Samsung Galaxy S III vs. HTC One X: Quad-core faceoff - MobilEgypt

Now that Samsung has announced its Galaxy S III muscle phone, one big question is how its core technology stacks up against that of its main Android rival, the HTC One X . So let's take a look under the hood and see. The S III packs a 1.4GHz quad-core chip, as the company indicated last week . Samsung obviously believes that kind of horsepower is necessary to drive a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display with 1,280 x 720 resolution, among other things. The One X, with a 4.7-inch screen and an identical 1,280 x 720 resolution, also sports a quad-core chip in its European variant -- but opts for dual-core in the U.S. More on that in a moment. Samsung has gone into some detail to explain why it has gone quad-core for the first time in the Galaxy S series. Samsung Galaxy S III (European variant) with Exynos 4 Quad highlights: Full-speed video: Uses HD 30 frame per second video hardware codec engine for 1080p video recording and play-back. Also includes an embedded image signal processor interface for a high-quality camera and an HDMI 1.4 interface. Speed jump: Owing to its 32-nanometer tech, the Exynos 4 Quad has "two times the processing capability over the 45- [nanometer] process based Exynos dual- core while consuming 20-percent less power," Samsung said. Ready to plug into new phones: Exynos 4 Quad is "pin-to-pin compatible" with the Exynos 4 Dual, allowing smartphone and tablet suppliers to adopt the new solution without additional engineering or design efforts. Based on ARM Cortex A9 design: Based on the current Cortex A9 tech from ARM . The latest and greatest ARM tech is called Cortex A15 but those chips won't emerge as commercial products for a while yet. Because the Galaxy S III is so new, more in- depth reviews about performance are on the way. But the HTC One X is a known quantity. Let's look at performance and the processor internals of the European/International variant. HTC One X (European variant) with quad- core Nvidia Tegra 3: Needless to say, fast: "Blazingly fast -- you won't feel any Android "lag" when using this phone," said CNET Reviews. "HTC also claims a fast camera startup of 0.7 second and 0.2 second autofocus," CNET said. "Five" cores: Nvidia calls it "Super 4- PLUS-1" Quad Core. The fifth processor core is much more power efficient than the others and is used -- when performance is not required -- to boost battery life. "The single battery-saver core... handles low- power tasks like active standby, music," says Nvidia. DirectTouch tech: Nvidia DirectTouch is a patent-pending technology that improves touch responsiveness and reduces power consumption by offloading a portion of the touch processing onto the Tegra 3 chip. Based on ARM Cortex A9 design: Like the Samsung quad-core, the Nvidia also uses a Cortex A9 design. But Nvidia is undoubtedly working on a next-gen Cortex A15 chip; Nvidia is very quick at getting next-gen chips out the door. The Tegra 3 is manufactured with a 40 nanometer fabrication process, a slightly older technology than the 32 nanometer process used to make the Exynos 4. Battery life: "Top-shelf components and a massive 4.7-inch screen take a toll on this pricey superphone's battery life," said CNET Reviews. In the U.S. market, HTE chose to go with a dual-core Qualcomm S4 processor paired with LTE in One X. It's not clear yet what Samsung will opt to do in the U.S., although the specs of the HTC One X may be instructive. LTE and dual-core seem to be a good fit because the Qualcomm S4 squeezes LTE and the processor onto one piece of silicon. (That's just not possible with quad-core and LTE at the moment.) That's quite a feat and something that Qualcomm has done first. That level of integration not only allows for more compact designs but it doesn't compromise on performance, as many reviews attest to.