iPhone 3GS pitted against Nexus One in 3D frame rate test (video)
By Darren Murph 
posted February 15th 2010 2:19AM
posted February 15th 2010 2:19AM
posted February 15th 2010 2:19AM
HTC Google Nexus One
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@jkwakopo Scary maybe in terms of too much fragmentation. There are so many different Android Ui's now because of all the phone makers changing and adding enhancements. Android will always be good if it's a google experience phone like the Nexus One. But all the others will be beat up by the phone maker. This is why WebOS and Iphone OS are superior.
@splmonster
I totally agree with ya..Google needs to stop being greedy and start working with all carriers/hardware makers... But then it's Google.. They will probably come up with the solution, if not this can be really "scary". I mean Droid community went crazy with not even a delay.... lol
Don't see how this is misleading. It's simply a fps test, and it's testing the GPU power of each phone. Just as like you were benchmarking your graphics card on your pc or mac. Palm Pre and Ipone currently have the most powerful GPU in a phone.
I think it would have been interesting if the guys who did this fps comparison did a second comparison using the same 3D demo, but compiled using only VFP floating-point optimization for both the iPhone and Nexus One versions.
Doing that comparison as well would have made it possible to guess how using Neon floating-point compile-time optimization would benefit the Android rendering (eg, if the iPhone's fps fell from 35 to 18 without the benefit of Neon, it's a fair guess that the Nexus One would jump from 35 to 60 fps (or whatever the screen's refresh rate is).
I guess it's a tough call for Google, though, because if developers have the option of compiling code that uses optimizations only found in later ARM cores, then the software would possibly not run on Android sets running older ARM11 cpus (or possibly the compiler can generate code that uses the optimizations on chips that support them, but simply run slower on chips that don't?)
Either way - I'd bet money some developers somewhere will get Neon-optimized 3D rendering on a Nexus One, by hook or by crook, within six months.
@Kirkaiya
NEON optimisations have actually been available for quite a while already, in Cyanogen's 5.0 ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=623496 ("ARM NEON optimizations (mostly to the pixelflinger library) which have not been included in the stock build yet"). Some more details (including benchmarks) are here: http://code.google.com/p/0xdroid/issues/detail?id=57
I'd be surprised if we don't see optimisations like these make it into an official build quite soon, with more to follow.
@Kirkaiya
Yes, this would have been interesting.
What this video shows is the difference between with Neon and without, not necessarily the difference between the hardware. If all it takes is a reflash to add Neon to the N1, then they should show a video without the optimization, so we can more clearly see hardware differences.
Lol why is every phone always compared to the iPhone?
I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the iPhone and everything, but I actually wanna see phones being compared to Nokia 900 or even the Droid.
Seriously, there are good phones out there, and yet everything is always about the iPhone.
@mtnDewFTW
because Iphone is the standard... Everyone wants take down Apple.. It was revolutionary gadget few years ago when it came out ( not anymore there are so many other capable phones out there) Look @ AT&T. Even with all their problems, AT&T racking up profits long with APPLE.. yeah.. that's why everything gets compare to Iphone usually....
@mtnDewFTW Well, whether people want to admit it or not, the iPhone is the benchmark in the smartphone industry. Google needs to start putting more resources into optimizing the foundation of their OS and fragmentation won't be as big an issue as people make it out to be.
@Luffy
Yep.. except this fragmentation, Android is full of potentials...Im a droid user, i love it and believe it has its many advantages/disadvantages over iphones, but i just love how snappy and very responsive iphone os is... It's really impressive... If Stevie Jobs wasn't power hungry dick and let me listen to my pandora while i'm doing something else on my phone, i would be a fanboy of APPLE seriously..
@mtnDewFTW
Because the iPhone innovated just about everything in cell phone design, and all the others copied what the iPhone had and did. If you don't realize that, then you really must have been born yesterday, or in the past year or two. They're still trying to copy it and everything it does, with varying amounts of success. I thought this was common knowledge to all, yet you ask this obvious question.
One aspect of the iPhone that still has not been equaled, in particular by any Android phone, is the slickness of the iPhone UI, and most important of all, the complete, seamless back-up/integration with an iTunes-like client. The latter, to me, makes any Android phone thus far, an unacceptable alternative.
@darex Well said. iPhone has set the bar and nothing has came around and reset it. Come June the bar will get set higher and I can't wait!!!
@darex
slick ui? of course its slick, because its just a grid of apps, and since there's no multitasking, its fairly fast.
the integration and backup up by itunes? maybe good, if you didnt also get pulled in and limited. i still cant get my movies off itunes anywhere
@darex
Backup.. Google syncs all your information with your email account. So when you get a new android phone you plug in your email and everything is downloaded. this is WIRLESS backup.
Syncing (ala itunes) DoubleTwist will sync your media, but I prefer Drag and drop because it means I can sync my phone with ANY computer, no matter the OS.
SenseUI, the ability to create "Scenes" blows iphone UI out of the water. Once you get it on a faster processor there will be no comparison.
Nexus has much better colors!!!! iPhone is all whiteish!
@pankomputerek I disagree, the skin tones on the iPhone look closer to natural and the tatami mats also appear closer in color to the real thing. There is too much red in the color rendered on the nexus one. The skin tones look more pink than they should and the tatami mats look more orange than the color of dried grass that they should be. Of course if they were brand new tatami mats they would be more green still.
@AlaskanHandyman
You are terribly wrong.. Iphone may showed it has better fps than N1(or not I don't know), N1 carries OLED screen which is far superior than 3gs.. 3Gs resolution is terrible, i can't never read anything on my gf 3gs after looking @ my beautiful droid screen. And this test thing.. you really can't tell which one has better color depths lol. You need to see it with your real eyes, not through some camera. Just known spec, N1 is far, and i mean far, superior than Iphone, not just with specs, but everyday use of phone (Just remember, i use droid and N1 is superior than Droid)... but Iphone os always feel more snappy/ more responsive than my droid (stock). I'm not sure if it's like that with N1 because i've never even seen one around here @ blacksburg, VA
I got Droid
she got iDoesn't....
but I still love her and her phone =)
@jkwakopo
even my friend's rooted droid that runs anywhere from 800MHz to 1.2 GHz, I thought Iphone's OS still felt little bit more responsive/snappy. And Running @ 1.2Ghz, his Droid felt like those single use hand warmers I usually use when I go to snowboarding...
iPhone rules the speed but Nexus rules the screen
I wish one day they could combine them and we'll have an unbeatable phone ever.
I thought that the Nexus One screen runs at a higher resolution than the iPhone 3GS, how would the phones compare if they displayed in the same resolution?
It is tiring to see comparisons that are based on bad science. Like that photo showing the "crosshatch" drawings that were supposed to indicate touchscreen capabilities between different phones. It was absolute hogwash, but went unchallenged in every article I saw on it. I get that it's "just reporting the test" -- but even a cursory attempt to replicate the squiggles on the non-iPhones would have shown just how wrong the results were. What are the variables in play in this test? Why report something when the results have to be qualified?
IPHONE FTW!!! N1 is garbage hahahahah!!!
yeah gaming on the 3gs is really good, but i still miss a 3rd party silicon d-pad or such for all those egoshooters and fighting games.
You guys should note that the N1 is running at almost twice the resolution than what the iphone is running this scene.
@max3000 We should also note that you didn't read the article which accounted for that.
this is just ridiculous. for a FAIR test you have to write down the different screen resolution.
four times bigger but the half amount of fps. this really says everything!
is the android a better phone? phone? hell yes!! the iphone is unbeatable in his ipod function an the apps (store), but i've problems to install a mobile extension client on iphone!
but when i want to listening to music, i take my ipod. when i want to play games i take my ps3 or my desktop.
if you buy a phone just because it has the most apps available, then you are a little funny!
if apple has improved something, then it would be pulling out money from my pocket...
Seriously, how many apps do you download an use every day? or every week?
i have a solution: don't buy iPhone's and iPad's (iPods are still ok ;).
a closed system is usefull in a music player, but not in a phone!
and when i see, how many apps are rejected by apple, then i don't want to develop for the iPhone.
there are more apps for the iphone, yes, but you have to consume what apple want. on android, i can easily make my own apps and i dont have any problems with publish it on a market.
i'm very happy, that so many people like the apple products. so i am alone with my "alternative" android-phone.
how boring it would be, if everyone has the same phone! and so i can have the better devices alone :D
@DonClemento You're going kinda far there to suggest that Apple's "closed system" for the iPhone isn't "useful" :) So the millions of people using it and enjoying it are in fact getting no use from their iPhones? But then, you're the type of person that takes your desktop somewhere to play games- i assume you mean when standing in line at a supermarket or as a passenger on a train or something right? :)
Millions of people buy and *like* their iPhone games. It's odd that some can't understand why having something fun on a device that's with you 99% of the time is sometimes better than having a more advanced game on a device that's with you much less frequently.
@DonClemento
It's a fair test in some ways because many people want to run their screen at its native resolution.
That's the problem with all these SoCs that mobile devices use -- they only advertise the chip itself and the clock speed, which basically means NOTHING to the end user. Every single SoC (Snapdragon, Omap, Tegra) has tons of features that NEVER GET IMPLEMENTED in the actual end design of the device -- but of course no one is going to advertise that they aren't using neon FPU accelerator are they? In the end it's a loss for consumers who base their purchasing decisions on "mhz" of the cpu clock.
Solution? We need to set higher standards for manufacturers. We need for them to tell us exactly what and what is not enabled, right down to the SoC level -- I'm not saying putting this on your main ads, but put it SOMEWHERE on your site where people can see it, if they want to. Good example.... if your device doesn't implement TV out yet the SoC allows for it, please specifically say that TV out is NOT implemented although the SoC spec sheet does support it.
@KGB
Engadget didin't run this test, genius. Try reading the article.
Android is using an outdated Linux kernel, I guess we'll have to wait for 2.5 or 3.0 before the proper ARM ISA's will be used.
But looking at this, the Nexus One would totally kill the 3GS if the FPU was accessible.
The iPhone 3GS goes relatively down much faster in framerate when increasing the amount of pawns, the Nexus One scales more linearly.
Sigh, this clearly wasnt a fair test. At the end of the day they can compare these two phones till the cows come home. I said it once and ill say it again, I love my N1 and despite some minor issues which i think everyone has with any phone OS i am happy. Google continues to keep me happy and as long as they do i will stick with Android. Once they start to alienate me i will jump ship and try a new OS.
@FrankJ other then a few games that the Iphone has what is it in the APP Store that you cant find in the Market? I am curious to hear because i have yet to find an app that i couldnt find on my touch that was an absolute must have on my N1.
@aelder That's what my "jump to conclusions" mat is there for!
Who like nokia?. I have here a comparison between Iphone and Nokia 5800
Comparing Nokia 5800 Xpress Music With Apple 3G Iphone
http://mattscradle.com/?p=113