Qualcomm chip in HTC One S is speed demon, says analyst
Dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 in HTC One S gets thumbs up from research firm.
Qualcomm is proving that a phone doesn't have to be quad-core to be fast.
"Scoring 25 percent higher than its older siblings...in [central processing unit] performance benchmarks, shows Qualcomm has delivered on its promise for higher performance CPU," Jim Mielke, vice president of engineering at ABI Research, said in a note today, referring to the HTC One S.
That phone comes with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system.
The HTC smartphone taps the first Qualcomm 28-nanometer (nm) chip -- the "Snapdragon" MSM8260A. That's a big step up in chip manufacturing process technology from older 45-nanometer Qualcomm silicon. Generally, the smaller the chip geometries, the faster and/or more power efficient the chip is.
"The combination of the 28nm [process] and the higher-performing Qualcomm core provides the best user experience found in any Android phone," ABI Research said.
ABI Research's impressions of HTC One S with new Qualcomm S4 chip:
- Highest performing dual-core handset/tablet on the market.
- Very small footprint for the complete modem, application processor, and connectivity solution.
- The Adreno 225 graphics core performance remained on par with prior generation designs.
- On par battery performance compared to prior generation.
And CNET Reviews said the Qualcomm chip delivers a snappy experience. "Many Android fanatics will likely bemoan the HTC One S' lack of a quad-core CPU [but] the handset felt very quick and responsive," CNET said.
Other reviews have also shown that the Qualcomm's chip performance is close to the Nvidia quad-core Tegra 3 in more than a few benchmarks.