Things to look for when shopping for a Droid Phone
Processor / CPU Selection
Processor selection is important! There are many
low priced
Droid Phones available with processors that are inadequate, too slow to render
video, or even give a tolerable user experience. Pay attention to the
DMIPS. DMIPS/MHz is an indicator
of the amount of work done by the processor (per million
clock cycles). The DMIPS Number in the Table below represents the
Processor Clock Speed multiplied by the DMIPS/MHz rating for that
particular processors architecture. This yields a quantitative (per
second) number that may be used as an indicator of processor speed
and performance. A higher number represents better / faster
performance.
Processor / CPU
Snapdragon
OMAP
Hummingbird
Snapdragon
OMAP 3
OMAP 4
S3
S4
Qualcom
Texas Instruments
Imagination Technologies
Qualcom
QSD 8250
QSD 8650
QSD 8255
QSD 8655
PowerVR SGX530 Yes, the same Imagination Technologies
Product
PowerVR SGX540 Yes, the same Imagination Technologies
Product
DMIPS/MHz is an indicator
of the amount of work done / MHz
Presently, I recommend looking for at least the OMAP Processor.
If the Processor is too slow, purchasing the Droid Phone will
limit your upgrade potential and enjoyment using the device.
This is one of the first and most important specifications I
look for, when choosing a Droid Phone.
Side By Side Comparison of Processors in Droid
Phones (keep in mind one is sped up by Droid 2.2)
NOTE: Apple iPhone 4 uses a 1GHz Apple/Samsung A4 Chip
which is a Cortex A8 Processor - PowerVR SGX535
(2000 DMIPS) Apple iPhone 5 uses a 1 GHz Apple/Samsung A5 Chip which is
a Cortex A9 Processor - PowerVR SGX543MP2 (2500 DMIPS)
Snapdragon S4 Chip
data best available online at the time of this writing. It is
not out yet, so some information may be speculative.
Android Operating System Selection
There are many Droid Phones with many different versions of the
Android Operating System. As the Android Operating System evolves, it gains more
compatibility, and abilities. One key area of popular concern is the version of Adobe Flash
the Operating System is compatible with.
Your Phone may have issues rendering Flash content utilizing
only the latest Flash version. This would be most apparent when browsing the
web sites utilizing content in the latest Flash version. For this reason you
want to select a Droid Phone with the most up to date version of the Android
Operating System. Newer versions of Droid are also more efficient. This speeds up
the operation of your Droid Phone. Make sure the manufacturer of your Droid
Phone will be providing flash / operating system updates for your Droid Phone,
if it is customized.
Considering the vast selection of devices currently available with at least the Android 2.1 Operating
System, I would presently recommend 2.1 be the lowest version of the Android operating
system you consider. Do not attempt to flash your Droid Phone with a flash update that
is not specifically for your Phone, as it will most likely render it
non-functional! This is also one of the first and most important
Specifications I look for when choosing a Droid Phone.
More on Android 2.3
Gingerbread.
Built in Storage Capacity
Most of the Droid Phones offer Built in Storage. The capacity of
the storage in Gigabytes (Gb or Gig) varies. More
is better! This is the actual space that most or all your apps and common
personal files, videos, pictures, etc. will reside in. Note: You will want to obtain a micro SD memory
card for additional storage Do not confuse the 256 Meg, 512 Meg, or 128 Meg
of DDR2 RAM / Memory with the Flash Memory used for storage. (More is better
here too!)
