Anandtech Review: Lava Xolo X900, 1st Intel Medfield Phone

[sciwizam]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5770/lava-xolo-x900-review-the-first-intel-medfield-phone

Intel, 1 good GPU away from being a beast. :thumbsup:

"The good news is that the whole x86 can't be power efficient argument appears to be completely debunked with the release of a single device."

"The x86 power myth is finally busted. While the X900 doesn't lead in battery life, it's competitive with the Galaxy S 2 and Galaxy Nexus. In terms of power efficiency, the phone is distinctly middle of the road - competitive with many of the OMAP 4 based devices on the market today.
....
The performance side is obviously even more competitive. Atom isn't always industry leading in our tests, but the X900 is rarely more than a couple places away from the top (with the exception of GPU performance of course, but that's a matter of licensing a different IP block in future versions).

 

[MrX8503]

Looks like ARM's got some competition. I can see Apple switching to Intel if Intel can get their GPU performance up.

 

[shortylickens]

The body looks like what if Apple designed an Android.
:hmm:

 

[smartpatrol]

Looks like ARM's got some competition. I can see Apple switching to Intel if Intel can get their GPU performance up.

I would imagine Apple would be the last to switch. Unlike Android, iOS apps are all native code. They'd all need to be recompiled for x86 or else use binary translation (which will definitely cause a performance hit).

 

[GTaudiophile]

The benches featured in the review show the HTC ONE S as the Android Performance King:

 

[Dari]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5770/lava-xolo-x900-review-the-first-intel-medfield-phone

Intel, 1 good GPU away from being a beast. :thumbsup:

So EVERY Android app will work with this phone? I thought Android was ARM only. In other words is there any downside to buying this phone or an Intel-X86 based Android phone?

 

[smartpatrol]

So EVERY Android app will work with this phone? I thought Android was ARM only. In other words is there any downside to buying this phone or an Intel-X86 based Android phone?

According to the article:
- most Android apps are not native code. They run in the Dalvik VM, which is x86 compatible.
- apps that use native code can still run using binary translation, presumably at a performance cost.

 

[podspi]

Does the play store support the delivery of different apks depending on the phone model? If so I see smooth sailing ahead for INTC...

 

[MrX8503]

Remember that this is a single core on Gingerbread and its within striking distance of ARM on ICS. ARM should be scared of Intel taking over.

I would imagine Apple would be the last to switch. Unlike Android, iOS apps are all native code. They'd all need to be recompiled for x86 or else use binary translation (which will definitely cause a performance hit).

Apple only cares about the end result. If the end result is better performance while keeping battery life, Apple would make the switch. This happened when they went from PowerPC to Intel. If Apple could get a superior end result, they'll do whatever it takes to get there.

 

[preslove]

Just what the industry needs, more SOC competition . Man, if Intel really wants to be disruptive, then they'll work on their cell radio and put out a pentaband version that can be sold in the US for ~$400 off contract, like the nexus.

 

[vshah]

Does the play store support the delivery of different apks depending on the phone model? If so I see smooth sailing ahead for INTC...

yes, it does. or the same apk with different packages, and only the required one is installed on the device.

 

[Khato]

The benches featured in the review show the HTC ONE S as the Android Performance King:

Yet sadly, the HTC One S is absent from the power consumption charts. Being top on performance is only awesome if they didn't pay for it in power consumption.

 

[Red Storm]

Good stuff from Intel. More competition means better performance for us!

 

[lothar]

Not bad for Intel.

 

[Oyeve]

Impressive, most impressive.

 

[Dari]

Remember that this is a single core on Gingerbread and its within striking distance of ARM on ICS. ARM should be scared of Intel taking over.



Apple only cares about the end result. If the end result is better performance while keeping battery life, Apple would make the switch. This happened when they went from PowerPC to Intel. If Apple could get a superior end result, they'll do whatever it takes to get there.

So when are the dual-core/quad-core versions coming out? Next year? If so, then they will always be playing catch-up.

 

[Munky]

Impressive. I like the fact that it lays to rest all the speculation of "bloated x86" inefficiency compared to ARM.

 

[MrX8503]

So when are the dual-core/quad-core versions coming out? Next year? If so, then they will always be playing catch-up.

As noted in Anand's review, a dual core Medfield could be as fast as a quad core ARM. I don't understand why people underestimate Intel. Medfield is already competitive and it didn't take years and years like everyone thought.

 

[preslove]

As noted in Anand's review, a dual core Medfield could be as fast as a quad core ARM. I don't understand why people underestimate Intel. Medfield is already competitive and it didn't take years and years like everyone thought.

It would be funny if Intel suffers from a pr problem because it is consistently behind in core counts, even though it reaches parity or beyond in real performance. Kind like AMD suffered way back when it was always behind in clock speed, but had much better performance than those godawful P4 chips.

 

[Dari]

As noted in Anand's review, a dual core Medfield could be as fast as a quad core ARM. I don't understand why people underestimate Intel. Medfield is already competitive and it didn't take years and years like everyone thought.

OK, so when is it coming out? Just by looking at those graphs, the intel SOC is competitive with 2011 ARM-based SOCs. The only 2012 SOC (S4) demolishes it. They may have finally arrived but they are competing against mid-range and low-end phones, not the high end where the margins are.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

It would be funny if Intel suffers from a pr problem because it is consistently behind in core counts, even though it reaches parity or beyond in real performance. Kind like AMD suffered way back when it was always behind in clock speed, but had much better performance than those godawful P4 chips.

It will probably be fixed by branding. People still think clock speed is king but the way intel labeled their i-series line helped that.

 

[Pia]

I don't necessarily see a need for a lot more processing power on my phone, unless it's for local speech-to-text, augmented reality HUD, or other advanced interaction modes. But I have a feeling we'll see some really sick tablets in 2013.

 

[MrX8503]

OK, so when is it coming out? Just by looking at those graphs, the intel SOC is competitive with 2011 ARM-based SOCs. The only 2012 SOC (S4) demolishes it. They may have finally arrived but they are competing against mid-range and low-end phones, not the high end where the margins are.

I'm not sure, but you can read the article for yourself. The point is that Medfield is within striking distance. This is Intel, not AMD.

 

[Dari]

I'm not sure, but you can read the article for yourself. The point is that Medfield is within striking distance. This is Intel, not AMD.

I guess you're right but, given your answer, it will take time for them to catch up. Nevertheless, this is a vital industry for them so catch up they will.

 

[makken]

Looks impressive, but I think its going to have to same problem as nVidia's Tegra; ie. Who is Intel going to partner with?

Samsung is going to use their own Exynos SoCs.
HTC is pretty firmly in Qualcomm's camp.
Motorola has been pretty much TI exclusive.
Even Apple has invested heavily into designing their own SoCs.

And those are all of the major players in the smartphone game right now.