Sunday Q&A

19 February 2017
Everything you always wanted to know about phones, but were afraid to ask.

Sort by:

  • K
  • Kangal
  • uCX
  • 23 Feb 2017

Anonymous, 20 Feb 2017SD625 is worse than helio x20 because it has worse gpu. Tha... moreYou're wrong, and I already gave you proof and explanation.

QSD 625 = better GPU, much slower CPU
Helio X20 = worse GPU, much better CPU

Game performance:
QSD 625 = GPU power, should win, but no it loses
Helio X20 = should lose, but it wins, no bottleneck

@consumersmartphone
Read!
We're comparing both SoC's to each other. And they're both have their strengths and weaknesses. I explained why the QSD 625 should win theoretically, but in practice, it loses to the Helio X20 which is a much more balanced chip.

Analogy:
It's like comparing two cars. One car is a brand new, very efficient, Volkswagen with a 4cyl 3.3L engine, and it has VERY expensive Pirelli racing tyres. The other car is an older, much less efficient, Mazda with a V6 3.2L engine, and it has cheaper Goodyear sports tyres.

On paper, the VW would seem like the better performance around the track because it has the better tyres and a very efficient newly designed engine. However, the Mazda, despite having slightly worse tyres, older and less efficient engine, actually has more power in the mid-range coming from its engine. So on a track the cheap Mazda wins, despite what regular folks like you think! about Volkwagen/Qualcomm.

    • D
    • AnonD-625786
    • 0@m
    • 21 Feb 2017

    Everyone here is just complaining and arguing with each other, while I am enjoying my Huawei P9 with the great Kirin 955 :D

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • P@Y
      • 21 Feb 2017

      abdul8, 20 Feb 2017plz add SoC choice in phone finder selectionit is a 'MUST', to make it more specific and easier to search phones through SOC in phone finder section

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • P@Y
        • 21 Feb 2017

        abdul8, 20 Feb 2017plz add SoC choice in phone finder selectionyeah right!

          • M
          • Me
          • LkD
          • 20 Feb 2017

          Anonymous, 20 Feb 2017SD625 is worse than helio x20 because it has worse gpu. Tha... moreX20 is a bit stronger than 810.. 625 is no match..

            • D
            • AnonD-535480
            • CSJ
            • 20 Feb 2017

            Pravara, 20 Feb 2017That is the one thing I always think about and want the rea... moreIt all comes down to costs/money. Silicon is expensive, the bigger the size of your chips/silicon, the higher the costs. There are other costs as well but silicon is the biggest. Apple can afford the cost since they make the chips for themselves and they don't have to worry about keeping prices down so their 3rd. party vendors can afford it. Qualcomm however does not have that luxury, they need to balance costs with what their partners will agree to pay.

            That's the case with snapdragons and others, the ASP (average selling price) spells it all too well. Last quarter iPhone average selling was $695 compare to android at $182 and Samsung at around $270. That's the reason Apple is able to make something like 90% of the industry profits. That price discrepancy allows Apple to spend big on their silicon where others can't. It's not the only thing, but it's the main reason.

              • S
              • Screens maniac
              • pEQ
              • 20 Feb 2017

              I would want to ad phone search by screen matrix panel (pixel) type RGB and pentile, also by Amoled and lcd, and screen resolution HD, FHD, QHD, 4k, oh and screen size, thanks if you will do this!

                plz add SoC choice in phone finder selection

                  consumersmartphone, 20 Feb 2017Yes, for now S7 is the only one with that issue with Nougat... moreOh, well thanks a lot for sharing. Xperia Z2 with 3,200mAh capacity is almost close to the Exynos S7 Edge endurance rating. I could only imagine what a Xperia XZ would be with the same 3,600mAh battery. Just wish Sony won't skip with battery this time around, aside from the size of bezels

                    • c
                    • consumersmartphone
                    • K5u
                    • 20 Feb 2017

                    JordanBaby, 20 Feb 2017Great news! At least it's not like the S7 Edge which probab... moreYes, for now S7 is the only one with that issue with Nougat in flagship class phone.

                    Improve battery life and increase performance: OP, Xiaomi and Sony. (we talk about flagship class), other just same or with small improvement.

                    S7 user and tester here-_-

                      consumersmartphone, 20 Feb 2017SaRPeR: Can you test the Sony Xperia XZ's battery life agai... moreGreat news! At least it's not like the S7 Edge which probably degraded the battery life like from 3,600 down to 3,200. S7 Edge Exynos Nougat endurance rating might be about 85-88h since a lot of users have complained about it

                        • c
                        • consumersmartphone
                        • K5u
                        • 20 Feb 2017

                        Kangal, 20 Feb 2017You're wrong. PC Games can be bottlenecked by the CPU, R... moreThink!

                        X20 is for hard using purpose but SD625 is power efficient. When X20 sacrifice power efficient to gain best performance, SD625 sacrifice performance to gain power efficient. So it unwise to compare both chip.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • pdv
                          • 20 Feb 2017

                          Kangal, 20 Feb 2017You're wrong. PC Games can be bottlenecked by the CPU, R... moreSD625 is worse than helio x20 because it has worse gpu. That's it. It couldn't crush helio x20 even with bettet cpu.

                            • K
                            • Kangal
                            • uCX
                            • 20 Feb 2017

                            Anonymous, 20 Feb 2017There is no cpu bottleneck. You got that info out of thin air.You're wrong.

                            PC Games can be bottlenecked by the CPU, RAM, or GPU. The same fundamentals apply to mobiles, because they are both computers at the end of the day, and they're both inching closer and closer towards identical forms.

                            The Cortex A53 cores are awesome.... but they're awesome in terms of efficiency and NOT performance. It doesn't matter if you clock them to 2.1GHz, have x8 of them, and even use 14nm lithography; it doesn't change its architecture. Sure, when you go to those extremes it will alleviate most of the bottlenecking, but not all.

                            Because we're not talking about just Apps here, we're talking about graphical intense demanding games. Especially some newer titles out there targeting the high-end.

                            Something like the Cortex A17's or Krait 400's would be needed to churn through the demand. Then there's the Cortex A57's and Denver-1 which can get the job done, albeit inefficiently. And lastly the newest architectures; Kryo 100, Mongoose-1, Cortex A72, and Cortex A73 would blaze past demands easily while sustaining power, thermals, and performance.

                            Proof?
                            On paper the QSD 625 should crush the Helio X20 graphics wise.
                            However, in practice the Helio X20 crushes it. So the CPU does affect it... even though the Helio X20 is at a disadvantage in terms of lithography and complicated deca-core setup. Here's a quick demonstration:
                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1GnJX3Rnh0

                              • P
                              • Pravara
                              • xLm
                              • 20 Feb 2017

                              That is the one thing I always think about and want the reason on how Apple is able to build such a fast processor whereas all the others fails to beat it. Thanks Ravi for the question and GSRAreana for the answer.

                              Still I wonder what stops the others to build such a processor which beats Apple. Is that because of Android optimization issue or the architecture?

                                Anonymous, 20 Feb 2017For gaming, iPhones are best. More games, lower res screen,... moreYa.. ios has plenty of good games and apps.. if money is matter for users then android is far better as you can have those apps for free by simply shareit.

                                Sometime brand cluster type of user. Rich, mid class and low class and pretender. Haja. All people want top end phone but not all can afford..huhu.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • mgK
                                  • 20 Feb 2017

                                  spottiest, 20 Feb 2017We cant compare diferent platform. IOS has its pros and con... moreFor gaming, iPhones are best. More games, lower res screen, and every new game runs for at least 2 years completely fluid. My iPhone 5 mastered all games except Pokémon go and struggled on clash royale

                                    We cant compare diferent platform. IOS has its pros and cons same as to android, windowsphone, meego and tizen. Some people has them all or some in hand.. every user has there own taste. Some time price and brand are really matter for showing off. Some want pocketable or compact other is big screen.. for gamer, they like beast hardware in low cost. Dont tell us people buy s7edge or iphone 7plus for gaming where in fact i see many user of it is just using for selfie and facebook and candycrash.

                                      regs, 19 Feb 2017Quite poor Q&A. Last answer is completely and entirely ... morewhere can i see the GFLOPS of all mobile chipsets

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • 0xI
                                        • 20 Feb 2017

                                        Kangal, 20 Feb 2017regs is right. When it comes to actual intensive mobile ... moreThere is no cpu bottleneck. You got that info out of thin air.

                                          1 of 3