"Fastest" phone?

[glen]

I know the cameras are improving, and lots of other wiz bang features are “getting better.” However, my LG G3, for example, lags HORRIBLY. It makes me want an iPhone and I have an irrational dislike for them. Rather than pushing the latest bleeding edge OS and an extra acre of pixels, is anyone making a super-fast, low res phone with no bloat? I don’t care how great the camera is, if the phone lags so much I can’t take a picture. THE CPU is getting faster, but we don't get a net gain because the OS is more bloated. Either that, or these phones all have some sort of "slow down" software installed so we want to buy a new phone every 6 months.

So, to reiterate my question: What is the fastest phone (meaning a super high CPU to OS/Pixels/Bloat ratio?)

 

[mikeymikec]

Has your phone always lagged horribly (ie. from day one)? Looking at its specs, it should be a smidgen faster than my Nexus 5 (which I can't remember the last time I saw it lag - ART enabled).

 

[poofyhairguy]

The fastest Android is the S6. Touchwiz bloat or not, the storage speeds put it in a different class.

Otherwise what you are asking for is the next Nexus to come out. I want it too.

 

[luv2liv]

try resetting it. if that doesnt work install another rom.
my samsung s3 was fast. after rooting n installing another rom, it's super buttery smooth! cant believe the phone is still amazing after 3 years.

 

[Skurge]

The G3 is a pretty fast phone. It shouldn't be lagging that badly. Get a Nexus phone. even the Nexus 5 has virtually no lag, but other parts of it suck though. (battery life, camera) You can get an HTC One M8 as it has the fastest GPU around or the S6

 

[paperwastage]

I know the cameras are improving, and lots of other wiz bang features are “getting better.” However, my LG G3, for example, lags HORRIBLY. It makes me want an iPhone and I have an irrational dislike for them. Rather than pushing the latest bleeding edge OS and an extra acre of pixels, is anyone making a super-fast, low res phone with no bloat? I don’t care how great the camera is, if the phone lags so much I can’t take a picture. THE CPU is getting faster, but we don't get a net gain because the OS is more bloated. Either that, or these phones all have some sort of "slow down" software installed so we want to buy a new phone every 6 months.

So, to reiterate my question: What is the fastest phone (meaning a super high CPU to OS/Pixels/Bloat ratio?)

LG G3 is a bad example - it was (one of) the first phones with 2K QHD screen, but the GPU is underpowered and can't run it smoothly

CPU wise, anything from the past 2 years (snapdragon 800 and above) can run stuff smoothly (see nexus 5)...

it's just bloatware that slows it down, and additional improvements (battery life, even more CPU) in the newer CPUs, and other misc items (eg: nexus 7 has inferior internal storage chips, slows down UI because the cpu can't read fast enough.... lollipop has memory leak bug that forces home screen to redraw often etc)

 

[glen]

When is the new Nexus coming out? Summer? Fall? Winter? Spring 2016?

 

[poofyhairguy]

When is the new Nexus coming out? Summer? Fall? Winter? Spring 2016?

Usually fall.

 

[mikeymikec]

Usually fall.

Wasn't there a few years between the 5 and 6 though? I would be surprised if the successor to 6 is out this year unless Google is speeding up its releases.

 

[Bock]

Seriously, just get a new iphone. The damn thing works & doesn't lag ever {even my 4s that has suffered many drops}

 

[poofyhairguy]

Wasn't there a few years between the 5 and 6 though? I would be surprised if the successor to 6 is out this year unless Google is speeding up its releases.

It was a year plus a month between the two.

I 100% expect a new Nexus this year because the Nexus 6 is a sales flop while the Nexus 5 was a success. Some people expect a 2015 Nexus 5 announcement as soon as Google IO.

 

[cpacini]

Wasn't there a few years between the 5 and 6 though? I would be surprised if the successor to 6 is out this year unless Google is speeding up its releases.

No, the 5 was released 2013, the 6 last year.

 

[mmntech]

In terms of raw performance numbers, it's the Galaxy S6. That's mostly due to it having 8 processor cores, which skews synthetic benchmark results a bit. I doubt there's that many apps that can take advantage of that kind of multi-threading.

If you want a bloat free phone and are willing to part with Android, I'd take a good look at the iPhone 6. I'd also take a look at the Nexus 6. That's going to run pretty close to stock Android.

 

[richierich1212]

Using Nova launcher helps. Also go to developer options and disable animation scales.

 

[Commodus]

In terms of raw performance numbers, it's the Galaxy S6. That's mostly due to it having 8 processor cores, which skews synthetic benchmark results a bit. I doubt there's that many apps that can take advantage of that kind of multi-threading.

If you want a bloat free phone and are willing to part with Android, I'd take a good look at the iPhone 6. I'd also take a look at the Nexus 6. That's going to run pretty close to stock Android.

It's important to note that eight-core chips don't really get speed benefits from all those eight cores -- four of them are for low-power use, and only four really handle the heavy duty tasks. The GS6's Exynos processor is fast mostly because it's using cutting-edge architecture and manufacturing processes.

To touch on the core of this thread: I'd hold out for the next iPhone if you're going to get one, since it'll likely have an A9 chip that speeds past what's on the market today. I'm just curious as to how big a step forward it'll be. Apple managed to rival Snapdragon 805 performance with half the cores and clock speed. If it goes quad-core... well, that'd definitely rock the boat.

 

[dagamer34]

While this question is often asked, it's actually not the question you needed to ask. Why?

1) This question only applies to Android phones. With the iPhone, you get what you get.
2) This question only applies to non-Nexus Android phones. If you want pure Google, you get what you get.
3) This question only applies to non-Nexus Android phones offered by your carrier. In recent years, this has opened up a little, in the past, all it was was carrier-specific Galaxy S variants.
4) Because OEMs actually modify the core OS, the quality of that code has a *greater* impact than the SoC chosen when talking about the high-end. It doesn't matter if you have a 8-core Cortex A72 if the OS has to push a bunch of crap manufacturer skins which are useless. Oh, and you'll drain battery life in the process.

So honestly, what you actually meant to ask is: "Do I want an experience straight from the OS vender (iPhone vs. Nexus) or do I want to gamble with what OEMs provide (Galaxy S6, HTC One M9, LG G4)?"

 

[dragantoe]

Seriously, just get a new iphone. The damn thing works & doesn't lag ever {even my 4s that has suffered many drops}

I mean, if we wanted to strip functionality that much you might as well just suggest a jitterbug... My g2 is holding up a lot better than any 5s I've seen (software wise) and i have it tweaked perfectly for me...

 

[jtvang125]

The slight lag is a combination of the underpowered GPU on a QHD screen and the carrier bloat. It has basically the same specs as my previous HTC M8 but since the M8 is only FHD it's buttery smooth.

With the G3 having an unlocked bootloader it's super easy to root, install a custom recovery and flash it with a custom rom. I liked a few features of the stock rom so I flashed mine with a tweaked stock rom (debloated and other small tweaks). It still isn't buttery smooth but quite a bit better than stock.

If you don't want to modify it then the thing I can think of is backing up your stuff and do a factory reset.

 

[soccerballtux]

one-touch stumproot and use autorec to install TWRP. make a nandroid backup first and uninstall the bloatware apps you're not ever using. I cleared about 300MB of RAM on my LG G2 this way

 

[Artdeco]

Install a different launcher, see if it makes your experience tolerable, barring that, find a used iPhone still under warranty...

 

[Artdeco]

Try a different launcher .