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HTC Flyer Disappoints. Has HTC Lost Its Innovative Touch?

HTC has been a very innovative phone manufacturer until now. They’ve always tried to push things forward and be the first to do something. They were the first with a 3G phone and the first with a 4G phone, and also let’s not forget they were the first with a 1 Ghz Android phone. It looks like it might not be the same in 2011.

Here’s are the specs for their upcoming Android 2.3 tablet:

  • 7-inch, 1024×600 resolution screen (think Galaxy Tab)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 processor (think Desire HD)
  • HDMI port
  • DLNA-enabled
  • 5MP rear camera with LED flash and facial recognition
  • 1.3MP front-facing camera for video chatting, with Skype preinstalled
  • Android 2.3 Gingerbread
  • A remodeled version of Sense that has a “desktop” feel to it
  • HSPA connectivity (T-mobile or AT&T)

These specs seem so 2010, especially now that we’ve gotten a taste of what’s coming in 2011 – a plethora of dual core tablets. The reason why HTC is starting to fall behind, because they refuse to use any other chip except Qualcomm’s, which I think is a terrible mistake for them to make. First of all, while Qualcomm’s CPU’s are pretty good, thought I wouldn’t say significantly better than competition, their GPU’s are absolutely terrible. Dungeon Defenders stutters on the latest Adreno 205, and they should be glad Rage HD and Infinity Blade are not coming very soon on the Android platform, because those games would really show how bad the Adreno GPU’s are.

Most people still don’t realize it because they see benchmark scores from Neocore and Quadrant that make them look like they are up to par with the best mobile GPU right now, the PowerVR SGX 540 in Galaxy S, when in fact these benchmark tools are heavily biased towards Qualcomm chips. If you use another more accurate benchmark took like SmartBench, you’ll see that Adreno 205 GPU is half as good as the SGX540.

If HTC keeps staying so tight with Qualcomm, they will probably be the last ones to show dual core phones and tablets this year – not so good for an innovative company is it? Plus, it doesn’t look like Qualcomm’s chips will catch-up to Nvidia’s anytime soon. The Tegra 3 quad core 1.5 Ghz chip is supposed to appear in products about the same time as Qualcomm’s dual core 1.5 Ghz chip. Why would anyone want Qualcomm’s chip when its performance should be once again half that of the Nvidia Tegra 3 chip?

If HTC doesn’t remember quickly that its allegiance is first of all with its customers, not partners, then they might find themselves at the bottom of the preference list for phone manufacturers in most people’s minds, a year from now.

About Lucian Armasu

Lucian Armasu is the founder of the technology related website TechDomino

10 comments

  1. wow how bias towards samsung can you be be Lucian Armasu I own a HTC and they are the ultimate phones to play games and run applications on WITH NO LAG because their GPUs and CPUs from Qualcomm are impressive.

  2. Qualcomm CPUs have always been faster than any stock ARM based CPU, in fact Qualcomm CPU benchmark scores on Linpack etc are always 2.5 to 3 times faster than the stock ARM processors on Galaxy S or TI based Motorola Droids.
    On the GPU front Qualcomm is quickly catching up, especially the Adreno 220. HP Palm chose to go with the Qualcomm 8660 dual core processor and are going to launch their touchpad soon along with the rest of the competition.

  3. You have NO IDEA WHAT UR TALKING ABOUT LUCIAN, QUALCOMM JUST ANNOUNCED THAT WHEN the 1.5GHz Quad Core Tegra 3 (or Kal-El) will be released , Qualcomm will release the 2.5GHz Quad Core processor at the same time, it will KILL TEGRA, and the only reason Tegra is getting all the hype right now is because they where the first to release a Dual Core chipset, not at all because it was the best, it is commonly known that Tegra processors are weaker than their competition, even Texas Instruments announced a 2.0GHz Quad Core Processor at the same time as Tegra 3!

  4. the review is not biased all of this is true. if the adreno 22 0is so good why haven’t they released it in their latest devices ? and why don’t they use it with the flyer ? htc is definitely falling behind

  5. I have a samsung galaxy and my mate has a desire HD – his desire HD runs 3d games way faster 🙁 – and htc sence is way better than the iphone rip off interface on the galaxy!

    We both have Brothers in arms 2 and Modern combat 2 and the desire HD trumpss the galaxy s in both … so the Qualcomm appears to win hands down for 3d

  6. The first gen snapdragons were, in fact, about 30% slower than its OMAP counterpart found in the Droid X. LinPak is the only bench I know that tells a different story. Thats because it is heavily biased and will give snapdragon chip sets artificially inflated scores. And while the 2nd gen snapdragons are theoretically slightly faster than OMAP they are nowhere near “2-3X” faster. The Adreno 205 barely hangs with the OMAP 3630 and as a matter of fact running quadrant on my X side by side with my fiances HTC inspire she gets around 3-6 fps less in both 2d and 3d runs. I can promise you even the new snapdragons are not 2-3Xfaster than the hummingbird chip set. 

  7. Impressive indeed. But when compared to the hummingbird chip set the Adreno 205 gets smacked down like the little B&#$^ it is. Snapdragon is an excellent workload processor but the Adreno 205 just can’t hang with the big boys

  8. Sounds to me your trolling claiming to own a GS when in fact you own a desire and wanna make yourself feel better. Because if you had a GS there is no way in hell, unless you have a seriously disfunctional device, would you say a desire HD can run 3d games better than the hummingbird chipset. This is not true and has been proven not true time and time again. Even with the new “adreno 205” the GS nearly doubles those frame rates as well.

  9. i do have a GS … and just purchased a GS2… very happy with it speed wise (that’s why i got it over HTC devices)… shame about the crap interface though…

    Also supposed to be getting a HTC flyer today … so will post back about how I find htc sense after having more of a play with it (have only used htc sense for about 15 mins … think the sense interface looks better though and seems more intuitive)…

    Also … check this out:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osMc2fUbjCs
    “Quadrant – HTC Desire HD vs Samsung Galaxy S”
    Desire HD wins this battle

  10. Well although I agree that the DHD is better than the SGS (I may be biased though since I own a DHD), I also agree that HTC should get out of Qualcomm’s pants and go with the Tegra.

    I have a Flyer also, it is slower than the DHD … I assume because of the higher resolution?

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