Today, Dell announced a number of new XPS and Alienware laptops. The Dell XPS 17 and XPS 15 are the company’s newest high-end laptops. They feature USB-C ports and 16:10 “InfinityEdge” displays. Alienware is Dell’s gaming brand and m17 and m15 include the 10th Gen Intel chips and updated graphics.
Dell XPS 15 & XPS 17
The Dell XPS 15 is a massive redesign of the popular laptop. The most striking feature is the 15.6-inch (available in 4K and FHD), 16:10 InfinityEdge display. The aspect ratio allows for more vertical space, which is really nice for web browsing, and it has very thin bezels on all sides. Another big feature is the addition of two USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports and one USB-C 3.1 port. Dell is going all-in on USB-C and ditching USB-A and HDMI.
Other specifications for the XPS 15 include Intel’s 10th Gen Core i9 10885H 45W chip, 64GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. Dell says the laptop can get up to 25 hours of battery life on the Full HD model. The XPS 15 is available today for $1,299.
The Dell XPS 17 is much like the XPS 15, but obviously it has a larger 17-inch 16:10 display. Again, it has very small bezels and you can opt for 4K or FHD resolution. Despite the large display, Dell calls this the “smallest 17-inch laptop on the planet,” due to the slim bezels and thin body.
Like the 15-inch model, the XPS 17 features Intel’s 10th Gen Core i9 45W processors, 64GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. The XPS 17 can also be equipped with either NVIDIA’s GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q or the more powerful RTX 2060 GPU. The 17-inch model has four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports. It won’t be available until later this summer for $1,499.
2x Thunderbolt 3 with power delivery & DisplayPort
1x USB-C 3.1 with power delivery & DisplayPort
1 Full size SD card reader v6.0
3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack
Wedge-shaped lock slot
4x Thunderbolt 3 (power delivery + DisplayPort)
1x Full size SD card reader
1x 3.5mm headphone.microphone jack
1x USB-C to USB-A 3.0 & HDMI 2.0 adapter included
Audio
Quad-speaker design
Dual microphone array
Studio quality tuning w/ Waves MaxxAudio Pro & Waves Nx 3D audio
1.5W x2 tweeters
2.5W x2 woofers
Wireless
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2×2), Bluetooth 5
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (802.11AX) built on Intel chipset, Bluetooth 5
Camera
720p
720p
Size
Height: 18mm (0.71″) x Width: 344.72mm (13.57″) x Depth: 230.14mm (9.06″)
5.5 lbs (2.5 kg)
Height: 19.5mm (0.77″) x Width: 374.45mm (14.74″) x Depth: 248.05mm (9.76″)
2.11 kg (4.65 lbs) to 2.51 kg (5.53 lbs)
Alienware m15 & m17
The Alienware m15 and m17 share many of the same specifications with the main difference being display size. The m15 has a 15.6-inch display and the m17 is 17.3-inches. Both models have a number of display options: FHD display without G-Sync, FHD display with G-Sync, FHD display with 100 percent sRGB color gamut, and a 4K display. The 4K display or the m15 is OLED.
Similarities between the m15 and m17 include the processor options, storage, and ports. You can get each model with the 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H, 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H, or a 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10980H. Storage starts at 2TB and goes up to 4TB. The ports include a microSD card slot, Thunderbolt 3 port, 3 USB-A ports, and more.
The Alienware m15 starts at $1,500 and will be available on May 21st. The Alienware m17 costs $1,550 and will also be available on May 21st.
Specs
Alienware m15
Alienware m17
OS
Windows 10
Windows 10
Display
15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), 144Hz, 7ms, 300-nits
15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) with G-Sync, 144Hz, 7ms, 300-nits
15.6-inch with 100 percent sRGB, 300Hz, 3ms, 300-nits
15.6-inch OLED UHD (3840 x 2160), 60Hz, 1ms, 400-nits
17.3-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), 144Hz, 9ms, 300-nits
17.3-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) with G-Sync, 144Hz, 9ms, 300-nits
17.3-inch with 100 percent sRGB, 300Hz, 3ms, 300-nits
If there’s one thing the Pixel smartphone series is known for, it’s camera supremacy. Google has never been able to claim to have the best smartphone hardware, but photography has been the Pixel brand’s bread and butter. The Pixel series changed the game in terms of what we expect from smartphone cameras, and now a large part of that equation has left Google.
According to a new report from The Information, renowned engineer Marc Levoy left Google back in March. Some of you may not recognize his name, but Levoy is responsible for leading the development of many of the best features in the Google Camera app. He led the development of HDR+, Portrait Mode, and Night Sight. These three features in particular massively changed the smartphone camera landscape.
Levoy was hired by Google full-time in 2014 for his expertise in computational photography. He had previously led a project at Stanford that eventually turned in Street View for Google Maps. His relationship with Google goes all the way back to when he met co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as computer science grad students at Stanford.
His abrupt exit is precipitated by news of rocky business within the Pixel team. Google’s hardware lead, Rick Osterloh, told the Pixel team ahead of the Pixel 4’s launch about some of the issues he had with the device. He was disappointed in the battery life, which became a common complaint among reviewers.
At a hardware team all-hands meeting in the fall, ahead of the October launch in New York, Osterloh informed staff about his own misgivings. He told them he did not agree with some of the decisions made about the phone, according to two people who were present at the meeting. In particular, he was disappointed in its battery power.
In addition, sales of the Pixel 4 were not nearly as high as the numbers posted by its predecessors. According to data analyst firm IDC, Google shipped only 2 million Pixel 4 devices in the first two quarters of sales. In contrast, the Pixel 3 series sold 3.5 million and the Pixel 3a series sold 3 million in their respective first two quarters. Compared to Apple and Samsung, these numbers aren’t particularly good, but the downward trend is what’s especially concerning.
Google must now march ahead with the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 launches without one of its brightest minds helming the development of new Google Camera tech.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold was one of my favorite phones from last year. It’s Samsung’s first-ever foldable smartphone, and I think it’s a joy to use. In my view, the main issue with the Galaxy Fold isn’t its hardware but rather its price. At a retail price of $1,980, it is priced out of reach for most consumers. Even so, Samsung claimed back in January to have sold between 400-500k units, and that figure could be even higher by now. Now, we’re hearing from multiple sources that Samsung is looking to make the Galaxy Fold more palatable to consumers by introducing a much cheaper Galaxy Fold “Lite” model.
The CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, Ross Young, recently published a tweet on his official Twitter account revealing that Samsung plans to announce the “Galaxy Fold Special Edition” in July at a reduced price of $1,099. He claims that Samsung will sell this cheaper model in reduced quantities, approximately ~55k units worldwide, in order to clear out inventory of the first-generation Galaxy Fold before the second-generation model is introduced later this year.
To clear out Galaxy Fold 1 inventory before the Galaxy Fold 2 is launched, Samsung will announce the Galaxy Fold Special Edition in July at a price around $1099. Quantities will be limited to ~55K worldwide. It should look just like the Galaxy Fold 1. Great price!
In a separate tweet, Mr. Young also claims that the Special Edition phone will have the same design as the original Galaxy Fold that was released last year. Mr. Young’s sources recently gave us insight into the display specifications of the Galaxy Note 20 series, and his information corroborates what I shared earlier this week on Twitter.
I have some info on the Galaxy Fold Lite.
-Galaxy Fold Lite 4G
-256GB storage
-Mirror Black, Mirror Purple
-Display has no UTG
-Will be equipped with a mix of 2018/19/20 parts
-outside will probably have a smaller display (not like on Fold, but more like the Z Flip)
Over the weekend, one of my sources reached out to me to mention the existence of this device. My source referred to it as “Galaxy Fold e.” We believe that the “e” moniker is being used similarly to the Samsung Galaxy S10e, which basically means this new model is based on the original Galaxy Fold but with different internal hardware. This could mean fewer cameras, the removal of the cover display (or replacing it with a smaller one), and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 but without 5G support. We’re hearing that it could come in Astro Blue along with Mirror Purple and Mirror Black colors. We’re also hearing that it could come with 256GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM. This Galaxy Fold “Lite” device would thus come with a mixture of 2018, 2019, and 2020 parts.
The rumored code-name of this product is “winner2” which we found in the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s kernel source code a few months ago. There is a chance this device could end up being either the Project “champ” or Project “top,” too. These are also rumored to be code-names of upcoming Samsung foldable smartphones.
While it might seem like there is a lot of information we already know about this device, I would take some of it with a grain of salt. Although we aren’t 100% sure of all the details yet, it’s clear to us now that Samsung is working on a cheaper foldable device.
LG’s bootloader unlocking policy is quite annoying as the company tends to whitelist only a handful of regional device variants to be unlocked via their official portal. The situation isn’t always their fault, though, as U.S. carriers tend to make the decision to block bootloader unlocking. Take for example the LG V50 ThinQ—while you can unlock the bootloader of the European variant (LM-V500EM), you can’t unlock the Sprint or the Verizon models. That makes rooting virtually impossible on these carriers models, but developers have recently made a breakthrough in this front. It is now possible to get a root shell, albeit temporary, on bootloader locked LG V50 ThinQ units.
XDA Recognized Developer j4nn used the Pixel 3-specific CVE-2020-0041 exploit (read more about it here) to achieve root access in shell on the LG V50 ThinQ’s Android 10 firmware running the Linux 4.14 kernel. The current form of the modified exploit is tested on the Korean LG V50 ThinQ variant (LM-V500N) with software version V500N20m, but it is reportedly working on LG G8 ThinQ’s Android 10 firmware as well with little adjustments. In theory, any Snapdragon 855-powered LG phone running Android 10 with the March 2020 security patch level or lower should be vulnerable to the exploit.
By virtue of being a “temp root” method, root access will be lost as soon as you reboot your phone. Moreover, Android Verified Boot 2.0 may kick in and brick your phone if you try to make permanent changes to protected partitions such as boot, system, and vendor without an unlocked bootloader. That being said, the exploit is currently available in its compiled form, while the developer will soon release the source code. The executable should be invoked from a regular ADB shell or a terminal emulator, and it should show the following message after successful privilege escalation.
[+] Mapped 200000
[+] selinux_enforcing before exploit: 1
...
[*] Launching privileged shell
root_by_cve-2020-0041:/data/local/tmp # uname -a
Linux localhost 4.14.176-g563a8d550f67-dirty #5 SMP PREEMPT Sun Apr 26 02:26:43 CEST 2020 aarch64
root_by_cve-2020-0041:/data/local/tmp # getenforce
Permissive
root_by_cve-2020-0041:/data/local/tmp # id
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root) context=kernel
root_by_cve-2020-0041:/data/local/tmp #
XDA Senior Member Inerent and other members are trying to integrate Magiskon top of the root shell, but the process is not complete yet at the time of writing this article. It could also be possible to install a custom recovery on your bootloader locked LG V50 with the help of Safestrap or similar solutions, but we’ll have to wait and see if such custom development will pick up on the phone.
It’s been a while since Amazon released a new version of the Fire HD 8 tablet. This mid-size tablet is one of Amazon’s most popular models, but it’s going on 2-years old at this point. Today, Amazon announced an upgraded version of the Fire HD 8 and a brand new product in the series called the Fire HD 8 Plus.
First, let’s talk about the new Amazon Fire HD 8. The tablet has the same 8-inch 1280×800 display as its predecessor, but the other specifications have been bumped nearly across the board. The processor is a Quad-core 2.0GHz chip that is supposedly 30% faster. RAM and storage have been doubled to 2GB and 32/64GB. There is still a MicroSD card slot as well.
Fire HD 8
Amazon says the Fire HD 8 is estimated to get about 12 hours of battery life. The biggest update, however, may be the USB-C (2.0) port for charging. Amazon has finally upgraded from the old MicroUSB port, just like they did with the Fire HD 10 last year. All of these updated specs come with an updated price: the Fire HD 8 starts at $89.99, $10 more than the previous model.
Fire HD Plus
Next up is an entirely new product in the Fire tablet series. The Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus brings even more spec upgrades and the Qi wireless charging. It has the same 8-inch display, storage options, and processor as the non-Plus model, but RAM is bumped up to 3GB and it has a faster 9W charger included in the box. You can get the Fire HD 8 Plus in a bundle with an Amazon wireless charging stand for $139.99. The tablet without the dock is $109.99.
Lastly, there’s a new Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition as well. It has the same hardware as the standard Fire HD model, but it comes with a durable “kid-proof” case with built-in kickstand, a 2-year extended replacement program, and a free year of Amazon FreeTime. Pre-orders for all three models are open today and will begin shipping on June 3rd.
If there wasn’t a global pandemic to worry about, then Google would have held its annual developer conference, Google I/O, in Mountain View, California this week. At last year’s I/O, Google unveiled its first-ever mid-range Pixel devices, the Pixel 3a and 3a XL. This year, we’re expecting Google to follow-up with a new mid-range Pixel smartphone called the Pixel 4a. We don’t know when exactly this 2020 mid-range Pixel will be announced, but thanks to leaks, we know pretty much all there is to know about it. Ahead of the Google Pixel 4a announcement, we can detail the phone’s performance thanks to benchmarks performed on pre-release hardware.
To date, the most substantive leaks of the Pixel 4a have come from Cuban YouTuber Julio Lusson who runs the TecnoLike Plus channel. Last week, he shared multiple photos he took from his pre-release Pixel 4a, giving us an early look at the camera performance of Google’s 2020 mid-range Pixel. Today, he has published a video on his YouTube channel showcasing the performance of this upcoming smartphone in various benchmarking applications. He shared the raw results with us before publishing the video, allowing us to compile and analyze the data into the below tables and charts. Take note that since he performed these benchmarks on pre-release hardware running pre-release software, there’s a chance that the retail units may perform slightly better in benchmarks if Google has further optimized the performance.
Julio’s video below shows him running the Pixel 4a through multiple benchmarks, and it even offers a few glimpses at games like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the Nintendo GameCube (via Dolphin Emulator) and PUBG Mobile running on the device. The video is in Spanish, though, so keep reading below if you’re interested in the benchmark results we put together.
Test Devices – Pixel 4a, 4, 3 XL, 3a XL, and the latest QRD
The Google Pixel 4a is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 mobile platform, which is manufactured by Samsung using an 8nm LPP process. The Snapdragon 730 has an octa-core CPU consisting of 2 clusters: 2 ARM Cortex-A76-based CPU cores clocked at up to 2.2GHz and 6 ARM Cortex-A55-based CPU cores clocked at up to 1.8GHz. The GPU is Qualcomm’s Adreno 618.
The Snapdragon 730 is no longer Qualcomm’s best mid-range processor as that crown goes to the Snapdragon 765, but the 730 is still a significant jump up from the Snapdragon 670 found in the Pixel 3a and 3a XL. We can expect noticeable bumps in CPU performance because of the difference in the architecture between the ‘Performance’ CPU cores. We can also expect the Snapdragon 730 in the Pixel 4a to be more power-efficient than the Snapdragon 670 in the Pixel 3a because of the more modern manufacturing process, though our benchmarks won’t reflect this improvement. In terms of real-world performance, the Google Pixel 4a should noticeably outperform the Pixel 3a because of the better processor, better GPU, higher memory capacity, and faster storage technology.
For good measure, we also added benchmark results from the Google Pixel 4 (powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855), the Google Pixel 3 XL (powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845), and the latest Qualcomm Reference Device (powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865). We collected most of these benchmark results back in December when we benchmarked the Snapdragon 865. We’re fairly certain the upcoming Google Pixel 5 won’t feature the Snapdragon 865, but we thought it would still be interesting to see how much of a performance gap there is between Google’s 2020 mid-range Pixel and the best hardware you can find on any Android device. The Pixel 5 is instead expected to feature the Snapdragon 765, but we don’t have a device with this processor at our disposal yet since few devices with this platform are available outside of China.
Qualcomm Reference Device (QRD)
Google Pixel 4
Google Pixel 3 XL
Google Pixel 4a
Google Pixel 3a XL
Device Name
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
Qualcomm Snapdragon 670
Software
Android 10
Android 10
Android 10
Android 10
Android 10
Display
2880×1440 @ 60Hz
2280×1080 @ 60Hz
2960×1440 @ 60Hz
2340×1080 @ 60Hz
2160×1080 @ 60Hz
Memory
12GB LPDDR5
6GB LPDDR4X
4GB LPDDR4X
6GB LPDDR4X
4GB LPDDR4X
Storage
128GB UFS 3.0
64GB UFS 2.1
64GB UFS 2.1
64GB UFS 2.1
64GB eMMC 5.1
Here is an overview of the specifications for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, Qualcomm Snapdragon 730, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 670.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730, 865, 855, 845, and 670 Specifications
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
Qualcomm Snapdragon 670
CPU
1 Kryo 585 ‘Prime’ (ARM Cortex-A77-based), up to 2.84GHz
3 Kryo 585 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A77-based), up to 2.4GHz
4 Kryo 385 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.8GHz
1 Kryo 485 ‘Prime’ (ARM Cortex-A76-based), up to 2.84GHz
3 Kryo 485 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A76-based), up to 2.42GHz
4 Kryo 385 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.8GHz
4 Kryo 385 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A75-based), up to 2.8GHz
4 Kryo 385 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.8GHz
2 Kryo 470 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A76-based), up to 2.2GHz
6 Kryo 470 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.8GHz
2 Kryo 360 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A75-based), up to 2.0GHz
6 Kryo 360 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.7GHz
AndroBench: AndroBench is a fairly old benchmark with an equally dated design, but it’s still the go-to for storage testing. It tests the speed of sequential read/write, random read/write, and SQLite insert, update, and delete operations. A sequential read/write is an operation that involves reading/writing storage blocks that are contiguous, while a random read/write involves reading/writing randomly scattered storage blocks. SQLite describes a type of database management system; developers dealing with large databases often have to make SQLite calls to retrieve or modify the database. We can get a good idea of the storage performance of an Android device with AndroBench. By default, the benchmark writes a 64MP file with either 32MB or 4KB buffer sizes for sequential and random read/writes respectively, and an SQLite transaction size of 1. The speed of the former operation is measured in MB/s while the latter in Queries Per Second (QPS).
AnTuTu: This is a holistic benchmark. AnTuTu tests the CPU, GPU, and memory performance, while including both abstract tests and, as of late, relatable user experience simulations (for example, the subtest which involves scrolling through a ListView). The final score is weighted according to the designer’s considerations.
GeekBench: A CPU-centric test that uses several computational workloads including encryption, compression (text and images), rendering, physics simulations, computer vision, ray tracing, speech recognition, and convolutional neural network inference on images. The score breakdown gives specific metrics. The final score is weighted according to the designer’s considerations, placing a large emphasis on integer performance (65%), then float performance (30%), and finally, crypto (5%).
GFXBench: Aims to simulate video game graphics rendering using the latest APIs. Lots of onscreen effects and high-quality textures. Newer tests use Vulkan while legacy tests use OpenGL ES 3.1. The outputs are frames during test and frames per second (the other number divided by the test length, essentially), instead of a weighted score. Aztec Ruins: These tests are the most computationally heavy ones offered by GFXBench. Currently, top mobile chipsets cannot sustain 30 frames per second. Specifically, the test offers really high polygon count geometry, hardware tessellation, high-resolution textures, global illumination and plenty of shadow mapping, copious particle effects, as well as bloom and depth of field effects. Most of these techniques will stress the shader compute capabilities of the processor.
PCMark 2.0: Tests the device as a complete unit. It simulates everyday use cases that can implement abstract algorithms and a lot of arithmetic; the difference is that these are dispatched within an application environment, with a particular practical purpose, and handled by API calls and Android libraries common to multiple applications. The test will output a variety of scores corresponding to the various subtests, which will be detailed below; the composite, Work 2.0 score is simply the geometric mean of all of these scores, meaning all tests are weighted equally.
PCMark 2.0 Subscore Explanations. Click to expand.
Web browsing 2.0 simulates browsing social media: rendering the web page, searching for the content, re-rendering the page as new images are added, and so on. This subtest uses the native Android WebView to render (WebKit) and interact with the content, which is locally stored — this means you can run it offline, but it does not simulate web browsing fully as it rules out internet connection factors (latency, network speed). It is specifically tracking frame rates and completion time across seven tasks, with their score being a multiple of their geometric mean.
Video Editing simulates video editing performance: applying effects to a video using OpenGL ES 2.0 fragment shaders, decoding video frames (sent to an Android GLSurfaceView), and rendering/encoding the video in H.264/MPEG-4AVC at several frame rates and resolutions up to 4K. It is specifically tracking frame rates on the UI, except for a final test tracking the completion time of a video editing pipeline.
Writing simulates general document and text editing work: adding or editing texts and images within a document, copying and pasting text, and so on. It uses the native Android EditText view as well as PdfRenderer and PdfDocument APIs. It will open compressed documents, move text bodies, insert images in the document, then save them as a PDF, to then encrypt and decrypt them (AES). It specifically tracks task completion times for the processes of opening and saving files, adding images and moving text bodies, encrypt/decrypt the file, and render the PDF pages on ImageViews.
Photo Editing simulates photo-editing performance: opening images, applying different effects via filters (grains, blurs, embossing, sharpening, and so on) and saving the image. It uses 4MP JPEG source images and manipulates them in bitmap format using the android.media.effect API, android.renderscript API’s RenderScript Intrinsics, android-jhlabs, and the native android.graphics API for drawing the process on the screen. This is an extremely comprehensive test in that it will be impacted by storage access, CPU performance, GPU performance, and it is dependent on many different Android APIs. The test specifically measures memory and storage access times, encoding and decoding times, task completion times. The various filters and effects come from different APIs.
Data manipulation simulates database management operations: parsing and validating data from files, interacting with charts, and so on. It will open (date, value) tuples from CSV, XML, JSON files, and then render animated charts with the MPAndroidChart library. It specifically tracks data parsing times as well as draws per second of each chart animation (similar to frame rate, but specific to the updating chart).
Benchmark Results
AnTuTu isn’t my preferred benchmark, especially after it got booted off the Play Store, but there’s no denying it’s one of the most popular benchmarks for Android devices. In this test, the Pixel 4a scores overall about ~48% as high as the Qualcomm Reference Device and ~70% as high as the Pixel 4, but it does about as well as the Pixel 3 XL and substantially better than the Pixel 3a XL. When we looked at AnTuTu’s subscores, we can see that the Pixel 4a scores fairly well in the CPU, Memory, and UX tests but falls significantly behind all the Snapdragon 8-series processors we tested when it comes to the GPU tests. In fact, the Pixel 4a outperformed the Pixel 3 XL in most of AnTuTu’s tests except for the GPU ones, where the Pixel 4a performed 50% to 60% as well as the Pixel 3 XL. The Pixel 4a’s performance in AnTuTu’s Memory tests is about on par with that of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 3 XL—no surprise, though, since all of these devices have similar memory configurations. The Pixel 4a’s overall UX score in AnTuTu is also about on par with that of the Pixel 4, but it’s about 35-36% higher than the scores for the Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 3a XL. Out of all of these devices, however, the Pixel 4 will still offer the best real-world UI performance since we can’t discount the fact that it’s the only Pixel device with a 90Hz refresh rate panel. Overall, the Pixel 4a outperforms the Pixel 3a XL in nearly every test in AnTuTu while it unsurprisingly underperforms the QRD in every test.
PCMark is one of my favorite benchmarks because of its emphasis on real-world performance. While there’s a big gap in the scores between the Pixel 4a and the Pixel 3a XL, there’s a much smaller gap in the scores between the former device and the Pixel 4 or Pixel 3 XL. The QRD predictably blows the competition out of the water because of its superior hardware across the board, so it’s not even worth analyzing its subscores. The Pixel 4a’s subscores for PCMark’s Writing 2.0 and Photo Editing 2.0 tests are much higher (44% and 56% respectively) than the Pixel 3a XL’s, which is good news for users looking to perform basic document and image editing tasks on their device.
Julio was only able to share a single result from GFXBench with us, but it clearly demonstrates what I was talking about earlier in regards to the GPU performance: The Adreno 618 in the Snapdragon 730 is majorly outclassed by the Adreno GPUs in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8-series. GFXBench’s Aztec Ruins test is Kishonti’s most computationally intensive graphics test by far but it’s not representative of most Android games, so don’t let these results discourage you from trying to play games on the Google Pixel 4a. I would bet that most games will run just fine on the device, even the notoriously performance-intensive ones like Fortnite Mobile, provided you’re willing to turn down some of the graphical settings. For what it’s worth, Julio told me that he played a round of PUBG Mobile just fine at the game’s “High” graphics preset.
If you’re into retro gaming via emulators, though, then you’ll be plenty happy with the Google Pixel 4a’s CPU performance. While the Pixel 4a’s multi-core Geekbench 5.0 scores are significantly lower than that of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 3 XL (again, the QRD is so far ahead it’s not even worth discussing), the Pixel 4a’s single-core score is much closer to the scores from the Pixel 4 and Pixel 3a XL. In a single-core score comparison, the Pixel 4a actually outperforms the Pixel 3 XL, which we can likely attribute to the fact that the Snapdragon 730’s performance cluster is comprised of 2 ARM Cortex-A76-based CPU cores compared to the Snapdragon 845’s older ARM Cortex-A75-based CPU cores. When looking at the Geekbench 5.0 subscores for the multi-core scores, we can see that the Pixel 4a’s Snapdragon 730 mostly underperforms the Pixel 4’s Snapdragon 855 and Pixel 3 XL’s Snapdragon 845 when it comes to cryptographic calculations.
Here’s a table summarizing the overall benchmark scores charted on these bar graphs. To keep this table from becoming too massive, we didn’t include the subscores for each test—if you’re interested in seeing those results, then feel free to reach out to me.
Conclusion – The Google Pixel 4a is a solidly performing mid-range smartphone
The Google Pixel 4a is shaping up to be an excellent mid-range smartphone. If the rumored $399 starting price is correct, that would make the Pixel 4a a direct competitor to the Apple iPhone SE (2020) and Samsung Galaxy A51. While Google may not be packing the greatest hardware in this device, we can be sure that the phone will be capable of taking excellent photos. Google’s software will also be a huge advantage over other mid-range offerings. While some companies were basically goaded into committing to just providing 2 years of Android updates, Google offers 3 years on all Pixel devices. What’s more is that the Pixel 4a will feature most Pixel software features that have been announced already, including Now Playing, Live Caption, and the new Google Assistant (which Julio confirmed to us is supported). All that’s left is for Google to just announce the phone already, but we may have to wait until June 3rd for that to happen.
With movie theaters across the country shut for quarantine, the last few weeks have been painful for true fans of the big screen. While Netflix on a regular TV is better than nothing, you might want to recreate the full theater experience at home. These projectors and more will help you enjoy dazzling visuals, now with up to 64% off the MSRP at the XDA Developers Depot.
CINEMOOD 360: First 360° Interactive Projector
Ever wished you could step inside the action? You can with theCINEMOOD 360— the best-selling mini projector on Amazon. This pocket-sized device turns any room into an interactive digital experience, with 360° games and movies. It can also keep your kids entertained, with 40 digital books and built-in access to Disney content and other streaming platforms. Normally priced at $499, the projector isnow only $328.99.
TaoTronics 120″ 16:9 Projector Screen
While you can project onto any flat surface,this large screen from TaoTronicswill give you a much better picture than any painted wall. It’s made from premium PVC with a black back-coating that ensures light doesn’t leak through. Projected images look perfect through a 160-degree viewing angle, and the screen is easy to install using nails, hooks, or even double-sided tape. Normally priced at $29.99, it’snow just $24.99.
Prima 1080p HD Pocket Projector
Perfect for confined spaces and small apartments, thePrima projectoris only thesize of an iPhone. However, this device has a 200-lumen bulb to deliver bright, crisp pictures up to 200 inches across. In addition, Prima runs Android on a 64-bit processor; this means you can enjoy games and content from apps on the big screen. It’s worth $799, but you can pick up the projector nowfor just $279.99.
Vivitek Q38-BK Ultra-Portable Full HD Smart Projector
With an output of 600 lumens and a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, theVivitek Q38-BKis much more powerful than the other projectors on this list. It offersfull 1080p HD playbackon a 130-inch display, with a powerful quad-core CPU for running Android apps. Rated at 4.1 stars on Amazon, this projector also provides two hours of battery life. Originally priced at $499.99, certified refurbs arenow only $279.
