A Taste of Froyo: Google Android 2.2 Explored
by Saumitra Bhagwat on June 23, 2010 1:03 AM ESTPerformance
Well let’s just say that Froyo is really fast, at least on paper. The new JIT compiler for the Dalvik VM is about 2-5x faster than the one used in Éclair (v2.1) and CPU intensive code is executed much more efficiently. Memory management has also been improved and multitasking seems snappier. Basically, Froyo will not make your device run obscenely faster than before, but it will speed things up to the point where you’ll definitely notice a difference. That being said, Froyo still lacks the overall smoothness and responsiveness of Apple's iOS. It still suffers from sporadic stuttering and choppy scrolling. Animations are generally smooth, but are still prone to occasional slowdowns (something that Apple has actually introduced with iOS4). The issue is acutely exacerbated while using Live Wallpapers; that’s when phone feels really sluggish.
| Froyo Performance Tests | |||||
| Android Revision | Linpack (MFLOPS) | BenchmarkPi (ms - lower is better) | SunSpider (ms - lower is better) | ||
| Nexus One (Android 2.2) | 36.864 | 1165 | 5702 | ||
| Nexus One (Android 2.1) | 6.994 | 2820 | 14564 | ||
In terms of raw numbers, Froyo’s performance is hard to beat. The numbers speak for themselves; the Linpack benchmark shows a whopping 427% improvement from v2.1, while the BenchmarkPi and Sunspider tests post approximately a 140 - 150% boost in performance. Looks like the JIT compiler packs some serious under-the-hood optimizations. However, under normal usage scenarios, the performance delta isn’t as noticeable as the numbers lead us to believe. While things are quite snappy overall, don’t expect your phone to boot in 10 seconds.
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Saumitra - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
Good point, but the AMOLED or the more recent Super AMOLED screens are only present on the high-end devices from HTC or Samsung. Since majority of the devices are still on TFT screens, I guess black text on white is a step in the right direction. ;)mpschan - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
I thought 2.2 was supposed to include bluetooth dialing.http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.2-highl...
So my question is: Does Froyo include bluetooth dialing or not? If it is included like , how in the world could the author not mention it. That is a deal breaker for so many of us as many states ban hand-held phone use in cars.
Hell, I'd love to see the feature just so my iPhone loving friends lose another talking point as to why iPhones are superior.
Saumitra - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
Well, I was aware of the Bluetooth dialing feature, but I didn't have a Bluetooth headset to test it out. Sorry for the confusion!mpschan - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
Understood.But let me stress how important a feature this is. I will not buy a new Android device until this feature is implemented. The risk of getting a ticket or having to pull over to the side of the road to make a call is ridiculous.
Since you put in something about how you couldn't test exchange, I'd recommend doing something similar for bluetooth dialing.
homebredcorgi - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
Do you mean the ability to just speak the contacts name in the headset and have it dial? If so, it is there...I did it yesterday on my N1.CombatChuk - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
HTC actually pays Microsoft to put an actual Activesync license on devices that have Sense UI. Having the license on there enables Remote Wipe, Pattern Recognition all the features that Server admins like to run. Google with their Nexus One DID NOT pay for this licensing, so if the Server admin doesn't enable those security features (which he should if he's worth anything) then the stock Android 2.2 OS does not have full exchange support...Red Storm - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
When oh when will we get some sort options in the market? I'd love to be able to sort apps by their rating, download count, release date, name, etc.homebredcorgi - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
Seriously. The market is a mess without sorting abilities. I was very sad to see that Froyo did nothing to address this issue.Jingato - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
I guess it doesn't have the one feature I was hoping for and really think it is lacking. That's the ability to begin entering a phone umber and have it populate a drop down of all the matching contacts and recent calls that match. :-(Saumitra - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - link
Although the dialer does not have that feature natively, there's an app called aContacts or Dialer One that gives you that feature so give one of them a shot, they're free. ;)