The fall is almost over and we had another array of new exciting smartphones in the market from leading makers such as Apple, Samsung, HTC, and Motorola to the newcomers like the One Plus. Choosing a smartphone is now more difficult than has ever been, especially if you are going for an Android phone. When comparing, despite the slight difference in design and materials, the technical specs and other details are very hard to understand. Here is a look at one of the most important specs in any smartphone, the processor:
SOC and Processors
We hear names like Snapdragon 810 and everyone from the reviewers to manufacturers calls them a processor. However, they aren't processors in the same sense as we call the Intel Core i3 processor in our Computers. In fact, they are actually SOC or System on a Chip.
Let me explain it in a little more detail. In a computer you have your processor, your graphics cards, you have parts on the motherboard for wireless cards and sound cards and so on. But in a smartphone the SOC is actually a combination of all. A Snapdragon SOC, for example, contains, the Krait processor, along with Adreno GPU and other components for LTE and Wi-Fi networks, GPS, Camera functionality etc. In short, they are more than just processors.
ARM Architecture
The processor cores in a SOC, in most cases, are manufactured based on the ARM architecture developed by ARM. ARM also develops graphics processor called Mali. Many of the latest ARM cores are built with ARMv8 technology, with processors like Snapdragon 810 built with ARM Cortex-A57 CPU architecture.
Qualcomm Snapdragon
Snapdragon SOC is the most popular ones currently, often used in Android, Windows phones and even some Blackberry phones. Qualcomm takes the ARM core architecture, modify it to make their CPU called Krait and compiles it with their own GPU called Adreno making the Snapdragon SOC. Qualcomm's ability to offer cutting edge features, high performance; along with low power consumption makes it a favourite among phone manufacturers. Most manufacturers such as Motorola, LG, Microsoft Lumia, HTC and even many Samsung phones use different types of Snapdragon processors based on their price.
Exynos
Exynos is Samsung's in-house SOC. They use CPU and GPU directly from ARM without making any modifications, and then add sections for GPU, Wifi etc making the Exynos. This is why many of the recent high-end Samsung phones now come with Mali GPU opposed to Adreno. The latest Samsung Galaxy s6s and Notes use Exynos SOC.
Apple
Apple, like Samsung, uses ARM cores without modifications but uses GPU from PowerVR. Compared to Samsung and other Snapdragon SOC, Apple's A8 or A9 chip features fewer cores. Despite this, they perform well because of the software optimization Apple does with its iOS.
Other
Other SOC makers like Nvidia, Mediatek etc. make chips based on the ARM technology too. However, Nvidia uses its own GeForce GPU. Intel, a prominent PC processor manufacturer, makes SOC under its own architecture. This SOC, which is different from ARM called Atom, features in many phones by Asus.
SOC and Processors
We hear names like Snapdragon 810 and everyone from the reviewers to manufacturers calls them a processor. However, they aren't processors in the same sense as we call the Intel Core i3 processor in our Computers. In fact, they are actually SOC or System on a Chip.
Let me explain it in a little more detail. In a computer you have your processor, your graphics cards, you have parts on the motherboard for wireless cards and sound cards and so on. But in a smartphone the SOC is actually a combination of all. A Snapdragon SOC, for example, contains, the Krait processor, along with Adreno GPU and other components for LTE and Wi-Fi networks, GPS, Camera functionality etc. In short, they are more than just processors.
ARM Architecture
The processor cores in a SOC, in most cases, are manufactured based on the ARM architecture developed by ARM. ARM also develops graphics processor called Mali. Many of the latest ARM cores are built with ARMv8 technology, with processors like Snapdragon 810 built with ARM Cortex-A57 CPU architecture.
Qualcomm Snapdragon
Snapdragon SOC is the most popular ones currently, often used in Android, Windows phones and even some Blackberry phones. Qualcomm takes the ARM core architecture, modify it to make their CPU called Krait and compiles it with their own GPU called Adreno making the Snapdragon SOC. Qualcomm's ability to offer cutting edge features, high performance; along with low power consumption makes it a favourite among phone manufacturers. Most manufacturers such as Motorola, LG, Microsoft Lumia, HTC and even many Samsung phones use different types of Snapdragon processors based on their price.
Exynos
Exynos is Samsung's in-house SOC. They use CPU and GPU directly from ARM without making any modifications, and then add sections for GPU, Wifi etc making the Exynos. This is why many of the recent high-end Samsung phones now come with Mali GPU opposed to Adreno. The latest Samsung Galaxy s6s and Notes use Exynos SOC.
Apple
Apple, like Samsung, uses ARM cores without modifications but uses GPU from PowerVR. Compared to Samsung and other Snapdragon SOC, Apple's A8 or A9 chip features fewer cores. Despite this, they perform well because of the software optimization Apple does with its iOS.
Other
Other SOC makers like Nvidia, Mediatek etc. make chips based on the ARM technology too. However, Nvidia uses its own GeForce GPU. Intel, a prominent PC processor manufacturer, makes SOC under its own architecture. This SOC, which is different from ARM called Atom, features in many phones by Asus.