Samsung's Exynos 5422 & The Ideal big.LITTLE: Exynos 5 Hexa (5260)

Samsung announced two new mobile SoCs at MWC today. The first is an update to the Exynos 5 Octa with the new Exynos 5422. The 5422 is a mild update to the 5420, which was found in some international variants of the Galaxy Note 3. The new SoC is still built on a 28nm process at Samsung, but enjoys much higher frequencies on both the Cortex A7 and A15 clusters. The two clusters can run their cores at up to 1.5GHz and 2.1GHz, respectively.

The 5422 supports HMP (Heterogeneous Multi-Processing), and Samsung LSI tells us that unlike the 5420 we may actually see this one used with HMP enabled. HMP refers to the ability for the OS to use and schedule threads on all 8 cores at the same time, putting those threads with low performance requirements on the little cores and high performance threads on the big cores.

The GPU is still the same ARM Mali-T628 MP6 from the 5420, running at the same frequency. Samsung does expect the 5422 to ship with updated software (drivers perhaps?) that will improve GPU performance over the 5420.

Exynos 5 Comparison
SoC	5250	5260	5410	5420	5422
Max Number of Active Cores	2	6	4	4 (?)	8
CPU Configuration	2 x Cortex A15	2 x Cortex A15 + 4 x Cortex A7	4 x Cortex A15 + 4 x Cortex A7	4 x Cortex A15 + 4 x Cortex A7	4 x Cortex A15 + 4 x Cortex A7
A15 Max Clock	1.7 GHz	1.7GHz	1.6GHz	1.8GHz	2.1GHz
A7 Max Clock	-	1.3GHz	1.2GHz	1.3GHz	1.5GHz
GPU	ARM Mali-T604 MP4	ARM Mali-T624 (?)	Imagination PowerVR SGX544MP3	ARM Mali-T628 MP6	ARM Mali-T628 MP6
Memory Interface	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-1600	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-1600 (?)	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-1600	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-1866	2 x 32-bit LPDDR3-1866
Process	32nm HK+MG	28nm HK+MG (?)	28nm HK+MG	28nm HK+MG	28nm HK+MG

The launch vehicle for the 5422 is likely the recently announced Galaxy S 5. Although most of what we'll encounter will ship with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 801, we'll likely see some international variants with the 5422. It's also entirely possible that some future Exynos 5422 SGS5 variants will feature an Intel XMM 7160 LTE modem.

The more exciting news however is the new Exynos 5 Hexa, a six-core big.LITTLE HMP SoC. With a design that would make Peter Greenhalgh proud, the Exynos 5260 features two ARM Cortex A15 cores running at up to 1.7GHz and four Cortex A7 cores running at up to 1.3GHz. The result is a six core design that is likely the best balance of performance and low power consumption. HMP is fully supported so a device with the proper scheduler and OS support would be able to use all 6 cores at the same time.

The 5260 feels like the ideal big.LITTLE implemention. I'm not expecting to find the 5260 in many devices, but I absolutely want to test a platform with one in it. If there was ever a real way to evaluate the impact of big.LITTLE, it's Samsung's Exynos 5260.

Samsung didn't announce cache sizes, process node or GPU IP for the 5260. Earlier leaks hinted at an ARM Mali T624 GPU. Samsung's release quotes up to 12.8GB/s of memory bandwidth, which implies a 64-bit wide LPDDR3-1600 interface.

Modular Smartphone Project Ara from Google to Start Development Conferences

Joshua talked about Project Ara (from Motorola at the time) back in October as a campaign that focused on attracting OEM interest into a modular smartphone design.  The results of that campaign take the next step forward as Google announces the first set of developer conferences for a modular device.

Headed under the Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division, the platform is meant to be a single hub onto which the user can place their own hardware.  This means CPUs, cameras, sensors, screens, baseband, modems, connectivity, storage – the whole gamut.  The issue with such a device compounds the effects of going from a managed ecosystem (Apple and several hardware combinations) to a free ecosystem (Android and every hardware combination).  Project Ara takes this complexity one stage further, and there has to be a fundamental software base to solve this.  Hence ATAP is going to be doing three developers’ conferences in 2014, starting on April 15-16 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Aside from those attending in person, the event will be live webcast with question and answer sessions built into the programme.  Due to the early stage of Project Ara, the initial conference is all about the modular system itself, building a device and getting it to work.  Coinciding with the first conference, an alpha version of the Module Developers’ Kit should be available.

The other two conferences for 2014 are yet to be announced.  Further info on the conference is found at the website projectara.com, to be updated over the next few weeks with more details.

To quote the website:

We plan a series of three Ara Developers’ Conferences throughout 2014. The first of these, scheduled for April 15-16, will focus on the alpha release of the Ara Module Developers’ Kit (MDK). The MDK is a free and open platform specification and reference implementation that contains everything you need to develop an Ara module. We expect that the MDK will be released online in early April.

The Developers’ Conference will consist of a detailed walk-through of existing and planned features of the Ara platform, a briefing and community feedback sessions on the alpha MDK, and an announcement of a series of prize challenges for module developers. The complete Developers’ Conference agenda will be out in the next few weeks.

This first version of the MDK relies on a prototype implementation of the Ara on-device network using the MIPI UniPro protocol implemented on FPGA and running over an LVDS physical layer. Subsequent versions will soon be built around a much more efficient and higher performance ASIC implementation of UniPro, running over a capacitive M-PHY physical layer.

The Developers’ Conference, as the name suggests, is a forum targeted at developers so priority for on-site attendance will reflect this. For others--non-developers and Ara enthusiasts--we welcome you to join us via the live webstream. That said, we invite developers of all shapes and sizes: from major OEMs to innovative component suppliers to startups and new entrants into the mobile space.

Samsung Galaxy S 4 Review Part 1

It’s no secret that Samsung enjoyed huge success with Galaxy S 3 (henceforth SGS3 and SGS4 for Galaxy S 4). In many markets, SGS3 was easily the Android handset to beat, even as faster and arguably better hardware became available during the life of its product cycle. Samsung nailed the branding, marketing, and consistency battles with its third generation of Galaxy smartphone, and now we’re a year later and facing down SGS4.

There's always that question about how you follow up something that was wildly successful with another product, and carry over what was good about the previous generation that made it successful. There's no denying that Samsung is in an interesting position here, facing opposition from players desperate to get more market share against the now well-established player that is Samsung. At the same time Galaxy S 4 is by very name an iterative product. 

Putting together an Android flagship is superficially a pretty easy thing to do, and the story of the Galaxy S 4 starts out much the same as any other Android flagship from this generation. There's a 1080p 5-inch display on top, the latest and greatest CMOS sensors for front and rear facing cameras (2MP and 13 MP respectively), a powerful Snapdragon 600 SoC (which is really APQ8064AB, but more on that later) with four Krait 300 CPUs running at up to 1.9 GHz and an Adreno 320 GPU at up to 450 MHz, 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM, microSD in addition to built in storage, and removable 9.88 watt-hour battery. On the connectivity side of things we get LTE connectivity in the appropriate markets courtesy of the ubiquitous MDM9x15 LTE/WCDMA/CDMA2000/GSM multimode baseband, WLAN and Bluetooth from the latest and greatest BCM4335 802.11ac/BT 4.0 LE combo chip, and NFC from Broadcom's BCM2079x chip. There's also a new generation of touch controller inside from Synaptics, and Audience's latest eS325 noise rejection and suppression voice processor for calls. Long story short, SGS4 is packed full of absolutely the latest and greatest everything on basically every axis possible. 

Samsung has done a good job of answering most of the questions we've had about the Galaxy S 4 prior to ever getting our hands on final hardware. From our earlier preview and experience with the device we got a good feel for the software customizations, as well as what hardware we should expect to see under the hood. Today, armed with final hardware and final software (Android 4.2.2 and TouchWiz atop it), we can try to fill in some of the remaining blanks. 

I like to start with aesthetics and hardware. There's no doubt that superficially the SGS4 shares almost all of its industrial design language with SGS3 and the Galaxy Note 2, which themselves are iterations of the design path that Samsung started down arguably with the T-Mobile SGS2 (SGH-T989) and AT&TSGS2 what feels like an eternity ago. At first the "inspired by nature" motif made sense with the rounded appearance on SGS3, with SGS4 it's obvious this is a refresh which capitalizes on everything that made the SGS3 popular. This is the iPhone school of thinking — you have an industrial design now that is borderline a trademark, it's selling well, and if you have something that's popular, why change it?

That's not to say there aren't changes, the SGS4 feels shockingly different in the hand than the SGS3. The SGS3 previously had a very tapered backside with a large radius of curvature. The SGS4's profile is now more squared off basically everywhere. The result is a handset that feels thicker because it is — at the points which previously were thinnest on the SGS3. 

 Samsung continues its liberal use of its favorite thermoplastic with SGS4, but what's always intriguing to me is how much it tries to make its thermoplastic exteriors look like something else. The SGS3 undoubtedly tried to mimic a faux aluminum appearance, with SGS4 there's now a faux carbon fiber motif going throughout, with a diamond checkerboard pattern that prevails on the front and back. The edge lip is still a faux brushed chrome metal material which I thought we had moved past with SGS3. 
Much debate has been made around Samsung's continued use of plastic vs. metal in the industrial design of its smartphones and tablets. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S 4 isn't exempt from this debate. Samsung's public stance has always been that it optimizes its material choice to keep weight as low as possible. That's a noble way to take things, although the unmentioned benefit is that it obviously keeps costs low as well. The weight argument is an interesting one. If you compare the all-plastic Galaxy S 4 to the all-metal HTC One, there's a difference of 13 grams. Whether or not the weight difference is noticeable really depends on the user, but it's clear that cost reduction is just as big of a factor (if not more) in Samsung's affinity for plastic than simply saving weight. There's no getting around the fact that other OEMs are bringing increasingly sophisticated materials choices to bear with their designs, and this is an obvious weak point for SGS4.

 What has improved dramatically with SGS4 are the buttons, which now are surprisingly awesome. There's a beveled edge around the outside, which makes them sharp and locatable with a finger instantly. I have to admit I always loathed the rounded glossy buttons on the SGS3 which blended into the equally glossy shiny plastic around it. Even the physical home button gets this treatment, and feels much more communicative and clicky. Also worry not, they're all still in the same places, with the power button about three fourths up the right side, volume rocker three fourths up the left side. Samsung's capacitive menu and back buttons are unchanged, Samsung still hasn't gotten around to reading Google's "Say goodbye to the menu button" post, which still is a hilarious read in the context of the release and review of what will probably be 2013's most popular smartphone, which still carries a menu button. Or maybe Google just can't enforce this particular decree? Either way, for SGS3 users upgrading to SGS4 all of the buttons and human input outputs will be familiar territory. 

 Up top there's the earphone jack, secondary microphone port for noise cancelation and stereo audio in video recording, and an IR port. I can't emphasize enough how happy I am that we finally are getting IR back in devices. 

At bottom in the middle is microUSB, we're long past this being at the top or some other weird place. Next to that is the primary microphone.

On the back the SGS4 starts to look a lot different from the SGS3. The flash is now below the camera module, and the camera port and black region is now correspondingly much larger, with a bit of a pronounced bump. There's no Sprint branding on this particular variant, just Samsung at the top and Galaxy S 4 (no IV, no Roman numerals, it's 4 this time) at the bottom. At bottom left is a cutout and small raised bump for the speakerphone. 

 Samsung continues to differentiate its phones by including a removable back cover, and underneath it, removable battery, microSD expansion, and microSIM card tray. I'll admit that I instantly popped in my SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-1 64 GB card when I got the SGS4 just because I can.
The reality is that inclusion of even these basic features overrides any industrial design tradeoffs for many shoppers, so it's probably something which will continue to be a dominant feature on Samsung flagship handsets. Along with that obviously comes the ability to run an extended battery with a different, accordingly larger battery cover.

 That brings me to the S View Cover, which is perhaps one of the cooler new additions on SGS4. This is an improvement on the flip cover which debuted with SGS3. What's different is that now the cover both unlocks the phone when opened and no lock screen password or code is set, and also there's a small window up top which includes information like notifications, the clock, status bar, and call screening information. It's an awesome feature and one of those things that only Samsung can do with SAMOLED. 

When it comes to software, I'm grateful that Samsung is running Android 4.2.2 on the SGS4, even if the next version of Android is just around the corner.

 

The TouchWiz story is really a short one — it's still there, and it's fundamentally unchanged, there's just more of it. The launcher, widget panels and home screens are all the same as they were in previous iterations. Messaging looks superficially different, and SwiftKey now seems to power some parts of the stock keyboard's correction engine, even if the stock Samsung keyboard for me still is difficult to use with its very conservative autocorrection settings. 

 

What gets a big change on SGS4 is the notification panel, which builds on the stock 4.2.x feature with a ton more toggles (19 of them). It's almost overwhelming at first, of course you can still get to these by scrolling the top settings pane left and right just like in the previous version. These are also customizable. 

 

Also present are Air View which works with the new generation of Synaptics touchpad to detect a finger hovering over some part of the display. Basically all of the first party Samsung applications have some sort of Air View functionality, exposing either additional information, a preview, or zooming (in the browser) content when you hover your finger over a region for an extended period of time. I find it difficult to hover my finger over the screen without touching it, but in the gallery and sock browser it is admittedly sometimes useful. Smart pause and Smart scroll also are new features which build on the eye and head tracking features built into the hardware and exposed previously as Smart stay. I found that Smart scroll does work in the browser surprisingly well for scrolling content, you have to look pretty fiercely at the bottom or top regions, but it works. Smart pause works, but I sometimes had issues with it pausing while I was still looking at video, either in YouTube or the gallery. Of course both of these rely on the front facing camera and need your face to be well exposed. 

I think credit is due to Samsung for at least trying to convey a useful software and feature side of the story for the hardware – after all, if it's there, you need to demonstrate it. 

 

I also like that the multi window functionality carries over to SGS4. My use case frequently involves looking at twitter and the web side by side, which is perfect with the official Twitter client and Chrome, or Falcon Pro and Chrome. I wish my IM client of choice (imo.im) worked with this feature so I could have chat side by side with another application, that would really sell me on TouchWiz delivering something which functionally changes my use patterns above other variants. 

I should say that despite our limited time with the device, Samsung took a step in the right direction by giving us a week with the Galaxy S 4. I still believe that flagship devices need about a month of real use for a complete evaluation, but at least we had more than a couple of days with the Galaxy S 4. There's still a lot more we want to do on SGS4 and even though this is our review there's still more that needs to be fleshed out. For now, think of it as a part one of sorts. There's also the Exynos 5 variant of the SGS4, which is the device both Anand and myself are really interested in. 

Now for the bad news. According to Samsung PR, in an effort to get us a device as soon as possible an unusual sacrifice had to be made: our Galaxy S 4 review sample operates exclusively on the Sprint network. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon review units would soon follow (apparently there were a handful of T-Mobile review units set aside for specific sites at the behest of T-Mobile), but for now all we've got to review is the Sprint Galaxy S 4. Like the 3rd generation model that preceeds it, the Galaxy S 4 ships with identical specifications across all US mobile operators - so the hardware here should be identical to what you'd get on AT&T or any of the other operators. The downside is that it's near impossible to use the Galaxy S 4 as a stand-in for any other device in our normal day to day usage thanks to just how bad Sprint's cellular performance is on 3G/EVDO, especially in my market:

  

Obviously in areas where Sprint has LTE deployed the situation should be better, but as we found in our early testing of Sprint's LTE network that is not necessarily the case - not to mention the bigger issue being that Sprint LTE just isn't widely available at this point. None of this really matters to the Galaxy S 4 as a device, but it does prevent us from investigating a lot of the things we normally would in the process of reviewing a flagship smartphone, to say nothing of impacting the ability to offer our thoughts about using it as a real daily driver.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Review

For the past couple of years Samsung, and many other Google partners, have been on the hunt to improve productivity on Android - particularly on tablets. We’ve seen hardware solutions (ASUS’ Transformer line) as well as software solutions (Samsung’s multi-window support) emerge. No one has really perfected the productivity story for Android tablets. I’m not entirely sure that long term even Google sees Android as the productivity platform of choice (perhaps Chrome OS will assume that role?), but there’s no shortage of attempts to solve this problem.

While ASUS was at the forefront of addressing the productivity issue for a while with its Transformer tablets, Samsung has since picked up the torch with its Galaxy Note family of devices. What started as a giant smartphone has now evolved to encompass an entire lineup of tablets as well. The productivity aspect of the Note line is really tied to the integrated active digitizer and stylus (S Pen) that comes with the devices. There are software and other features that complete the picture (e.g. IR blaster), but it all stems from the S Pen. Last year Samsung introduced the Galaxy Note 10.1, its first 10-inch tablet with an integrated S Pen. This year, Samsung expanded the line with an 8-inch model, the aptly named Galaxy Note 8.0.

Design

There’s a whole lot of excitement around sub-8” tablet form factors. It turns out that people like carrying their tablets with them, and smaller tablets make for better travel companions. There’s a lot of debate over what everyone settles on as the ideal form factor for tablets (and smartphones, notebooks, desktops), but for now we’re still in a period of wait and see.

There’s more clarity today than there was a few years ago however. The scene is still foggy, but some elements are coming into focus.

The 10-inch tablet market is on a crash course headed straight for the entry level ultraportable notebook market. Microsoft’s Surface Pro is a very early hint at that convergence. Long term I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the “traditional” 10-inch tablet market go away and be replaced by some form of a convergence device (read: tablet with a real keyboard solution). The 11-inch notebook market would be collateral damage in this scenario. Potentially hilarious outcome: if Apple or Microsoft actually make this happen, I wonder how Intel’s success will be graded on its Ultrabook campaign.

The smaller-than-10-inch category seems strong, at least for the somewhat near future. The success of the Nexus 7 and iPad mini proved that this form factor had life. Previous attempts failed because neither the software nor the hardware was ready. Some of Samsung’s first small tablets suffered from these problems.

Only a few short years later, the world is already very different. Android has matured into a real tablet OS, many of its UI performance concerns have been addressed and the hardware is much faster. While earlier attempts at building small Android tablets failed, the ingredients are ripe this time around.

From left to right: Nexus 7, iPad mini, Galaxy Note 8.0

Eight inches is an interesting choice for a Galaxy Note. Compared to the Nexus 7 or iPad mini, the Note 8.0 feels a bit larger. The dimensions on paper don’t look significantly bigger, but you are talking about a thicker, taller and slightly wider device than an iPad mini. The Note 8.0 doesn’t feel too big, just bigger.

The 8 is a bit too large to wield comfortably in a single hand, but it’s light enough where I really don’t mind carrying it around. For a tablet I’m only going to use at home in a single sitting location, I might want something larger. For something I’m going to carry around with me a lot, I want something more like the Galaxy Note 8.0, iPad mini or Nexus 7.

From left to right: Nexus 7, iPad mini, Galaxy Note 8.0

Samsung loves its plastic enclosures, and the Note 8.0 isn’t an exception to the rule. Glossy white dominates the device. I don’t want to dwell too much on Samsung’s materials choice here other than to say it’s an obvious cost and weight savings play. Whether it matters or how much it matters really depends on how you are with your belongings.

Metal (bottom) vs. Plastic (top)

If you’re the type of person to value, polish and take care of the things you own, the Note 8’s construction doesn’t convey luxury. If you want something you’re not going to feel bad about tossing about like you would your keys or a bag, maybe a plastic tablet is less of a problem.

Upon its introduction, Apple made a big deal about the iPad mini having significantly more usable display area than the Nexus 7. The same complaints can’t be levied against the Galaxy Note 8.0, which features a display with 96% of the surface area of the iPad mini:

The iPad mini’s display is wider, while the Note 8’s is taller - a difference forced by having similar diagonal screen sizes (7.9” vs 8.0”) but vastly different aspect ratios (4:3 vs 16:10). In the 8-inch form factor, 16:10 works very well. Get too large and it becomes a bit awkward for portrait use in my opinion (see: Surface RT/Pro, although those are 16:9) but it’s not an issue on the Note 8.0. Whether or not you prefer 16:10 or 4:3 really depends on what type of content you’re viewing on the device. The former is perfect for video playback, while the latter is nicer for reading text.

The button layout on the front is the same as the Galaxy S 3 or Galaxy Note 2. There’s a physical home button flanked on either side by menu and back buttons. Both the physical and capacitive buttons serve double duty on the Note 8.0. Double tap the home button to bring up S Voice, Samsung’s answer to Siri, and long press on the home button to bring up the Android task switcher.

A long press on the menu button launches Google Now, while a long press on the back button brings up Samsung’s app launcher.

The app launcher is something Samsung has been toying with since the original Galaxy Tab. Back then the UI customization was horribly slow, but on the Note 8.0 it’s nice and quick thanks to advancements in Android as well as having far better hardware these days.

In portrait mode, along the left side of the device you’ll find a microSD card slot with removable plastic cover. On the opposite side are the usual culprits: power/lock and a volume rocker. Also along the right side of the device is an IR emitter, customary on all members of the Note family (as well as the Galaxy S 4).

There’s a single microphone on the Note 8.0, located just north of the power/lock switch. Along the top of the device is an 1/8” jack for headphones/mic, and on the bottom there’s a single USB 2.0 port.

Internally, the Galaxy Note 8.0 is distinctly last generation hardware - similar to what Apple did with the iPad mini. Samsung uses its own Exynos 4 Quad SoC, which features four ARM Cortex A9 cores running at up to 1.6GHz with ARM’s Mali-400MP4 GPU. The SoC is paired with 2GB of memory.

On the silicon front, the Note 8.0 outclasses the iPad mini in nearly every category. Faster CPU cores and 4x the memory capacity are really necessary to support Samsung’s multitasking focus for the tablet. The GPU is the only area where Apple potentially maintains an advantage. Interestingly enough, both the Exynos 4 Quad and Apple A5r2 SoCs are built at Samsung’s foundry on its 32nm HK+MG process. How’s that for coopetition.

Like the iPad mini, the Note 8.0 comes with 16GB of NAND on-board. Unlike the mini however, and sort of a trademark for Samsung devices these days, the Note 8.0 comes with a microSD card slot for additional storage. If that wasn’t enough, Samsung partnered with Dropbox to give Note 8.0 owners 50GB of free Dropbox storage for 2 years.

iPad mini vs Galaxy Note 8.0
	Apple iPad mini	Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0	Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
Dimensions	200 x 134.7 x 7.2mm	210.8 x 135.6 x 7.95mm	230.9 x 157.8 x 8.6mm
Display	7.85-inch 1024 x 768 IPS	8.0-inch 1280 x 800 PLS	8.9-inch 1280 x 800 PLS
Weight	308g (WiFi)	338g (WiFi)	453g
Processor	1GHz Apple A5 (2 x Cortex A9, PowerVR SGX543MP2)	1.6GHz Samsung Exynos 4412 (4 x Cortex A9, Mali 400MP4)	1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 (2 x Cortex A9, GeForce UL)
Connectivity	WiFi , Optional 4G LTE	WiFi , Optional 3G/4G LTE	WiFi , Optional 3G
Memory	512MB	2GB	1GB
Storage	16GB—64GB	16GB/32GB + microSD	16GB
Battery	16.3Wh	~17Wh	22.6Wh
Starting Price	$329	$399	$469

The Note 8.0 will be available in both WiFi-only and 3G/4G LTE versions. Samsung sent in the WiFi-only version for review, which is available in the US starting today at $399 for a 16GB model. The Galaxy Note 8.0 also comes with a $25 Google Play Store credit.