Hey XDA Community,
after 3 1/2 years i'll retire my Galaxy S3 and get a new phone. So far so easy.
But as a Android enthusiast, i can't just buy a new phone, it has to be a phone which offers a good hardware base for using custom roms. And what i learned in the last 3 1/2 years is that, for example, Samsungs Exynos processors are NOT a good hardware base and rom developers hate Exynos processors.
So here we come to the magic question: Which is, from a developer view, the best, and what are acceptable processor brands which allow developers to develop a rom (more precisely the "device tree") which can make use of all of the processors features and its performance?
I think the following two brands are well known among all custom rom users and don't need to be commented:
Exynos -> as described above, "the Antichrist"
Qualcomm Snapdragon -> as far as i know the Holy Grail for developers
But what about the "underdogs"? How developer friendly are the following processor brands which now appear more and more in (flagship) phones from Huawei, Xiaomi and many other smaller phone manufacturers:
MediaTek (currently used by some Acer phones)
Hisilicon Kirin (for example used by the Huawei Ascend Mate 7, Huawei Honor 6 ...)
Nvidia Tegra (for example used by the new Google Pixel C tablet)
Intel Atom (for example used by the Asus ZenFone 2)
I'm excited about your experience with and recommendations for these "underdogs", especially if you are a developer!
Best regards,
Mika
Mediatek - Not developer friendly. Not easy to create custom ROMs for this brand of SoC.
Never heard of Hisilicon Kirin SoC. Not too sure about Nvidia Tegra.
No one else interessted in this issue?
Mika83AC said:
No one else interessted in this issue?
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Click to collapse
Only qualcomm.
Hisilicon is a no go. No sources.
Sony + Qualcomm is the best choice.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
I added the "Intel Atom" processors to the list of choice. Perhaps a little late, but i think it's not unimportant.
Mika83AC said:
I added the "Intel Atom" processors to the list of choice. Perhaps a little late, but i think it's not unimportant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Intel is a no go as well since it's pretty new. As for your choice of SoC, it really depends on your needs. If you want to use a custom ROM, you're best off with Qualcomm. Otherwise most SoC will work fine for you. I own a Galaxy S6(Exynos SoC), unknown China phone(MediaTek SoC) and a HTC M8 HK edition(Qualcomm SoC). I can use them all just fine in my daily life.
Mika83AC said:
Hey XDA Community,
after 3 1/2 years i'll retire my Galaxy S3 and get a new phone. So far so easy.
But as a Android enthusiast, i can't just buy a new phone, it has to be a phone which offers a good hardware base for using custom roms. And what i learned in the last 3 1/2 years is that, for example, Samsungs Exynos processors are NOT a good hardware base and rom developers hate Exynos processors.
So here we come to the magic question: Which is, from a developer view, the best, and what are acceptable processor brands which allow developers to develop a rom (more precisely the "device tree") which can make use of all of the processors features and its performance?
I think the following two brands are well known among all custom rom users and don't need to be commented:
Exynos -> as described above, "the Antichrist"
Qualcomm Snapdragon -> as far as i know the Holy Grail for developers
But what about the "underdogs"? How developer friendly are the following processor brands which now appear more and more in (flagship) phones from Huawei, Xiaomi and many other smaller phone manufacturers:
MediaTek (currently used by some Acer phones)
Hisilicon Kirin (for example used by the Huawei Ascend Mate 7, Huawei Honor 6 ...)
Nvidia Tegra (for example used by the new Google Pixel C tablet)
Intel Atom (for example used by the Asus ZenFone 2)
I'm excited about your experience with and recommendations for these "underdogs", especially if you are a developer!
Best regards,
Mika
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want the most development, nexus devices will always have the best open source support. If not a nexus, stick with qualcomm . all the other socs have less open source support and therefore fewer developers willing to work on them. That doesn't mean you won't get custom ROMs (zenfone 2 is going well), but the pool of people able to do real development on it is tiny...
nVidia also releases open sourced images for it's devices...
check out
Cheers
dirlan2001 said:
nVidia also releases open sourced images for it's devices...
check out
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nvidia = binary-hell
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
popthosegaskets said:
Intel is a no go as well since it's pretty new. As for your choice of SoC, it really depends on your needs. If you want to use a custom ROM, you're best off with Qualcomm. Otherwise most SoC will work fine for you. I own a Galaxy S6(Exynos SoC), unknown China phone(MediaTek SoC) and a HTC M8 HK edition(Qualcomm SoC). I can use them all just fine in my daily life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My question is only meant to find the best choice/choices for using custom roms.
You're right, if just looking for a new phone, the SoC is not the most important to look for.
codeworkx said:
nvidia = binary-hell
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
I guess this means "no fun for the devs"?
Mika83AC said:
I guess this means "no fun for the devs"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on how you define "fun".
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
codeworkx said:
.... Sony + Qualcomm is the best choice ...
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Click to collapse
Hey @codeworkx, just one question regarding your sony recommendation.
What do you say about this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/loss-drm-keys-t2890936
If Sony offers you good conditions / sources / binarys and whatever to develop a custom rom, but kills or at minumum downgrades many of the phones features when unlocking the bootloader (camera quality, screen quality, sound quality ...) would you buy this devices at all?
Or is there a way arround this bootloader mess which just isn't known in the thread linked above?
Regards,
Mika
Nobody takes the interest in development of Vivo phones but the thing is there are not offer for new user who seeks then there are certain form of Android development for their phones and unfortunately none of the developers interest in development of Vivo phone phones coming out like Vivo X 21 Vivo v9 which features Snapdragon processors same as the the xiaomi phones but still Google recognise is Vivo and Oppo brand as their first day developer preview units for Android P beta they give this company opportunity to have Android P beta on their phones considering them larger brand then Samsung and LG but still none of the developers are interested in development of Vivo and Oppo phones.
See:
HMD Global's new Nokia phones offer Android 11 on a budget
Nokia has launched six new Android 11-running smartphones including X10 and X20 with Snapdragon 480, G10 and G20, and C10 and C20.
www.xda-developers.com
Thanks
See:
The new Vivo X80 Pro packs improved cameras and comes in Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Dimensity 9000 flavors
The Vivo X80 Pro and Vivo X80 are official. Both phones pack impressive camera hardware, including the company's V1 Plus imaging chip and Zeiss optics.
www.xda-developers.com
The performance improvements on (SD870 SoC) is up 20% and it is about as fast as Surface Pro X (SQ1 SoC) that cost significantly more at a price of $999.
Now they are people asking for a lower price that cost $500 less can buy Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4(SD870 SoC) or Xiaomi Pad 6(SD870 SoC) if it can offer same Windows 11 support from the older model of Xiaomi Pad 5.
there are no drivers for the snapdragon 865/870 (SM8250) yet
niveZz said:
there are no drivers for the snapdragon 865/870 (SM8250) yet
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Click to collapse
Qualcomm is providing the driver for windows 11 arm? There are many device using snapdragon 865/870 SoC.
xdawinder said:
Qualcomm is providing the driver for windows 11 arm? There are many device using snapdragon 865/870 SoC.
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Click to collapse
there isn't even an edk2 uefi image for this device yet
so no matter what most stuff like ufs, wifi, bluetooth, touchscreen, usb and more that requires drivers will not work (yet)
if someone ports it I will be the first one to try it but for now it won't work