From gsmarena, they posted some results of back-to-back-to-back-to-back... benchmarks, and showed how the results went lower each time. Now, that doesn't really tell us much. First, I'd expect most (maybe all?) high-end phones to start throttling after going running benchmarks. Second, the oem is setting the temp at which to throttle...but they can set them differently than the soc manufacturers recommend. Third, as AT has rightly said, big.LITTLE is a tough architecture for vendors. You really need to play with scheduler, under different loads, to determine parameter values. Samsung is in the driver seat in this case as they are both the vendor and oem. As upstream (and it is upstream, anandtech, not any one company) works towards a solution to big.LITTLE you'll see more convergence, but till then we're left in the hands of the oems, and their various levels of competency.
Seems like the overheating issues were a rumor that got blown out of proportion, and Samsung just rode it out. With apple moving some of it's production to TSMC, plus the fact that Samsung also has a decent LTE modem of their own, now is a great time for Samsung to start to use it's own SoC's in it's phones. I am fairly certain that it costs them less to use their own SoC's than to buy them from Qualcomm, and they can also use it as a point of differentiation.
Right on, this was a good time for Samsung to switch to using their own chips. This is one of the few things I like about the S6. Other than that I still feel the M9 wins in the looks department and those speakers are a huge bonus.
The M9 plus is 5.2" while the base m9 is 5". Not sure why they didn't go a bit bigger for the plus unless they are going to bring a 5.5" max out as well.
Samsung seems very confident with their new exynos chip, so much that they decreased the battery size and increased screen resolution. I think snapdragon 810 will be inefficient compared to exynos this time, but not compared to older SoCs.
I'm kind of dissappointed, actually. I guess I need to wait for reviews, but the camera doesn't seem all that great. There seems to be a lot of smearing going on. A lot of heavy noise reduction. And the lack of OIS is a shame. I'd rather have a 8MP module with OIS that a 20MP module without.
The rest if the phone looks fine, although I can't shake the feeling of this beeing what the M8 should have been last year(save for the Snapdragon 810)
Lovely looking phone, and I'd still be using my M7, had its battery life been better (and charge time too), but I passed on the M8 as it had software / on-screen buttons (I despise that) that take up screen real estate too, and now the M9 with no buttons too?
I'll pass.
I want latest cpu / largest battery / front facing speakers / no on-screen buttons / 5" screen / wireless charging capeable. In that order of preference. And Windows Phone has been growing on me too, so it is interesting to see they may launch one with WP.
So it looks like I'm stuck with my GS5 for the forseeable future...
Love the looks of the One series, definitely on my short list for upgrades along with the Moto X. Looks better than the Moto, but they really have the better Android implementation IMO.
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Pissedoffyouth - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Nice, it'll be interesting to tell if it benchmarks higher than the flex, it should due it being metal...JatkarP - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
I do not understand why Samsung ditched 810 saying over heating issues when HTC and LG are fine with it.shabby - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Perhaps it has to do with the thinness of the phone and lack of heat dissappation.Laxaa - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Doesn't the S810 throttle a lot?shabby - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
We'll find out soon, someone posted recently that it does though.Alexvrb - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Only if you use it. :PtuxRoller - Tuesday, March 3, 2015 - link
From gsmarena, they posted some results of back-to-back-to-back-to-back... benchmarks, and showed how the results went lower each time.Now, that doesn't really tell us much. First, I'd expect most (maybe all?) high-end phones to start throttling after going running benchmarks. Second, the oem is setting the temp at which to throttle...but they can set them differently than the soc manufacturers recommend. Third, as AT has rightly said, big.LITTLE is a tough architecture for vendors. You really need to play with scheduler, under different loads, to determine parameter values. Samsung is in the driver seat in this case as they are both the vendor and oem.
As upstream (and it is upstream, anandtech, not any one company) works towards a solution to big.LITTLE you'll see more convergence, but till then we're left in the hands of the oems, and their various levels of competency.
JatkarP - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Looks like, lets see how Exyons performs against S810.extide - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Seems like the overheating issues were a rumor that got blown out of proportion, and Samsung just rode it out. With apple moving some of it's production to TSMC, plus the fact that Samsung also has a decent LTE modem of their own, now is a great time for Samsung to start to use it's own SoC's in it's phones. I am fairly certain that it costs them less to use their own SoC's than to buy them from Qualcomm, and they can also use it as a point of differentiation.niva - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Right on, this was a good time for Samsung to switch to using their own chips. This is one of the few things I like about the S6. Other than that I still feel the M9 wins in the looks department and those speakers are a huge bonus.Achtung_BG - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Look this test LG Flex 2:http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-secret-of-Snapd...
tdslam720 - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Maybe because they wanted to make something vastly superior?JatkarP - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
You were right, s6 is pretty impressive.will54 - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
The M9 plus is 5.2" while the base m9 is 5". Not sure why they didn't go a bit bigger for the plus unless they are going to bring a 5.5" max out as well.Mondozai - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
You should understand.They want to sell their own SoC and why wouldn't they trash the competition in doing so?
Think.
eiriklf - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
Samsung seems very confident with their new exynos chip, so much that they decreased the battery size and increased screen resolution. I think snapdragon 810 will be inefficient compared to exynos this time, but not compared to older SoCs.anactoraaron - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
I thought the screen on the M8 was 5.2"?anactoraaron - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Guess not, it just feels biggerVandam500 - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
No, can confirm it's 5.0". Source: I have one in my hand :PGigaplex - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
Do you also have a ruler in your hand?Laxaa - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
I'm kind of dissappointed, actually. I guess I need to wait for reviews, but the camera doesn't seem all that great. There seems to be a lot of smearing going on. A lot of heavy noise reduction. And the lack of OIS is a shame. I'd rather have a 8MP module with OIS that a 20MP module without.The rest if the phone looks fine, although I can't shake the feeling of this beeing what the M8 should have been last year(save for the Snapdragon 810)
edhburns - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Where do you see example images? I don't see any. So what images are you basing this on?Laxaa - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
GSM Arena has some samples.PlugPulled - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Sad it runs Android.Laxaa - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
There will probably be a Windows 10 version down the line.MadMan007 - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Kudos to HTC for sticking to sane but still very sharp screen resolution and not just going for MOAR PIXLES.Also, will there be a Google Play Edition?
edhburns - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Google Play Edition is dead.will54 - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
The plus is supposedly going to be 5.2" at 2560x1440, love the options but yeah 1080 is plenty.kpkp - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
I think HTC quotes the battery at 2840mAh.adityarjun - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
The bezels are still quite large. I would have preferred the nexus 9 style speakers. And no OIS either. Btw, is there NFC and IR blaster?maglito - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
No mention of 60GHz 802.11ad on the snapdragon 810 with this device?Will there be a max version with a 6+ inch display?
Notmyusualid - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Lovely looking phone, and I'd still be using my M7, had its battery life been better (and charge time too), but I passed on the M8 as it had software / on-screen buttons (I despise that) that take up screen real estate too, and now the M9 with no buttons too?I'll pass.
I want latest cpu / largest battery / front facing speakers / no on-screen buttons / 5" screen / wireless charging capeable. In that order of preference. And Windows Phone has been growing on me too, so it is interesting to see they may launch one with WP.
So it looks like I'm stuck with my GS5 for the forseeable future...
XP-E - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Seems like Sailfish OS's Ambience was the inspiration for the theming feature.chuan-leo - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Your hand-on report on M9 is more mature and objective than the rest of them :)hellfish - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Is it usb-c?kyuu - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
Nope. The spec was only just finalized, going to be a while before we see phones with it. I'd guess 2nd half of this year at the earliest.nandnandnand - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
3 GB of LPDDR4 RAM, no 16 GB storage option, weighs less, far better rear camera, 7-8% better battery, 2x2 MIMO. neatoZoomer - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
Sad, it has a worse back camera.No OIS, slower optics, protruding lens - what were they thinking?
Front is a "ultrapixel" - interesting for selfies.
Now, how would one use the front camera to take general photos?
eiriklf - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
OIS wasn't there on the M8 either, only on the M7.Zoomer - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
What's up with the weird top bezel? Looks off balance and strange.Power button at the side and earphone at the bottom doesn't help either. IR blaster might be gone - where would the IR come out of?
Joe Bale - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
http://forums.androidcentral.com/attachments/htc-o...royalcrown - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
I really hope they give Samsung a good run this time, it's a nice phone !djc208 - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
Love the looks of the One series, definitely on my short list for upgrades along with the Moto X. Looks better than the Moto, but they really have the better Android implementation IMO.