Samsung Galaxy S 4 Review - Part 1
by Brian Klug on April 24, 2013 12:01 AM ESTGalaxy S 4 - Powered by a Better Snapdragon 600 (APQ8064AB)?
At a high level, Samsung's Galaxy S 4 integrates Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 SoC. From what Qualcomm told us about Snapdragon 600, we're dealing with four Krait 300 cores and an Adreno 320 GPU. The Krait 300 cores themselves are supposed to improve performance per clock over the original Krait CPU (Krait 200) through a handful of low level microarchitectural tweaks that we've gone through here. The Krait 300 design also allegedly improves the ability to run at higher frequencies without resorting to higher voltages. This isn't the first time we've talked about Snapdragon 600, but since then a few things have come to light.
Snapdragon 600 from HTC One - Chipworks
For starters, Chipworks got their hands on a Snapdragon 600 SoC (from an HTC One) and delayered the SoC. In its investigation, Chipworks discovered that Snapdragon 600 had the exact same die area as the previous generation Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064). Also, although you'd expect APQ8064T markings on the chip itself, the part carried the same APQ8064 label as previous S4 Pro designs.
Avenger 2 Markings on Snapdragon 600 die from HTC One - Chipworks
Chipworks did note however that there were some subtle differences between a standard APQ8064 and the Snapdragon 600 SoC from the HTC One. The Snapdragon 600 from the One is labeled with an Avenger2 codename rather than Avenger, the latter was apparently present on prior APQ8064 designs. Chipworks also noticed differences in the topmost metal layer, although it's not clear whether or not they stopped there or found no differences in lower layers.
All of this points to a much more subtle set of physical differences between APQ8064 and the earliest Snapdragon 600s. Metal layer changes are often used to fix bugs in silicon without requiring a complete respin which can be costly and create additional delays. It's entirely possible that Krait 300 was actually just a bug fixed Krait 200, which would explain the identical die size and slight differences elsewhere.
That brings us to the Galaxy S 4. It's immediately apparent that something is different here because Samsung is shipping the Snapdragon 600 at a higher frequency than any other OEM. The Krait 300 cores in SGS4 can run at up to 1.9GHz vs. 1.7GHz for everyone else. Curiously enough, 1.9GHz is the max frequency that Qualcomm mentioned when it first announced Snapdragon 600.
Samsung is obviously a very large customer, so at first glance we assumed it could simply demand a better bin of Snapdragon 600 than its lower volume competitors. Looking a bit deeper however, we see that the Galaxy S 4 uses something different entirely.
APQ8064 from a Snapdragon 600 based HTC One - Chipworks
Digging through the Galaxy S 4 kernel source we see references to an APQ8064AB part. As a recap, APQ8064 was the first quad-core Krait 200 SoC with no integrated modem, more commonly referred to as Snapdragon S4 Pro. APQ8064T was supposed to be its higher clocked/Krait 300 based successor that ended up with the marketing name Snapdragon 600. APQ8064AB however is, at this point, unique to the Galaxy S 4 but still carries the Snapdragon 600 marketing name.
If we had to guess, we might be looking at an actual respin of the APQ8064 silicon in APQ8064AB. Assuming Qualcomm isn't playing any funny games here, APQ8064AB may simply be a respin capable of hitting higher frequencies. We'll have to keep a close eye on this going forward, but it's clear to me that the Galaxy S 4 is shipping with something different than everyone else who has a Snapdragon 600 at this point.
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bmgoodman - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
If you want a custom ROM, like Cyanogenmod, take a look at some of the XDA Developers forums. Samsung enthusiasts are bailing out in droves, disheartened by the increasingly secretive nature of Samsung.Gray05 - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
You and I are in the same boat. I am still using my i777 and run Task650's 4.2.2 AOKP ROM.I love being able to swap batteries with my i777. It is a major plus. But, I could settle for getting a small/medium size external battery to hook up when needed. Something easily carried around like a spare battery but with a lot more capacity.
I won't make a decision until I see how the XDA world reacts to the S4 and can hold both phones in my hand at the store. But, I am leaning towards the HTC One. The stereo front facing speakers, good low light photography, and 64GB internal storage are hard to argue with. I am nervous about denting the aluminum body...
Hunt3rj2 - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
The GS4 has a locked bootloader. I wish I was kidding but both Brian and Engadget have confirmed.cryosx - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
h8rift has an alpha of cm10.1 up already and seeing as how team hacksung no longer supports sasmsung. . . go HTC!roltzje - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
Well done article, I enjoyed it.Anyways, regarding the One vs S4. Really, its a debate between aesthetics and function. The HTC One is more aesthetic with pleasing materials and a sharp, expensive look. The S4 is far more functional, with more features that most people can use, and in general is more ergonomic to use.
So would I rather have an amazingly looking phone that functions acceptably, or an acceptable looking phone that functions amazingly? The latter, which is why I'm going for the S4.
nerd1 - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
A obvious solution is attaching a metal case to the GS4.kyuu - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
Uh, what functions does the S4 have that the One does not? Let me guess:1) SD card
2) Removable battery
SD card is nice for phones that ship with 16GB or less of internal NAND, but with 32 or 64GB, I personally can't see any need for it. It'd still be nice, sure, but I can certainly live without it.
Removable battery I have zero need for. Modern batteries don't suddenly turn to crap after two years (hell, even my old iPhone 4 battery was still going strong after over two years before I ditched it), and if I need some extra juice, USB chargers are ubiquitous. There's also cheap USB-powered external battery packs to charge up with on-the-road.
If I was looking at Android, I'd go with the One hands down. The camera (low-light perfomance and stabilized video are more important to me than performance in ideally-lit scenarios), speakers (One's best feature IMO), non-AMOLED screen (yeah blacks are nice, but it sucks battery and is oversaturated), and, yes, superior industrial design easily put it over the SGS4 for me.
dyc4ha - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
Cant agree with you more! Why not give android a try btw? I came from the iphone 3gs and I glad I made the switch!nerd1 - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
Then what functions does One have that iPhone 5 does not? Some people can argue none as they are happy with iPhone.Omiaz - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
S4 is a BEAST !!!Im waiting for octa core variant . And the Anand review ;)