Nokia's new hotness,
the N8, is starting our week off in fine style.
Finest Fones, what looks to be a Symbian-only mobile news site, is reporting its own tests done with the handset that show it comfortably outpacing its predecessor. Of course, in these fog of war-obscured times (before proper hardware is dished out), we can't really be sure of the veracity of what we read, but
Symbian^3's newfound ability to exploit graphics hardware seems to be paying off relative to the more primordial ways of the
S60 5th software on the
N97. The intrepid investigators found a 180 percent performance delta between the two phones in Speedy Go! tests, while the N8 ran through a cycle of FPC bench 3D with perfect 60fps scores each and every time. We won't be convinced by the purported
680MHz CPU inside till we test it out for ourselves with a load of widget-heavy homescreens, but early signs seem to be encouraging.
posted May 24th 2010 3:29AM
I want this phone!
@TTownsend18
I tipped the news.. :(
@TTownsend18 I'm so getting this phone when it comes out in my country.
@TTownsend18
Oh by the way.. its not because of ARM11 , that thing has broadcom GPU, sure engadget wouldn't want hell to freeze over by saying something good.
Its better than the PowerVR SGX on the 3GS
* Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid: TI OMAP3430 with PowerVR SGX530 = 7 million triangles/sec
* Nexus One: Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) QSD8×50 with Adreno 200 = 22 million triangles/sec
* iPhone 3G S: 600 MHz Cortex-A8 with PowerVR SGX535 = 28 million triangles/sec
***Nokia N8: Broadcom BCM2727 = 32 million triangles/sec
@Nokia N900
well, hopefully nokia isn't playing catch-up with the rest of the gang. iphone 4g is coming our way and i think it might be that it'll outpace the n8.
@Nokia N900 hawlly caw!!!
@Crhis "load of widget-heavy homescreens" thats how they did it... They used widgets there too.
@Mr w00t
I think he said 10 widgets were running on 2 home screens.
@Nokia N900
Now the real beast!
* Samsung Galaxy S: 1GHz Cortex-A8 (Hummingbird) with PowerVR SGX540 = 90 million triangles/sec
no one can come even close to this CPU
@NODOGT
Really. Wow. Well they've failed to market that.
@NODOGT
The point is that this device has more than enough power to be smooth and run 3d games etc.
@Nokia N900
The source also compares the N8 to the Omnia HD, and the N8 is 54% faster. The Omnia has a 600 mhz ARM A8 and PowerVR SGX gpu.
@JonE
Yes, he did that, but that was not completely fair, as you can apparently run the test with transitions on or off. Other tests of Omia HD put it somewhat closer to N8, but we do not know if the N8 test was run with all transitions on. Still, in this stage of the OS, to already beat the Omnia, is pretty sweet.
@Nokia N900 Where did you get all these numbers? Looks like an interesting source for future comparisons. You got a link?
@NODOGT
Tell me about it, everyone always forgets about that phone. I just wish it was android based.
@NODOGT
Keep in mind Nokia N900 is talking about the GPU performance only.
PowerVR SGX540 has twice the performance of SGX530. The SGX530 runs at 14 million triangles/sec, so the SGX540 should be around 28 million triangles/sec.
Just to remind what you've stated, the 90 million triangles/sec you're talking about is the total cumulative horsepower of the chipset (ARM Cortex A8 CPU + SGX540) (http://androidandme.com/2010/04/news/samsung-galaxy-s-confirmed-to-have-s5pc110-processor-but-how-fast-is-it/), and cannot be compared against the individual Broadcom GPU performance rates. Anyway, we have yet to know the total horsepower of this ARM11 + Broadcom BCM2727 combination. Who knows, it could also be around 80 - 90 million triangles/sec?
@TTownsend18 The Orange one looks HOT!
@Nokia N900
Wow, I did not know that...this phone has become a whole lot more appealing for me.
@NODOGT
Your source also corrects the GPU power of the iPhone 3GS. Down. Way down.
iPhone 3G S: 600 MHz Cortex-A8 with PowerVR SGX535 = 7 million triangles/sec
Nokia N8: Broadcom BCM2727 = 32 million triangles/sec
@NODOGT
Just imagine THAT with froyo
@NODOGT
I'm sorry , you are wrong. Seems like Nokia N8 has the best GPU in the industry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerVR#Series5_.28SGX.29
"SGX540 (twice performance of SGX530)"
PowerVR SGX530 = 7 million triangles/sec , so that makes it 14 million triangles/s
seems like Galaxy GPU is actually "SLOWer" then Nokia's N8. hmmm
@Nokia N900
we already have real world benchmarks of Galaxy S, all we have to do now is wait for N8 benchmarks.
if we refer to your source wikipidia, 530 is doing 14 tirangles per second, 535 is doing twice as much 28, so 540 should be a little faster then 535. (545 is doing 35)
keep in mind that Samsung's Hummingbird is custom architecture, so results may differ.
@Nokia N900
Engadget: "We won't be convinced by the purported 680MHz CPU inside till we test it out for ourselves with a load of widget-heavy homescreens"
Buddy Savov, For crying out loud, do you guys know the difference between an app processor and GPU? - The N8 has a separate GPU unlike your Android phones and that handles all the heavy lifting. Thats why you see the UI stutter in the N1 despite its "heavy" 1Ghz processor while the UI is butter-smooth in the N8 despite its "outdated" 600Mhz processor. Please do some research before writing articles which are read by millions of faithful readers world wide.
Between the analysts confusing S60 with Symbian and the Engadget editors confusing Ghz numbers with actual capability, it almost feels like the US market is still stuck in the primiveal ages and is under the illusion that somehow they have overtaken the rest of the world in smartphone tech. when the reality is they are still stuck down there with the change being that a little sugar/eye candy has been thrown on top of the dung by likes of Apple/Android.
@TTownsend18 Nah... I'll wait for Android hack first. Prefferably Dual-boot.
@TTownsend18 Nokia should give all N97 owners a 50% discount on N8'a as a "my bad, sorry"
@NODOGT
too much for a smartphone. Nokia rocks with a mature OS that is the practical for everyday use. Android and iPhone OS still seem developing despite the glory they have.
@NODOGT what will i do with triangles per second ! Even if there are 100 per second , i dont think i would need to see so many triangles in a day.
I want this phone!
I'd like to have this phone but will wait to see what the next iPhone is like and what the next android (not Evo 4G or Incredible but the next one) will be like then I can make my decision!
@hero785 I would also wait for the MeeGo devices to choose from also ;)
@o7o
Yeah that one too!
@hero785
They have different strengths, the N8 is the best at media capture, camera, battery life (reportedly) , the EVO has 4G, which can be nice if you are in a 4G area, and the Iphone works very smoothly out of the box. I would go for Evo or this one, depending on your needs. Unless of course you absolutely need very many fart apps.
@JFH
I'm buying this for my wife for sure when it comes out. She needs a good camera for work and it would mean she doesn't have to bring my canon G11 with her since she is already carrying 2 phones and a netbook.
The pricing, camera quality and size is very, very compelling.
@JFH
I read that the N8 has a FM transmitter. How cool is that? Never heard of any other phone that has one. Goodbye cables and connectors. :-)
@JFH
I know the differences. This phone looks sweet and irresistible but will wait for the next droid does and iPhone. I have a feeling we are due for some crazy android handset that will blow Evo 4G and iPhone 4G out of the galaxy. Funny how we love choices yet we fail to make a clear one when all the candies are laidout!
@o7o .. The iPhone HD is expected to be released in June. The first Meego device is tipped for "end of this year". That's 6 months difference.
If you're waiting that long then other phones might be worth waiting for:
- Windows Mobile 7
- HP WebOS
- Android 2.3
@ounkeo .. Hahaha. You are actually comparing the Canon G11 with the Nokia N8.
The G11 shoots RAW, has the legendary Canon low noise, high-ISO CCD, supports manual control (e.g. aperture, shutter speed), 28mm -140mm and is image stabilised.
The N8 is probably the best phone camera ever but the G11 is what most a lot of professionals carry as their non SLR camera.
@SeeKo many nokia n series have fm transmitters and have had for some time , my n86 has it and it's fantastic
@taligent
I agree, the N8 is not on the same level, but for the vast majority of people it can make a cheap point and shoot obsolete.
@SeeKo
Pretty much standard in high end Nokias.
@SeeKo my Nokia N78 had it years ago already, it worked ok, really useful in hotels, no need for cables or speakers,
@hero785 It's probably between the N8 and the Nokia Meego for me later this year.
I will hold on my urges and keep using the Nexus One until then.
Engadget will never doubt about the 680MHz if this is an Apple.
@yauchildchew
True, but maybe it is because Apple optimizes their devices superbly. If there would be a 12 mpix cam on Iphone, the gallery app wouldn't be so smooth etc (or so i have understood).
@huzzlehoff
Look at this, the guy has a bunch of large images in this device, and is showing scrolling speed, which is really fast:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ahmedp800#p/a/u/0/Q3MNW8gtNIA
@huzzlehoff
Doesn't the photo gallery work with thumbnails? If so it wouldn't matter what the actual photo size is. Then it would depend on the number of photos in the gallery how fast you can browse through them.
@huzzlehoff and that limits the 3GS with 5MP.
@yauchildchew .. It is irrelevant whether the camera is 2MP or 1000MP. The phones will use the screen size version when browsing. ANY phone would choke browsing through a lot of 18MB files that quickly.
@SeeKo The phone still has to create those thumbnails. And that's what makes the current S60v5 gallery lagging sometimes.
@JFH
Very nice. hoping to see more videos of the UI in action.
What you're color/colour?
i'd go for Silver, perhaps Black!