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The non-stop hype machine may be telling you that your phone’s an embarrassment if it’s not got a quad-core processor inside (and a screen big enough to entertain 100,000 spectators at Hyde Park), but there’s still plenty of OOMPH to be had from today’s well-tuned dual-core options.
Sony’s new Xperia T comes with a dual-core processor, which may have some angry internet nutcases skim-reading the spec sheet and slagging it off for not adhering to the quad-core power trend that’s emerged over the last month or two.
The problem with that blind bit of tech spec analysis is that, as we’ve seen in some previous benchmarks, a well-tuned, modern dual-core processor is every bit as capable as a quad-core model when it comes to running today’s apps and games. It’s not just about the headline configuration, it’s more to do with the clock speed and manufacturing processes.
Saying a phone powered by a dual-core chip is “worse” or “slower” than some other random quad-core model is like assuming that a minibus with a three litre engine can outperform a 1.8 hot hatch, simply because the engine looks more impressive on paper.
The Xperia T‘s powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, or Krait MSM8260-A to give it its factory production name, which we’ve seen used in other recent phone models. It’s bonkers-fast and ought to make the Xperia T one of the slickest performers out there in Android World when it arrives in a month or two.
Quad-core chips certainly have their place, but until Android and the apps and games it runs have significantly moved on and embraced the enhanced power they offer, there’s little actual need for the almost-intangible boost they deliver.
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What are you talking about?!? http://i.qkme.me/35gj3k.jpg
Anything that keeps battery life up is good in my book. Wasn’t there a thing with the quad core in the SIII not playing nicely with the LTE thingies in America?
I don’t play games on my phone, I use it as a phone/internet browser, so quad core is unnecessary for me.
“The non-stop hype machine may be telling you that your phone’s an embarrassment if it’s not got a quad-core processor inside” I thought the non-stop hype machine were telling us that 2 cores were perfectly adequate, It’s all their phone has got.
I recently upgraded to a dual core Xperia Go, trr5kjjj4333333333gt’;43t]tffffffffffyhhhhhhho9p0rpe43lrrr,re
Damn kitten…. Anyway, I recently upgraded to the Xperia Go, and the battery life is great on my little phone. It’s not been charged for almost 2 days now, and it’s still going strong. I’d rather have more battery life (and a fully waterproof phone) than more cores
Whilst some companies strive to have the latest new thing that it is possible to ram into a small box, this a similar approach to apple in that they dont put things in the box that they don’t think are necessary and regardless of the spec end up with a product which performs perfectly well. Whilst somewhat gutted this has come out so soon after the Xperia S that I now have 18 months to peacefully co-exist with. Hopefully Sony will manage this one without any yellow screen issues or anything else too embarrassing
Who’s this new contributor, Sponsored? I don’t like his style very much.
Liking the design of the current Xperia range. But not particularly impressed by the materials and manufacturing tolerances.
The Xperia Arc was the pinnacle, for me. The newer models, whilst very sleek and nicely designed, don’t quite have that “zing”
The Xperia Tx is looking very nice though, a successor to the Arc in spirit.
What’s up with the manufacturing tolerances? My Xperia phone seems very well made
Mine has been in a fish tank, a pint of water, dropped from a great height, kicked across a floor and held under a hose for a few minutes. No problems with the build quality on my Xperia.
Why are you hosing down your phone?
Because it needed cleaning and the hose was closer than the sink
I agree, I’ve just got the Xperia Tipo and even though it’s the cheapest of the range the quality feels really good. And I like the way it looks too.