4.
However, most US consumers will likely not see this quad-core beast inside their carrier version of the Galaxy S III. Samsung stated in their press release that “specifications may differ on the LTE version” and we are expecting that means they will feature a different processor.
We expect that AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon will all offer the LTE version of the device, while T-Mobile will go with a HSPA+ version. That means that only T-Mobile is likely to get the quad-core version that will be similar to the international version.
The rest of the Galaxy S III models with LTE will likely feature the dual-core Snapdragon S4, if previous rumors turn out to be true. This chip might not have as fast of a GPU as the Exynos 4 Quad, but it should still be very competitive in normal usage and battery life.
One smaller possibility is that Samsung might surprise US customers and go with their newer Exynos 5 Dual processor, the first chip to use ARM’s Cortex-A15 CPU core and Mali-T604 GPU. This chip was said to go into mass production in Q2, and it should be ready for the summer release of the Galaxy S III in the US.
Based on what we saw with the HTC One X, it really shouldn’t matter for now. Their flagship device had different processors for different regions, but we found that you couldn’t tell a difference in normal usage. However, that could change in the future as more developers take advantage of quad-core processors and upgrade their apps to be multi-threaded.
Either way, the Galaxy S III on AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon will likely be “dual-core” and not “quad-core.”
Does the processor found inside your mobile device really matter? The average consumer doesn’t care what CPU is featured inside their smartphone, but it’s always a popular topic among the hardcore crowd. Today’s hottest mobile chips are NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4, so we put them through a round of benchmarks and experiences to see which came out on top. The results might surprise you, so read on for the full details.
Devices
Finally, we have both the Snapdragon S4 and Tegra 3 version of the HTC One X. We wanted to keep things simple, so we only used three devices. I decided to go with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as the third device since it is currently Google’s flagship Android device.
Note: Our international HTC One X just received the 1.29 firmware update as we were working on this post, so we will update the benchmarks scores with new results if we find anything differs.
Benchmarks Used
For this round of testing, we used most of the popular Android benchmarks that are freely available in the Google Play Store. We decided to exclude Vellamo Mobile Web Benchmark since it is developed by Qualcomm. Linpack was also excluded because it’s a benchmark intended for use on supercomputers and it doesn’t produce consistent results on Android. Finally, for all browser benchmarks we used the latest Chrome Beta, since each device has a different default browser.
Winner – Tegra 3: Not many apps are optimized for quad-core, but several benchmarks are. Tegra 3 manages to score a healthy lead in Antutu, CFBench, and Smartbench. In Quadrant we see Snapdragon S4 eke out a close victory, but the results are within the margin of error.
Graphics Benchmarks
Winner – Tegra 3: Both GPUs appear to be pretty evenly matched, but we give the slight advantage to Tegra 3. In Antutu and GLBenchmark Pro Offscreen, we see Tegra 3 and Snapdragon S4 are neck-and-neck. Antutu does not appear to be a very intensive graphics benchmark and the Pro test is the less demanding test on GLBenchmark. On the most demanding graphics test, GLBenchmark Egypt Offscreen, Tegra 3 holds a 10fps advantage over Snapdragon S4.
Browsing Benchmarks
Winner – Tegra 3: On browsing benchmarks, Tegra 3 wins every round. It’s interesting to note that the aging Galaxy Nexus wins both the Sunspider and Moonbat tests which are single-threaded. This could be from code optimizations that are targeted at the Galaxy Nexus. We can see the four CPU cores in Tegra 3 really shine in the Moonbat test with web workers set to 4 threads. This should indicate that Tegra 3 should perform faster on Chrome when multiple tabs are open.
Battery Life Benchmarks
Winner – Too close to call: Battery benchmarks are a tricky thing. There are not many standard tests out there (that we could get to complete on both devices), so we used MX Player and put a video (recorded by a One X) on an endless loop. Both devices lasted just over 6 hours, with the Tegra 3 version lasting an additional 9 minutes.
I found it interesting that the Tegra 3 version saw the battery warnings at 14 percent and 9 percent just a minute earlier than Snapdragon S4. However, when it came to the last 3 percent warning, Snapdragon appeared first and then died first. It looks like Tegra 3 has some extra battery management tricks that turn down the 5th low-power core when the battery is on its final charge.
Both of these devices were just released, so I expect HTC will work with NVIDIA and Qualcomm to continue to tweak power management settings and extend battery life.
Update: NVIDIA informs us that MX Player does not use their companion core very effectively, and ends up waking up the main cores periodically during playback. Battery life for video playback should be extended using the native gallery app.
Update 2: Head over to Anandtech for more extensive battery life testing. Brian Klug found that the Snapdragon S4 has longer battery life when it comes to 3G browsing and WiFi browsing, while Tegra 3 wins at WiFi hotspot and cellular talk time. Again, it looks like the results will vary with different use cases and are too close to call.
Marketing Benchmarks
Winner – Tegra 3: This one is pretty simple. When it comes to marketing speak, four is better than two.
Gaming Experience
Winner – Tegra 3: On most games, you can’t tell the different between Tegra 3 and Snapdragon S4. However, NVIDIA has their TegraZone program which has resulted in several exclusive titles for Tegra 3. Thanks to these extra games, we think Tegra 3 provides the better gaming experience right now. Qualcomm also has their Snapdragon Gamecommand, but it doesn’t feature any exclusive games for Snapdragon S4 yet.
Keep in mind this could change in the future if Qualcomm starts writing fat checks to Gameloft and other devs for exclusive titles. Qualcomm is a much larger company than NVIDIA and they could outspend them on game exclusives if they choose to.
Browsing Experience
Winner – Too close to call: When I was on WiFi, I could not tell a difference between the two devices in day-to-day browsing usage. This could change in future versions of Chrome or with newer firmware updates, but for now the two devices are equal.
Mobile Networks Speeds
Winner – Snapdragon S4: Not much to say here. LTE is faster than HSPA+. Snapdragon S4 has an integrated LTE modem, while the Tegra 3 version is currently paired with a HSPA+ modem. This will always depend on your location and carrier, but on AT&T the Snapdragon S4 version is much faster. I achieved download speeds of 50 Mbps on Snapdragon S4 with LTE, and around 10 Mbps on Tegra 3 with HSPA+.
Drive-by Conclusions
Tegra 3 offers more exclusive games, right now: Thanks to NVIDIA’s relationships with game developers, they currently offer a better overall gaming experience since they have more exclusive titles. This could change as Qualcomm steps up their efforts.
Snapdragon S4 has a faster modem, right now: Qualcomm has the only mobile chip with an integrated LTE modem, which gives them an advantage in network speeds. NVIDIA says their partners will have LTE modems out by the second half of 2012, so this advantage will be moot in a couple months.
Both chips are awesome and you can’t really tell a difference in normal usage: Even though Tegra 3 wins a majority of our benchmarks today, I can’t really tell a difference between the two devices. If you did a blind test between the two versions, I doubt you would be able to tell which is the quad-core Tegra 3 or the dual-core Snapdragon S4. NVIDIA has an advantage in exclusive games and Qualcomm has an advantage in LTE modems, but both of those arguments are going to be obsolete in the next couple months.
At the end of the day, it’s the consumer who wins this round of testing. Both Tegra 3 and Snapdragon S4 offer a better overall experience than the current generation of mobile processors and it’s significant. After using the HTC One X, I do not want to return to my Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
HTC’s flagship device, the One X, has been available overseas for almost a month, and it finally arrives in the United States on AT&T’s network this May 6th. The US version is slightly tweaked and features a different processor, so many have wondered how the two devices would stack up. We were fortunate enough to spend a couple weeks with AT&T’s variant, so read on to see how they compared. Is this the best Android phone yet?
Video Review
Note: This video was recorded with the HTC One X. Head over to YouTube to watch this video in full 1080p.
1. Beautiful design
Carry the HTC One X around town, and you are sure to turn heads. HTC’s design firm One & Co did an awesome job with the One X and it’s one of my favorite Android phones of all time.
The device is available in white or grey, and I would highly suggest going with the white version. We found that the white version can sometimes get dirty, but a quick wipe with a cloth and rubbing alcohol cleans it right up.
Some people will complain that the camera lens sticks out when the device is resting flat, but HTC slightly altered the design on this AT&T version. We found the ring around the lens was a little thicker than the international version, so the lens will not scratch as easily.
Others have also expressed their concern over HTC’s choice to use physical buttons, instead of on-screen buttons like the Galaxy Nexus. I found there was a period of adjustment coming from the Galaxy Nexus, but they didn’t bother me after I got used to them.
Overall, the HTC One X is a device that’s fun to hold, features incredible build quality, and has a unique look that stands out from the mob of Android phones.
2. Amazing camera experience
This is the smartphone camera I have always wanted. For the first time ever, I now have an Android phone that is “good enough” to shoot video of other phones. HTC claims “it just might be the only camera you’ll ever need to bring with you” and we tend to agree in most situations.
Features of HTC’s camera include instant capture with zero shutter lag, extended depth of field (EDOF) to capture everything in focus, continuous shooting for non-stop, rapid-fire shots, backside-illuminated (BSI) sensor for low-light photos, smart flash for providing the precise light needed to produce great photos, and built in high dynamic range (HDR) imaging.
It would have been nice to see a dedicated camera button, but we can live without one in this case since the overall camera experience is still better than other Android phones.
HTC will also tell you their main camera features a dedicated ImageChip, 8 megapixel sensor, F2.0 aperture and 28mm lens, but the specs don’t really matter in this case. The end result is what we care about, so check out the sample pictures and video below.
3. Superior display
This display is unmatched. I thought the Super AMOLED Plus display on the Galaxy Nexus was the best thing around, but HTC’s Super LCD 2 display beats it hands down. It is not pentile, the text is super clear, and it’s much brighter than the Galaxy Nexus. Nothing I write will do this display justice, so I suggest headed to your local AT&T store to check it out.
4. Blazing fast 4G LTE
HTC One X Speedtest results.
My HTC One X has faster download speeds than my home internet connection from Time Warner. In my time with the One X, I found AT&T’s 4G LTE network smokes my Galaxy Nexus on Verizon 4G LTE. I know AT&T’s LTE coverage is still limited, but I found download speeds were around 2-3x faster than Verizon on average.
In Dallas, I was able to achieve download speeds in excess of 50 Mbps and saw upload speeds around 20 Mbps. This is sure to slow down once more LTE devices join the network (like the next iPhone), but AT&T currently offers the fastest mobile data connection.
Seeing these crazy results raises the question if we really need these kind of speeds. LTE allows you to download files at 50 Mbps, but the average user won’t find my cases to take advantage of that. About the only thing LTE is good for is burning through a monthly data cap 10x faster than HSPA+.
The low latency times (sub 100ms pings) would be great for online gaming, but there are not many titles that require that kind of speed. This should change as we see more console quality first-person shooters, but I’m not seeing many other uses for it yet. Streaming music and YouTube videos is still the same experience on AT&T’s and Verizon’s 4G LTE networks.
Having said all that, we were still impressed by the One X network speeds and can’t wait to see what apps take advantage of them.
5. Best Sense UI yet
“We got a little too Kung-fu with Sense [3.x],” said Jason Mackenzie, HTC’s President for Global Sales and Marketing.
If previous versions of Sense UI annoyed you, then you will be glad to hear that HTC toned it down a notch for Sense 4.0. I was never a big fan of Sense, but I found the latest version to be tolerable, and even enjoyable in certain cases. To put it simply, this is the first version of Sense that I don’t want to immediately turn off.
The only thing that frustrated me was HTC’s stock keyboard, but I quickly downloaded an ICS clone keyboard and never looked back.
We plan to do an in-depth look at Sense UI 4.0 in the coming weeks, so check out HTC’s Sense page for further details.
HTC still allows users to unlock the bootloader, so you can flash any custom ROM to your heart’s content. We have already seen CyanogenMod 9 and MIUI 4 ported to the Tegra version of the One X, and we expect similar ROMs for the Snapdragon version once it gets in the hands of developers.
6. Snappy performance
This is the fastest Android phone I have ever used. Some users have already complained that it’s not “quad-core” like the international version with Tegra 3, but we found the dual-core Snapdragon S4 inside AT&T’s model to be just as fast. I’ve had both versions of the phone for several weeks, and I can’t tell a different in normal day-to-day usage.
I’m no audiophile, but the HTC One X paired with Beats headphones produces the best sound I’ve heard on any Android device. I tested the One X with a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre MIXR headphones (normally $249) and I was blown away by the high performance sound.
Beats audio is mostly a software solution that includes an enhanced equalizer setting based on the content. You can toggle it on and off, but everything sounds much clearer and louder with it on and there is no reason to turn it off.
You won’t find a pair of Beats earbuds packaged with AT&T’s phone, but HTC did that for a reason. They did’t want to cheapen the experience by tossing in a pair of free earbuds. If you want the full Beats experience, you will have to pony up the cash and get the high-end gear.
I also enjoyed the sound level of the external speaker. It was much louder than my Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and perfect for watching YouTube videos on the go.
8. Medialink HD
HTC MediaLink HD.
MediaLink HD has to be the One X’s most underrated feature. This extra accessory creates a wireless link between your smartphone and HDTV that extends your mobile display to the big screen.
Users get full-screen mirroring, which means they can take anything on their phone and easily share it with friends. In my brief time with MediaLink HD, I used it to share videos and pictures, browse the web, and play games.
HTC has also created specific MediaLink APIs that allow developers to create dual-screen apps. Example of this include playing a game on the big screen, while using the phone to access special on-screen controls. Users could also play video on the big screen, while browsing around to other apps on the mobile device.
Setup was a breeze and the connection can quickly be established by swiping up with three fingers on the smartphone display. The MediaLink HD connects to any display with HDMI and is powered by USB. Most newer TVs that have HDMI should also have USB, so it’s pretty easy to hook up. Thanks to the small size of the MediaLink HD, it’s also great to carry around to a friends house, or hook up to that hotel TV when you travel.
Pricing and availability has not been announced, but we expect the MediaLink HD to fall in the $99-149 range.
9. On device storage is half of international One X, but still adequate
Some people might not like it, but on-device storage is on the way out in favor of cloud storage. AT&T’s One X includes 16 GB of internal storage, compared to 32 GB that we saw in the international version. Thankfully, HTC still throws in 25 GB of cloud storage via Dropbox. Google also offers an additional 5 GB of free storage space with their Google Drive service.
We understand that the average user will never use up 16 GB of space, but it would have been nice for AT&T to go with the 32 GB option. For this reason, we rate the storage options as average and only reward half a point.
10. Battery performance above average, but not the MAXX
One battery size does not fit all. It’s true that the One X offers the best battery life of any previous HTC phone, but you will still need to charge it every night with normal usage. We would have liked to see a higher capacity battery, like the 3,300 mAh monster found in the RAZR MAXX, but HTC has found that consumers prefer thinner phones.
For the last week I carried around the AT&T One X and the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, two flagship devices with LTE. My Galaxy Nexus has the official Samsung extended battery (2100 mAh), but I found that the AT&T One X and its smaller 1800 mAh battery lasted longer.
It’s nice to see that HTC has found a way extend the battery life with the Snapdragon S4 and software tweaks, but we would still like a higher capacity battery or the option to replace it with an extended one.
AT&T HTC One X9 / 10
I love this phone, and I don’t say that often. It would have received a perfect score if HTC went with expandable storage and a user-replaceable battery, but we understand why those trade-offs were made. Other than those two issues, it’s hard to find much to gripe about
Most Android phones are all the same and boring, but the HTC One X is truly different and I was excited with the opportunity to review it. Compared to my Galaxy Nexus, the One X has a greatly enhanced camera experience, faster performance, and longer battery life.
We receive new review units every month, but I generally only upgrade my personal phone around once a year. I’ve only spent around two weeks with the HTC One X, but it’s such a better experience than anything else that I don’t think I can return to my Galaxy Nexus.
Each user will have features that are the most important to them, and for me it’s camera performance and battery life. I’ve been carrying both the One X and Galaxy Nexus for the last couple weeks, and I reached for the One X every time I wanted to take a photo. HTC’s phone also outlasted my Galaxy Nexus in battery life, which was a major bonus.
When my friends ask me about upgrading their smartphone I like to say, “If you find a better phone, buy it.” The AT&T HTC One X is the best Android phone currently available in the United States, so I would recommend it to anyone looking to purchase a new device.
Keep in mind that Samsung unveils their next Galaxy phone on May 3rd, but we don’t know when it will be released or if AT&T will carry it. I’d suggest waiting to see what Samsung has in store, but go ahead and pull the trigger on the HTC One X if you need a phone now.
AT&T will offer the HTC One X for $199 on contract, but Amazon sells it for $149 on contract (includes new customers, upgrades, and add a line) or the amazing price of $549 off contract.
Curious how the Galaxy S III will match up with the competition when finally goes on sale this summer? Of course you are.
Early this morning some GPU benchmarks were leaked for a device with the model number GT-i9300, which many have speculated is the Galaxy S III. The numbers looked impressive, but we went ahead and matched it up with some of the newest platforms to see how they stacked up.
Daniel P. of PhoneArena first spotted the GT-i9300 benchmarks, which were run with the popular GLBenchmark. We like the GLBenchmark app because it can run tests offscreen at the same resolution, which helps us compare devices with different screen sizes.
If you want to see how your device measures up, you can grab this benchmark from the Google Play Store with the link provided below. (The latest version of GLBenchmark is 2.1.4, but you might see 2.1.1 below until the cache updates.)
For this quick performance preview, we selected five devices. We grabbed a pair of HTC Ones with the latest Tegra 3 and Snapdragon S4 platforms, along with a pair of previous generation Galaxy devices that featured Snapdragon S3 and OMAP4. Details on the chip names, CPU type, and GPU type are detailed below.
Please keep in mind this is only one benchmark suite and we are comparing numbers from a leaked device that doesn’t have final software, but the supposed Samsung Galaxy S III easily comes out on top.
We have a full performance preview of Tegra 3 and Snapdragon S4 planned for next week, so we won’t be discussing their results just quite yet.
Over the past couple of weeks we have been debating if the next Galaxy would feature the quad-core Exynos 4412 or the newer generation dual-core Exynos 5250. We were hoping that Samsung might surprise us with the Exynos 5250, but the general consensus among tech bloggers is that Samsung went with the quad-core Exynos 4412.
Some readers were already complaining that the Exynos 4412 featured the older Mali-400 GPU, which is the same GPU found in last year’s Galaxy S II that used the Exynos 4210. However, there are reports that the Mali-400 found in the GT-i9300 will be clocked at least up to 440 MHz, vs the 266 MHz clock speed found in the Galaxy S II.
Drive-by Conclusions
At worst, the Galaxy S III should easily have the fastest GPU of any Android phone when it is released in the coming months. At best, Samsung could still shock us with the Exynos 5250 (Mali-T604 GPU) and really blow away the competition.
HTC has finally come clean, announcing today that the HTC One will be available starting April 2nd in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This could mean retailers and service providers in the UK and other European countries who have already announced an April 5th availability date may start selling the phones a few days early.
According to HTC, pre-sales for the HTC one X have received a strong response and HTC expects it to be a chief revenue generator for the company.
Fortunately, rumors about the Snapdragon S4 production halt never really panned out, allowing HTC to get the HTC One S to market on time. We’re hoping that the European launch for the HTC One series goes off without a hitch so that HTC can regroup and focus all its attention on the pending launches of the HTC One X, HTC One S and HTC One V in North America.
Do you believe HTC when they claim that the HTC One is “the One you’ve been waiting for” or will you wait a little longer to see if all of the Samsung Galaxy S III rumors turn out to be true?
Last month we heard the HTC One X was coming to Sprint and today Jerry Hildenbrand of Android Central reports the device could launch as the “HTC EVO ONE.” This make perfect sense because Sprint has been using HTC for their flagship EVO brand, and want to keep the series going. The final device name could still be different, because we all know Sprint wants to throw “4G LTE” on the end before it hits stores.
Sprint’s version was previously rumored to launch in June, so that month is looking better and better. The global version of the One X is coming to other carriers next month, but it’s likely that Sprint took the extra time to customize the look of the phone (and wait till their initial LTE markets are ready this summer).
Sprint already has a press event scheduled with HTC on April 4th and Nick Grey will be headed to New York next week to check out the event. Be on the lookout for his hands on report.
Rumored specs of the EVO One include:
Black and red, thin, and has a kickstand as well.
Released June 6
4.7 inch, 720p AMOLED screen
1.5 dual-core Krait processor (Snapdragon S4)
2650 mAh non-removal battery
16GB internal memory
microSD card slot
Android 4.0 with 4.0 sense
8-megapixel camera with 2.0 front-facing camera
LTE
Beats by Dre audio
If you are on Sprint, does this device live up to your expectations?
Today Qualcomm launched a new promotion called The One Charge Challenge, in order to highlight the energy efficiency of their Snapdragon processors. They released a cool video called Around the World on One Charge to show what they accomplished with a single charge and are now asking users to do the same, in order to win a new Snapdragon-powered smartphone or tablet.
Battery life continues to be one of the top concerns among our audience, so it’s nice to see Qualcomm focus on this important issue. We actually saw the battery life of Android devices decrease in 2011 with the introduction of new 4G LTE networks, but Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon S4 processor should help reverse that trend. It’s built on a more power efficient 28nm process technology and it’s the first system-on-a-chip to feature an integrated LTE modem.
Check out the video below and head over to the Snapdragon Facebook page if you want to participate and try to win a new device.
How to participate:
Think of an awesome One Charge Challenge.
Choose to submit a video or photo of yourself. One submission only.
Give your challenge a catchy title & fill out the necessary information.
Describe what your challenge consist of. Let us know the necessary details and how it works. Being specific will help voters understand your challenge.
Heading into Mobile World Congress, the ASUS Padfone was one of the devices that I was most looking forward to playing with. I loved the ASUS Transformer Prime, so I figured the Padfone could be a hit too. However, what I found in Barcelona did not impress me.
The modular concept of the Padfone is a great idea on paper, but the final product might need a couple of revisions before it finds success. Where the Transformer Prime was sleek and sexy, the Padfone is fat and ugly. I found the Padfone with tablet station and keyboard dock to be extremely heavy, but most of that weight is for the batteries that can boost capacity by 9x.
The ASUS Padfone + tablet station + keyboard dock
I kind of see the appeal of expanding your smartphone view to a 10-inch display, but we will have to wait on the final pricing of the tablet station to see how practical that will become. ASUS also touted the benefits of one data plan for two devices, but I don’t know if US carriers would allow that. Back when AT&T released the Motorola Atrix, they charged extra to get mobile data on the lapdock accessory.
Overall, the Padfone will live or die based on how the carriers price the accessories and the mobile data plans. For someone like me that already uses a tablet and smartphone, there is not much desire for the Padfone as it is currently designed. Show me something new like a 13 to 14-inch laptop station for my smartphone, and then maybe I’ll be interested.
Check out the hands-on video of the Padfone below and let us know what you think. What price would you be willing to pay for the Padfone, tablet station, and keyboard dock?
At this point, we’re roughly 100 hours out from the official unveiling of the HTC Ville (HTC One S), but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing new to report. It turns out someone has been playing around with HTC’s new handset and decided to see what it was capable of by running the NenaMark2 benchmark.
Previous to today’s numbers, the highest scoring HTC device on the NenaMark2 has been the myTouch 4G Slide, which averaged a mediocre 46.44 with its dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon S3 chip. So how did the HTC Ville fair with the new 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 chip? The three-score average for the Ville is listed at 57.4 with a high score of 60.6, capturing the second spot on the NenaMark2 global rank chart. The only device with a higher average score of 60.1 is an Android Reference Design handset equipped with a Vivante GC4000 GPU.
We’ve already gone over the benefits of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon S4 chips, but it’s still nice to see real benchmark numbers from production handsets that back up Qualcomm’s claim of the improved processing capabilities in the new 28nm SoC architecture.
The guys over at AnandTech have put Qualcomm’s Mobile Development Platform with its MSM8960 chip (same chip that powers the HTC Ville) through a few more benchmarks and have done a great job of comparing it to the performance of NVIDIA’s Tegra 3. Their final conclusion is that the dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 chip holds a performance advantage over the quad-core Tegra 3 when it comes to everyday tasks, while both platforms are competitive in GPU benchmarks.
Qualcomm's strengths are clearly single/lightly threaded CPU performance as Krait is able to offer some significant steps forward in that department. Tegra 3 can hold onto an advantage in heavily threaded apps, but I'm not entirely convinced that in phones we'll see a lot of that.Anand Lal Shimpi AnandTech
Many of you are patiently waiting to see what HTC, Samsung, Sony, Huawei, Motorola and LG will be unveiling at Mobile World Congress. What we really want to know is what chip you really want in your next Android phone. Is the reduced power consumption and increased CPU performance of Qualcomm’s new chip architecture a better option than the crazy graphical performance the Tegra 3 chip is capable of with its quad-core processor?
When Asus announced the Padfone last year, many of us questioned the success of such an odd device. Who wants a phone that plugs into a tablet-sized display? Then Asus released their Transformer series of tablets with attachable keyboard docks and people saw the advantages of their modular design.
Asus went back to the drawing board and will unveil a newly redesigned Padfone at Mobile World Congress this weekend. The major change to the original concept is supposed to be the addition of a keyboard dock, similar to the Transformer. The concept design that Asus showed at CES actually worked with the original TF101 keyboard dock, but the new Padfone is expected to be compatible with the TF201 dock from the Transformer Prime.
This three piece combo was hinted at in a new teaser video released by Asus. The quick clip shows a set of matryoshka dolls with a message that reads, “1 + 1 + 1 = Endless Possibilities.”
I’m a huge fan of the Transformer Prime, so if Asus can improve the user experience even further then I think they could have a hit on their hands. Not many US carriers have ever carried Asus smartphones, so it remains to be seen if we will ever see the Padfone on our shores.
How many of you would be interested in a phone + tablet + keyboard trio?
) and I was blown away by the high performance sound.
on contract (includes new customers, upgrades, and add a line) or the amazing price of 
