Intel for Android* Developers Learning Series #3: Android Phones with Intel Processors

1.    Lava Xolo X900

The Lava Xolo X900* was the first Android* smartphone powered by the Intel® Atom™ processor. It was released April 19, 2012 in India and based on Intel’s reference design. The phone was priced at 22,000 Rupees (INR 22,000), which was approximately 420 U.S. Dollars (USD 420) at the time of release. This is comparable in price to the GSM Samsung Galaxy Nexus*, which was released at the end of 2011 and was USD 400, or about INR 20,900, at the time of the X900’s release and the HTC One V*, which was released April 2, 2012 in India at a price of INR 19,999 or about USD 382 at the time of the X900’s release.

Exchange rate at April 19, 2012

1.1.               Hardware

The X900 has a 4.03-inch (600x1024) LCD display with full HD 1080p video playback. The screen is smaller than the Galaxy Nexus’ 4.65-inch (720x1280) Super AMOLED display but larger than the One V’s 3.7-inch (480x800) LCD display. The Galaxy Nexus features the same video playback, but the One V only has 720p. The X900 features an 8-megapixel rear camera with Intel® Burst Mode Technology, which allows the phone to take up to 10 photos in less than one second. It also records video in full HD 1080p and has superior image quality in low light conditions. Intel® Burst Mode Technology is similar to HTC’s Image Sense* technology found in most of their One* series phones. The Galaxy Nexus and One V both have 5-megapixel rear cameras. The X900 also features a 1.3-megapixel front camera, and Near Field Communication (NFC), which is the same as the Galaxy Nexus; however, the One V has no front-facing camera and no NFC. The X900 runs on a Z2460 1.6 GHz processor with Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel HT Technology). The Galaxy Nexus runs on a TI OMAP 4460* Dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 and the One V runs on a Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon* 1 GHz processor. The X900 device also features a 400 MHz graphics core, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, putting it on par with the Galaxy Nexus and ahead of the One V, which has 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal storage. The X900 does not feature a removable battery or SD card slot. The X900 has a 1460 mAh battery. The Galaxy Nexus has a 1750 mAh removable battery and no SD card slot while the One V has a 1500 mAh nonremovable battery and an SD card slot.

1.2. Software

The X900 came loaded with Android 2.3.7 (Gingerbread), with no custom UI like HTC Sense* or Samsung Touchwiz*, but will be updated to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) later in 2012. It is unknown if the X900 will receive Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). Although the X900 has no custom UI, it does still have some extra apps added by Lava such as the XOLO* Care app, built-in DoubleTwist music player and a custom camera app. It also features a custom widget in the notification dropdown that allows the user to quickly toggle Wi-Fi*, Bluetooth*, GPS, Auto-Sync and Auto-Brightness. The phone receives Android software updates from the manufacturer like most Android phones on the market.

The Galaxy Nexus runs a completely stock build of Android with no added apps. At the time of the X900’s release, it ran Android 4.0.4 but has since been updated to Android 4.1. Unlike most Android phones, Nexus phones receive updates straight from Google instead of the manufacturer. For this reason, the Galaxy Nexus is the first phone to receive new versions of Android.

The HTC One V runs Android 4.0.3 with HTC’s Sense 4.0 UI and Beats Audio* software. The Sense 4.0 UI has many unique apps and features. It has custom camera, music, car, entertainment and Internet apps, to name a few. Sense 4.0 also has many custom widgets such as bookmarks, calculator, calendar, and the popular weather clock, among others. Beats Audio is sound enhancement software that gives the user authentic sound while watching movies, playing games and listening to music while wearing headphones. The phone receives updates from HTC and will receive Android 4.1 at some point in the future.

When it comes to software, the X900 falls behind the competition. Compared to the Galaxy Nexus, it is two Android versions behind and will likely never catch up since it receives updates from the manufacturer and not directly from Google. The X900 will likely catch up to the One V soon, but it remains to be seen which device will receive Android 4.1 first, if at all. The X900 will have a leg up on the One V with pure Android enthusiasts since it doesn’t have a custom UI, but the Galaxy Nexus is considered to be the pure Android experience.

As of July 29, 2012

1.3.               Benchmarks

AnTuTu Benchmark* is a benchmarking tool for Android smartphones and tablets. It tests memory performance, CPU integer performance, CPU floating point performance, 2D and 3D graphics performance, SD card reading/writing speed, and database I/O performance testing.

Quadrant* is a benchmarking tool for Android smartphones and tablets made by Aurora Softworks. It measures CPU, Memory, I/O, and graphics performance using twelve CPU tests, one memory test, four I/O tests, one 2D graphics test, and three 3D graphics tests.

GL Benchmark* is a cross-platform benchmarking tool. It performs graphics and computation capability tests for OpenGL ES–compliant mobile devices and embedded environments. It can test planar reflection, advanced shading system, animated water with normal maps, triangles with vertex shader texture and lighting, and space portioning and occlusion system with PVS.

Higher scores mean better performance.

The X900 was benchmarked with AnTuTu and Quadrant in an article on ThinkDigit.com written by Vishal Mathur. The Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.1 was benchmarked with AnTuTu and Quadrant by PhoneBuff.com. The One V was benchmarked with AnTuTu and Quadrant in an article on slashgear.com written by Ben Kersey. All GL benchmarks were pulled directly from their Web site and are average scores on August 6, 2012.

2.    Lenovo K800*

The Lenovo K800* was released in China on May 30, 2012. It was priced at RMB 3,299, which at the time of release was approximately $520. This is comparable in price to the Motorola RAZR V*, which was released July 19, 2012 at a price of RMB 3,298 or about USD 520 at the time of the K800s release and the Sony Xperia S*, which was released March, 2012 at a price of RMB 2,290 or about USD 519 at the time of the K800s release.

Exchange rate at May 30, 2012

2.1.               Hardware

The K800 has a 4.5-inch (720x1280) LCD display with full HD 1080p video playback. The RAZR V has a 4.3-inch (540x960) LCD display with full HD 1080p video playback. The Xperia S has a 4.3-inch (720x1280) LCD display with full HD 1080p video playback. The K800 features an 8-megapixel rear camera with Intel® Burst Mode Technology, which allows the phone to take up to 10 photos in less than one second. It also records video in full HD 1080p and has superior image quality in low light conditions. The RAZR V also has an 8-megapixel rear camera while the Xperia S has a 12-megapixel rear camera. Both phones can also record video in 1080P. The K800 also features a 1.3-megapixel front camera, and Near Field Communication (NFC). The RAZR V and Xperia S also feature 1.3-megapixel front cameras. The RAZR V does not have NFC while the Xperia S does. The X800 runs on a Z2460 1.6 GHz processor with Intel Hyper-Threading Technology. The RAZR V runs on a 1.2 GHz TI OMAP 4430 dual core processor. The Xperia S runs on a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8260* dual core processor. The K800 also features a 400 MHz graphics core, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. The RAZR V features an Imagination PowerVR SGX540* GPU, 1 GB of RAM and 4 GB of internal storage. The Xperia S features an Adreno 220* GPU, 1 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. The K800 has a 1900 mAh nonremovable battery and an SD card slot. The RAZR V and Xperia S both have a 1750 mAh nonremovable battery and an SD card slot.

2.2.  Software

The K800 comes with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and a custom Lenovo* UI. The custom UI is heavily modified from stock Android. The menus, home screens, and standard apps are all different from stock Android, and it has its own widgets and apps. The K800 should be upgraded to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) in the future but it is unknown if it will receive Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). The K800 receives updates from Lenovo.

The RAZR V comes with Android 4.0 and Motorola’s custom UI. It is expected to receive Android 4.1 in the future. The Custom UI is much closer to stock Android than Motorola’s previous UI, MotoBlur*. It has its own custom icons and widgets and slight changes to the app drawer. The RAZR V receives updates from Motorola.

The Xperia S launched with Android 2.3, but was updated to Android 4.0 in the second quarter of 2012 and has Sony’s custom UI. It is unknown whether it will receive Android 4.1. The custom UI is close to stock Android but has a few added features such as Overview Mode*, which allows you to pinch out on the screen and see all of the active widgets on one screen. It also displays notifications on the lock-screen such as Facebook* events. There are also many custom Sony widgets not available in other UIs.

In the software department, the K800 is at a slight disadvantage since it is still running Android 2.3 while its competitors are running 4.0. Since all of these phones feature custom UIs it is a matter of preference as to which one is the best; however stock Android enthusiasts will likely choose the RAZR V or Xperia S since they are closer to stock Android than the K800.

As of July 29, 2012

2.3.  Benchmarks

AnTuTu Benchmark is a benchmarking tool for Android smartphones and tablets. It tests memory performance, CPU integer performance, CPU floating point performance, 2D and 3D graphics performance, SD card reading/writing speed, and database I/O performance testing.

Quadrant is a benchmarking tool for Android smartphones and tablets made by Aurora Softworks. It measures CPU, Memory, I/O, and graphics performance using twelve CPU tests, one memory test, four I/O tests, one 2D graphics test, and three 3D graphics tests.

GL Benchmark is a cross-platform benchmarking tool. It performs graphics and computation capability tests for OpenGL ES–compliant mobile devices and embedded environments. It can test planar reflection, advanced shading system, animated water with normal maps, triangles with vertex shader texture and lighting, and space portioning and occlusion system with PVS.

Higher scores mean better performance.

The K800 was benchmarked with AnTuTu in an article on netbooknews.com written by Nicole Scott. The Xperia S was benchmarked on AnTuTu by PhoneArena.com in February while it was still running Android 2.3. The K800 was benchmarked with Quadrant in an article on Engaget.com written by Richard Lai. The Xperia S was benchmarked on Quadrant by PhoneArena.com in February while it was still running Android 2.3. All GL benchmarks were pulled directly from their Web site and are average scores on September 2, 2012.

3.    Orange San Diego*

The third smartphone powered by Intel technology, the Orange San Diego*, was released in the United Kingdom on June 6, 2012. Also based on the Intel reference design, this phone is almost identical to the Xolo X900. The price at release was 199 British pounds (GBP 199), which at release was about USD 306. This is comparable in price to the HTC Desire C*, which was released in early June 2012 and priced at GBP 189.99 or about USD 292 at June 6, 2012. It is also comparable in price to the Sony Xperia Go*, released in mid-July 2012 and priced at GBP 229 or about USD 352 using the exchange rate at June 6, 2012.

Exchange rate at June 6, 2012

3.1.  Hardware

The San Diego has a 4.03-inch (600x1024) LCD display with full HD 1080p video playback. The Desire C and Xperia Go both have 3.5-inch (320x480) screens with no HD video playback. The Xperia Go has a scratch-, dust-, and water-resistant screen. The San Diego features an 8-megapixel rear camera with Intel® Burst Mode Technology, which allows the phone to take up to 10 photos in less than one second. It also records video in full HD 1080p and has superior image quality in low light conditions. Intel Burst Mode Technology is similar to HTC’s Image Sense technology found in most of their One series phones. The San Diego also features a 1.3-megapixel front camera and Near Field Communication (NFC). The Desire C and Xperia Go both have 5-megapixel rear cameras and no front-facing cameras. They also both have NFC. The San Diego runs on a Z2460 1.6 GHz processor with Intel Hyper-Threading Technology. The Desire C has a 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227A Snapdragon* Cortex-A5 processor. The Xperia Go has a 1 GHz NovaThor* U8500 Dual-core Cortex A9 processor. The San Diego also features a 400 MHz graphics core, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. The Desire C features an Adreno 200* GPU, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal storage. The Xperia Go features a Mali-400* GPU, 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage. The San Diego has a 1460 mAh nonremovable battery and there is no SD card slot. The Desire C has a 1230 mAh removable battery and an SD card slot. The Xperia Go has a 1305 mAh nonremovable battery and an SD card slot.

3.2.               Software

The San Diego runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with a custom UI by Orange, which is different from the custom UI on the K800. It receives updates from Orange and should be updated to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) in the future.

The Desire C runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with the Sense 4.0 UI and Beats Audio software. The Sense 4.0 UI has many unique apps and features. It has custom camera, music, car, entertainment and Internet apps, to name a few. Since 4.0, it also has many custom widgets such as bookmarks, calculator, calendar, and the popular weather clock among others. Beats Audio is sound enhancement software that gives the user authentic sound while watching movies, playing games, and listening to music while wearing headphones. It receives updates from HTC.

The Xperia Go runs Android 2.3.7 with a custom UI by Sony. The custom UI is close to stock Android but has a few added features such as Overview Mode, which allows you to pinch out on the screen and see all of the actives widgets on one screen. It also displays notifications on the lock-screen such as Facebook events. There are also many custom Sony widgets not available in other UIs. It receives updates from Sony and should be receiving Android 4.0 later this year.

When it comes to software, the San Diego is slightly behind the Desire C since it is still on Android 2.3, but is on par with the Xperia Go. It remains to be seen whether the San Diego or the Xperia Go will receive Android 4.0 first, but they will both catch up to the Desire C soon. Since none of these smartphones receive updates straight from Google, it is unknown which smartphone will receive Android 4.1 first, or if they will at all. The Xperia Go will have a leg up over the San Diego and Desire C with pure Android enthusiasts since its UI is closest to stock.

As of July 29, 2012

3.3.   Benchmarks

AnTuTu Benchmark is a benchmarking tool for Android smartphones and tablets. It tests memory performance, CPU integer performance, CPU floating point performance, 2D and 3D graphics performance, SD card reading/writing speed, and database I/O performance testing.

Quadrant is a benchmarking tool for Android smartphones and tablets made by Aurora Softworks. It measures CPU, Memory, I/O, and graphics performance using twelve CPU tests, one memory test, four I/O tests, one 2D graphics test, and three 3D graphics tests.

GL Benchmark is a cross-platform benchmarking tool. It performs graphics and computation capability tests for OpenGL ES–compliant mobile devices and embedded environments. It can test planar reflection, advanced shading system, animated water with normal maps, triangles with vertex shader texture and lighting, and space portioning and occlusion system with PVS.

Higher scores mean better performance.

The San Diego was benchmarked with AnTuTu, Quadrant, and GL Benchmark in an article on theverge.com written by Aaron Souppouris. The Desire C was benchmarked with AnTuTu and Quadrant in an article on gsmdome.com written by Mircea Vasile. Desire C GL benchmark was pulled directly from their Web site and are average scores on August 6, 2012. The Xperia Go was benchmarked with AnTuTu, Quadrant, and GL Benchmark in an article on reviews.cnet.co.uk written by Natasha Lomas.

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