I can get a Tab S2 from t-mobile or a used Note pro from ebay or something...The screen real estate of the note pro is enticing. they both have 3GB or ram, but the s2 is Octa-core. Not much use for the S-pen when I had a regular Note, but occasionally used it. I know the note pro has been out for a while, just wonder how future proof it is. is the quad-core snap 800 enough?
The difference between a Tab S2 Exynos Octa and a NotePro Snapdragon Quadcore is in what you intend to use it for.
CPU: Cores can't be merged or share speed. The max speed of a single core is all it can achieve.
The Exynos has a Quad-core 1.9 GHz and a quad-core 1.3 GHz, together making it an Octacore. (It's not a real Octacore, just two Quads on different speeds.)
The Snapdragon has four cores less, but those remaining four are 2.4 GHz each.
So if an app requires 2.1GHz, the Exynos can only supply 1.9GHz. Doesn't matter how many cores it has, they're not going to powerranger themselves into a giant 7.6GHz core. (Oh, how I wish they could do that....)
In my experience the Snapdragon 800 is still one of the most powerful chips in the market.
GPU: Keep in mind that an Exynos always comes with a low-end Mali GPU, and a Snapdragon comes with a high-end Adreno. If you plan to game or render 2K/4K films, you'll find the Mali to be insufficient. If you don't, it is entirely irrelevant. (It's basically the whole IntelHD vs Nvidia Geforce story.)
Batterylife. If you want it to last very long, go with the 9500mAh NotePro. If you intend to charge it every (other) day anyway, the 4000mAh Tab S2 is more than sufficient.
My NotePro (the Snapdragon version) lasts around 80 days in standby, or 25 hours of 1080p bingewatching. Doesn't mean they all do, I'm a bit of a controlfreak, but I do run Stock.
Screen. The Tab S2 has an AMOLED screen. Deeper colours, true black. The NotePro has an LCD screen, which means no true back and a bit more natural colours. (AMOLED on a 12.2" screen would make the device around 2000 quid, which is why they used LCD.)
On a second note regarding screen, the Tab S2 is 4:3, whereas the NotePro is 16:10. If you intend to use it for films and series, you'll find quite a bit of letterboxing(big black bars) on the Tab S2 as films and series are always in 16:10.
Oh, if you read comics or magazines, the NotePro screen is the exact size of a page. (In Europe where A(4) is the standard, anyway)
Weight. The NotePro is a beast, but it weighs like one, too. It's fairly light for its size (750 grams), but the Tab S2 is a whole 500 grams lighter. (270 grams). If you intend to carry it with you a lot, that might matter.
(It never did to me, as I used it to replace the 5kg laptop I lugged about, but not everyone favours usability over weight. I'm the (proud)weirdo who'd rather extend her jeans pockets than buy a smaller phone. (Note 3.) :silly: )
Size. The Tab S2 is small enough to fit inside a regular bag. The NotePro has the size of an A4 paper, meaning you'll need a bigger bag. On the other hand, a bigger screen means bigger screen realestate. The bigger screen also allows 4-way Multiwindow, instead of 2.
Futureproof hardware wise: The Snapdragon variant is literally a Note 3 with a bigger screen, so as for future proof.. The Note 3 is about equal to the Note 5 in terms of performance.
I expect it to run strong for about 4-5 more years, if the innovation remains as stuck as it is. (Most devices are actually a step backwards these days)
Futureproof Software wise: In terms of official firmware updates, you're better off with the Tab S2. The NotePro is a very niche model, and it's passed its maximum support age of 18 months, so it won't be getting any more updates, and it's not getting 6.0.
The Spen... It's a personal preference. The one in the NotePro is bigger than the one in the regular Notes, but the tech is the same. Pen Window, which allows you to draw resizable, floating apps anywhere on the screen( and with root every app can be enabled), is absolutely brilliant, and the pen keeps smudges off your screen.
But unless you're an artist and/or need the pressure sensitivity, that's where the advantages stop. Every other task can also be done with a regular stylus.
If you are an artist or a designer, you can use the NotePro as a Wacom drawing tablet (using a free app), which is bloody useful.
So, long answer short:
If you
+ Intend to do a lot of multitasking lighter tasks
+ Prefer a more manageable size and weight
+ Want a more beautiful screen
+ Want to receive future software updates
+ Want a more 'on the go/everyday use' tablet
- Don't need ages of battery life,
- Don't mind 4:3 or a smaller screen
The Tab S2 is the way to go.
If you
+ Intend to game/run heavy apps
+ Watch a lot of films
+ Intend to use it as a laptop replacement/for productivity
+ Want a bigger screen
+ Need longer battery life
+ Want an Spen
- Don't care much about updates
- Don't care about its weight and dimensions in terms of handling
The (Snapdragon) NotePro might be more your thing.
Unfortunately my Note Pro fell and I had to replace it. I got the S2 and it is a smaller screen at 9.7. super light weight (by comparison to the note pro !) and updated to 6.01.
The fingerprint recognition was pretty fast, and I thought I could just live with the smaller screen. Then I watched a movie. Huge letterboxing.... like really big. I dont like the 4:3.
Back in the box it goes, I am returning it and bought another Note Pro 12.2
Related
I am after a Galaxy Tab but I keep switching between wanting a 10 inch and wanting a 7 inch. The thing is, I definitely prefer the screen size of the 10 inch. I saw someone on the train this morning with an iPad 2 reading a PDF on it and I could immediately see the advantage of the screen size for this. I have several technical PDFs which will be the first thing that I put on it.
However, I need to commute with this device and the 7 inch tablets seem far better due to their size and weight. They just seem more practical and I even question whether a 10 inch would fit in my bag (it should do but it'll be a tight squeeze). I've noticed that Adobe Reader has a text flow feature which seems to work reasonably well (but not perfectly) which helps with these large PDFs.
I suppose I am the only one that can really answer which one is best for me but I wondered if anyone went through a similar dilemma and what decision they made? Was it the right decision?
In a way, the 8.9 is probably the perfect compromise but they are way too expensive here in the UK. To qualify that statement, I can only afford a 10.1 by buying a manufacturer refurbished unit and there don't seem to be any 8.9 refurbs on the market.
you posted in a tab 7+ forum which is why you would mostly get biased anwers. anyways, i hate 10 inch tablets 'cause they're too big. but one time, i also considered buying the GTab 10.1. however, by reading the 10.1 forum, I've read a lot of negative feedbacks on how much it lagged, etc. Try visiting the General section of the GTab 10.1.
Also take a sneak peek at the GSMArena comparison here:
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=4208&idPhone2=3894
Specifically look for the processor power. GTab+ has a Dual Core Exynos 1.2GHz while the GTab 10.1 only has a Dual Core Tegra 1GHz. You can also look around the web why Exynos is better and faster than Tegra 2. I think the only reason why Tegra is better is because of the Tegra Games which BTW can also be played on Exynos chipsets by using the Chainfire 3d app (FREE).
Now if size and weight matters, it would always boil down to your preferences. If you like heavy, expensive, large screen, not-so-thin tablets, buy the GTab 10.1. But if you adore the little, light, not-so-expensive, thin tablets, buy the GTab+.
You would be surprised how much this little thing can do for you.
Good luck!
10.1 isn't exactly expensive - since it's been around longer, you can find refurbs for less than the Tab Plus.
It's really a matter of preference - the Plus has a better CPU, the 10.1 has a better screen (higher resolution, larger size), although the "larger size" aspect of the 10.1 isn't always a positive.
I've never found my 10.1 laggy
Gunnzie said:
I am after a Galaxy Tab but I keep switching between wanting a 10 inch and wanting a 7 inch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly who didn't giggle and say in their head "THATS what she said..."
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Hi, I am planning to buy the Galaxy Note and came across an article on Galaxy Note 2. (I can't post the link as a new user. It is on Android.gs Geeks under the title "Samsung Galaxy Note 2 release date to be mid December, 2012"
I can wait until December if the Galaxy Note 2 will be much faster than the current one. From the rumored specifications, the Exynos 1.4 dual-core chip will be upgraded to 1.4 quad-core. In the computer world, although more software (especially games) are starting to take advantage of multi-cores, the number is still small. Most applications can take advantage of at most dual cores. How is the situation in the Android world? Besides games, how many Android's Apps can benefit from the two extra cores? Can you name a few useful Apps that would benefit from a quad-core processor?
The 5.3-inch is already a bit large. I probably may not be able to handle a 5.65-inch unless Samsung takes a longer Note while keeping the width the same. What is the chance of having the Note 2's width the same as the current Note? Also, what are the advantages of having to move the HD display from 720p to 1080p on such small device (when compared with a laptop)? The non-removable battery is a bit of a turn off.
So, the only reason for me to wait for the Galaxy Note 2 is the possibility that the overall performance will be, say over 15%, better than the current one. How likely will that be?
Any opinion appreciated. Thanks.
Wasnt sure where to post this, but I wanted everyone to see what we all already knew
iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S3: S3 Declared Victor
1 day ago by Mike Johnson
The Samsung Galaxy S3 has been out since May and recently met its biggest rival, the iPhone 5. The comparisons and reviews – and even some teardowns – are flying. So let’s have a crack at it too.
iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S3
Because Apple is famously reticent about internals like clock speeds, RAM and processors, teardowns are necessary to see if the facts stand up to the Apple hype. So the following details aren’t coming directly from Apple’s specs sheet but what the top tech testers are discovering about the iPhone 5 after some “dissections”.
So, let’s begin. The phones, as we can see from sales figures, are hugely popular. The iPhone 5 got more than five million pre-orders in its first three days, and Samsung expects to have sold 30 million Galaxy S3 units by the end of the year.
Dimensions: The iPhone 5 is 123.8×58.6×7.6mm and 112g in weight. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is 136.6×70.6×8.6mm and weighs 133g. Ignoring sizes, as the two phones have such different screens, the iPhone 5 wins out on weight and thickness as this is how things work in the world of portable consumer electronics. One point to Apple.
Screens: The iPhone 5 has a 4”, 1,136x640p resolution screen that’s LED, IPS and TFT. It’s housed in Gorilla Glass. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 4.8” 1,280x720p Super AMOLED screen that’s protected by Gorilla Glass 2. The iPhone 5 is easier to handle with one hand, but the S3 is way better for browsing and films, so it’s a draw here. However according to the folks over at DisplayMate, the S3 deserves an extra point as its display is more “high tech” than the iPhone 5. The S3 shows the full gamut of NTSC versus only 72 percent in the case of the iPhone 5. Advantage: Samsung.
Connectivity: The iPhone 5 has 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802. It also has that proprietary Lightning dock that you’ll just love to spend $30 on a new connector for.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 has the same connectivity of the iPhone 5 but also has Wi-Fi Direct, NFC, Wireless Charging and DNLA There’s also a “one size fits all” microUSB cable, which means you can borrow a mate’s cable regardless of the smartphone he or she has. Winner: Samsung Galaxy S3
Memory/storage: Both have 1GB of RAM, along with 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. However, the Samsung Galaxy S3 wins by a mile with its up-to-64GB of microSD memory expansion. The US Samsung Galaxy S3 also has 2GB of RAM so that is another point to note. Winner: S3
Processor: While Apple won’t reveal the architecture or frequency of the chipset, it looks, thanks to tests, that it’s based on two Apple ARMv7 cores (making it somewhere between A9 and A15). The frequency can go up to 1.3GHz but generally sits at 1.06GHz, and its A6 chip is helped along by a triple-core PowerVR SGX 543MP3.
We know for a fact that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 1.4GHz Exynos 4412 chip with four Cortex A9 cores (international model), and the graphics is handled by a Mali-400MP GPU. There’s no contest here, although Apple fans will insist that iOS doesn’t need four cores. However, for multitasking, games and apps, the S3 should perform better (on paper at least). As for the US version of the S3, it boasts a higher clocked 1.5GHz dual-core processor. It may be short of 2 cores but it gets a 2GB dose of RAM to give it that extra kick. Winner: Samsung Galaxy S3
Camera: The pair are on a par here, with 8MP cameras with LED flash, simultaneous HD video and still capture, autofocus, touch focus, face detection, geo-tagging and image stabilisation. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has smile detection, but this doesn’t beat the iPhone 5 BSI sensor. User tests say that the iPhone 5 takes better photos in low light. One point for the iPhone 5.
Battery: The iPhone 5 has a Li-Ion 1,440mAh battery that’ll give up to eight hours of talk on 3G. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 2,100mAh battery that gives almost 12 hours on 3G. However when it comes to real life, though, users are reporting that the iPhone 5 does live up to its specs sheet but the Samsung Galaxy S3, despite its bigger battery, can’t lay claim to more as it tops out at around 8 hours as well. So it’s another tie here.
Operating system & apps: OSs are hard to compare fairly. There’s always going to be friction between iOS and Android because it’s a matter of taste more than anything else. If you like customizing the heck out of phones, go for Android, but if you prefer something streamlined out of the box and all you want to swap is ringtones and wallpapers, chose iOS.
The iPhone 5 has the advantage of being pre-loaded with iOS 6, whereas the Samsung Galaxy S3 is still waiting for Jelly Bean in most areas though. So while we can’t compare iOS and Android, we can say that in having the latest update and its features, the iPhone 5 has an advantage over the Samsung Galaxy S3.
iOS 6 might have Facebook integration, but Android ICS gives you the same integration with every app you care to install, like Google+, Facebook, Instagram, Picasa and Imgur.
Apple Maps has become the whipping boy of the year, whereas the S3 and TouchWiz have nifty features like Palm Swipe, Direct Call, Pop-up-Play and Smart Alert. I also found Siri to be better than S-Voice, but this could all change as soon as Jelly Bean brings Google Now. Then there is Google Maps of course which is preloaded in the Winner: iPhone 5. Taking all this into account, we’ll have to call it a draw again.
Design: The iPhone 5 wins hands down. Sure, there’s no great redesign, so it’s still as classy as ever, only lighter and slimmer. Samsung used a slightly more expensive looking plastic for the S3 than it had before, but it still looks gaudy. Advantage iPhone 5.
Conclusion: The Winner: The SGS3 gets four points and the iPhone 5 gets three. The S3 got its points for display, memory, connectivity and processor. The iPhone 5 won on camera, design and dimensions. The phones drew on battery life and OS.
no surprise here.
I'm pretty sure that the iPhone gpu and CPU are more powerful. Having more cores barely means anything because most smart phone task aren't multi threaded like computer tasks. With gaming unless you have a tegra 3 quad core there are sadly no games that take advantage of the quad core exynos 4412 or the s4 pro. IPhone gaming will definitely be better also because it gets so much attention cuz its the only iOS phone
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Closed
wrong section
Just a harmless conversation based on what the next Samsung flagship phone might receive based on trends of the mobile industry. You can offer your own opinions and/or critiques.
With the Nexus 4, sporting a very powerful S4 Snapdragon quad processor, 320 Adreno GPU, 2 GB of RAM and the standard HD display, it's sure to be the strongest thing we have until the HTC Butterfly (now dubbed the HTC DNA) comes (reportedly to Verizon) sporting a 1080p screen, probably the same processor and RAM, as well as a bigger battery.
It's clear that the competition within the Android ecosystem isn't as monopolized by Samsung like it was a year or two ago - at least in terms of quality products. The Galaxy S II stayed not only as the top Android phone, but the top phone period for almost a whole year. It seems that HTC and LG have stepped up their game and are putting out functioning, competitive products. The Galaxy S III kind of fell off the performance radar within 4-5 months. (comparatively speaking)
Samsung has been reportedly testing 3 GB RAM on experiment phone models; if that made it to the final product of the GSIV, that would make it a trend-setter in that regard. It's also going to come with the new-generation 13 megapixel camera module, which is slated to desolate any popular 8 MP camera shooters on the market - such as the HTC One X, Galaxy S III (the worst of the bunch on the front-facing camera) or iPhone 5 with its color-reproduction and low-light performance.
As for the processor, I hope they throw in the ultra-powerful Exynos 5450 (the Cortex-A15 quad-core) rated at around 2 GHz, it will absolutely eat the already unbelievably fast S4 Krait quad in the upcoming megaphones for breakfast. The Mali-658 GPU from the aforementioned would probably also be on par, if not better than that in the iPad 4's A6X's GPU. Last but not least, anyone else hoping we'll see a beautiful Super AMOLED HD Plus display (or whatever they'll call it) with full 1080p?
All of these rumors and speculation sound reasonable at this point, given what we've been seeing in the market place. If it all turned out to be true, the Galaxy S IV would be leaps and bounds above any smartphone upon its release and maybe easily throughout the year subsequent to its release. I'm actually excited that the competition within Android is picking up steam. The harder these companies compete against each other, the more us, as consumers win.
In the next generation phones, most of them would be compatible with nfc payments, like Google wallet or isis.
I expect faster processor and a minimum of 2 gb of ram.
Most likely, every phone will come in different screen sizes. So you can choose a particular phone with your choice of screen size.
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2gb ram
nvidia tegra 3 graphic chipset
5.0inch screen super amoled screen 12mp camera,with burst mode
and maybe some new technolgy
deaddrg said:
2gb ram
nvidia tegra 3 graphic chipset
5.0inch screen super amoled screen 12mp camera,with burst mode
and maybe some new technolgy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would they use Tegra 3 chips - which are only Cortex-A9's and the fact that Samsung develops their own chipset means they would opt for their own before another chipset commonly found in its competitors.
deaddrg said:
2gb ram
nvidia tegra 3 graphic chipset
5.0inch screen super amoled screen 12mp camera,with burst mode
and maybe some new technolgy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mhmmm future
megagodx said:
Why would they use Tegra 3 chips - which are only Cortex-A9's and the fact that Samsung develops their own chipset means they would opt for their own before another chipset commonly found in its competitors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sure hope they don't use the tegra chipset. That'll make them depend on nVidia for updates.
more batery life
It's great that a lot of attention is put into adding better specs (RAM, CPU, features like NFC, etc), but my biggest concern is that they' don't pay enough attention to battery life. I don't understand why they don't invest more in this field.
Here's to hoping that Samsung will care more about this and innovate in this area.
So, it's soon going to be time for my annual upgrade. I've gone from a Galaxy S2, to a Moto G, and I'm now thinking about getting an Elephone P7000 (when it's released around April). But, I've been researching and I'm now unsure.
I've found a couple of performance graphs online, and they show that the CPU (an Arm A9) in a Galaxy S2 actually performs better per clock than the A7 in the Moto G. And even more, the A53 (in the P7000) performs around the same as the A9, in fact slightly less in some situations.
From what I've seen on the internet, many android apps only take advantage of one core, with some taking advantage of two, and very few taking advantage of more than that. When I had my Galaxy S2, I had it rooted and (insanely) overclocked to 1.8GHz, so does this mean that the (now ancient) Galaxy S2 performs better than my current Moto G (at 1.2GHz) in general and real world usage, and somehow even better than a brand new A53 at 1.7GHz?
Or does more cores somehow equate to better performance (like, can modern CPUs split up single threaded workloads to be processed by multiple cores?) If they cannot, then was the CPU in my old Galaxy S2 still better than what could be found in a completely modern phone? Each year I find a phone that I can get for about £150 at the time... surely the CPU performance must have improved in that time? And I mean in pure performance... I know the power efficiency has improved a lot, but that doesn't effect me as I always carry a mahooosive power bank with me (for my phone and my laptop).
I want to upgrade my phone (for the better screen, bigger (and removable) battery, more RAM, micro-SD expansion slot, fingerprint scanner and the camera), but all of these are just extra "brownie point" features to me, and I'm not sure if I can justify the upgrade if the CPU isn't even any faster clock for clock. I'm really hoping someone can tell me that I'm wrong about the performance-per-clock (despite the numbers being on arm's website), or someone can tell me how an octa core CPU would provide any actual benefits (when either in a heavy application or just in everyday browsing and usage).
Sorry about the long mass of text, I'm just trying to get my head around how an S2 can be as fast as a modern phone in terms of instructions per clock. Any insights on how androids actually do benefit from octa-core CPU's would be great, as I can't find anything online about it