Flashback: a look back at Intel-powered smartphones and tablets

06 November 2022
In the early days of PDAs and smartphones Intel was selling ARM-based chips. Later it had a go at x86 smartphone chipsets but those weren't as popular.

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  • Gnusmas
  • nrN
  • 06 Nov 2022

i had smartphone and tablet from Asus with Intel chips back in 2015-2016, oh god it was horrible experience, overheating with basic tasks, horrible battery life, horrible photos due to bad ISP.

    kek, 06 Nov 2022If x86 was still around on Android, custom roms nowadays wo... moreyou can run full linux many phones out there, some even support windows 10 and 11

      • k
      • kek
      • GBh
      • 06 Nov 2022

      Anonymous, 06 Nov 2022You must be crazy or mad to prefer X86 on a mobile platform.If x86 was still around on Android, custom roms nowadays would be running full desktop linux on devices instead of just a rooted rom to escape the limitations imposed by Google.....

        Not quite sure but I heard x86 smartphones and tablets were dropped due to app compatibility issues in Android.

          • A
          • Andre
          • LkS
          • 06 Nov 2022

          My Motorola Razr I was a great device. A solid performance and a good screen.

            Sin, 06 Nov 2022The problem is lack of manufacturers making x86 hardware &a... moreintel discontinued that brand, at that time they target 2W per core,but now they use around 6W so they cant be used in phones.

            also Arm was on fire, from cortex A72 to A78 they had huge perfomance increase every generation, Intel couldnt match that.

            but now they have chance, E core even though use more power its competitive with cortex X series, probably in few year they may match Arm in power usage, around lunar lake.

              I remember the phones with Intel atom, they were pretty competitive with snapdragon offerings at the time. Intel should have persisted with their smartphone SOCs

                • S
                • Sin
                • pYQ
                • 06 Nov 2022

                Anonymous, 06 Nov 2022You must be crazy or mad to prefer X86 on a mobile platform.Arm processors are a lot better and superior in performance & battery life on mobile devices and have better optimization and more efficient and even more affordable

                It's more for compatibility reasons for wanting x86 hardware for x86 software compatibility reasons

                  • S
                  • Sin
                  • pYQ
                  • 06 Nov 2022

                  Hemedans, 06 Nov 2022Atom didnt die though they were just rebranded, gemini lake... moreThe problem is lack of manufacturers making x86 hardware & smartphones

                  Such processors will probably not see the light of day in a smartphone if any smartphones that are modern being made am unaware of please tell me

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • vG@
                    • 06 Nov 2022

                    Sin, 06 Nov 2022It's is very sad Intel atom processors and windows pho... moreYou must be crazy or mad to prefer X86 on a mobile platform.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 6wN
                      • 06 Nov 2022

                      Anonymous, 06 Nov 2022OneUI needs core i9 gen 13 to match phones powered by 8g1. One UI isn't that bad. It is running fine on my midranger.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • I@H
                        • 06 Nov 2022

                        i still have the asus fonepad note fhd6, also with intel soc...
                        i lost my first gen asus zenfone 5, though...

                          shalekk, 06 Nov 2022i never quite understand the terminology of some ASUS, like... moreMost Atom powered Midrange and lowend and they were miles better than cortex A7 used at that time. Only krait was good than Atom and you rarely get them in cheaper devices.

                            Sin, 06 Nov 2022It's is very sad Intel atom processors and windows pho... moreAtom didnt die though they were just rebranded, gemini lake, jasper lake, gracemont all of them are Atom.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • u7V
                              • 06 Nov 2022

                              my fonepad 7 still kicking used only for notes and writing

                                • D
                                • AnonD-1071972
                                • 80x
                                • 06 Nov 2022

                                Sorry but domenisity chop is the bost

                                  PLYRZR0, 06 Nov 2022"It ran on an Atom Z2460 with two x86 CPU cores (2GHz,... moreThanks for the correction!

                                    intel soc power asus zenfone much cheaper than snapdragon / mediatek phone at that time...but the battery consumption was very bad.Average need to charge about 3.5 times for single day usage .

                                      • S
                                      • Sin
                                      • pYQ
                                      • 06 Nov 2022

                                      It's is very sad Intel atom processors and windows phone & tablets failed

                                      As I much prefer a Intel x86 powered smartphone over a arm based smartphone
                                      I also prefer a desktop windows os over a mobile os

                                      A desktop windows 7 or 8 os smartphone in the market
                                      Would of been amazing adding windows xp & vista support would of also been lovely

                                      This is dreem smartphone gaming 7 inch smartphone with x86 mobile with upgradable CPU & GPU huge 9000mah replaceable battery upgradable SSD storage built-in fans active cooling system & upgradable ram etc

                                      I blame Microsoft for making a mobile version of Windows for arm processors that is incompatible with desktop programs and then not supporting it killing of Intel atom processors & Nokia brand as well as mobile os

                                      Then too add insult too injury make windows 8 & even worse windows 10 forcefully updated desktops with a os ul made for phone that falled on phones and is not wanted on desktop and removed restore partition permently deleted. So can't even go back too windows 7

                                      Plus the promise of windows 10 lifetime support being broken and then being told old PC's don't meet system requirements for windows 11

                                      Very frustrating 😫😖 Microsoft is

                                      I wish Intel processor do come back too smartphones even if they run Android x86 and do need twice the battery size

                                      As it is truly sad no x86 CPU opinions for smartphones exist at least Android supports x86 hardware Emulators such as Andy OS or can installed on x86 CPU hardware and run Android x86 OS native as boot drive and when paired with touch screen monitor with built-in speakers it works

                                      On smartphones
                                      Intel atom processor although definitely weak in performance terrible battery life
                                      where still special and had a unique role in the market for compatibility reasons with software & hardware

                                        "It ran on an Atom Z2460 with two x86 CPU cores (2GHz, 32-bit)"

                                        Actually, this SoC is a single core CPU with hyper threading