Early Google Pixel 4a performance review compares the 2020 mid-range Pixel to the Pixel 4, Pixel 3a, and Pixel 3 XL

If there wasn’t a global pandemic to worry about, then Google would have held its annual developer conference, Google I/O, in Mountain View, California this week. At last year’s I/O, Google unveiled its first-ever mid-range Pixel devices, the Pixel 3a and 3a XL. This year, we’re expecting Google to follow-up with a new mid-range Pixel smartphone called the Pixel 4a. We don’t know when exactly this 2020 mid-range Pixel will be announced, but thanks to leaks, we know pretty much all there is to know about it. Ahead of the Google Pixel 4a announcement, we can detail the phone’s performance thanks to benchmarks performed on pre-release hardware.

To date, the most substantive leaks of the Pixel 4a have come from Cuban YouTuber Julio Lusson who runs the TecnoLike Plus channel. Last week, he shared multiple photos he took from his pre-release Pixel 4a, giving us an early look at the camera performance of Google’s 2020 mid-range Pixel. Today, he has published a video on his YouTube channel showcasing the performance of this upcoming smartphone in various benchmarking applications. He shared the raw results with us before publishing the video, allowing us to compile and analyze the data into the below tables and charts. Take note that since he performed these benchmarks on pre-release hardware running pre-release software, there’s a chance that the retail units may perform slightly better in benchmarks if Google has further optimized the performance.

Google Pixel 4a Forums

Julio’s video below shows him running the Pixel 4a through multiple benchmarks, and it even offers a few glimpses at games like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the Nintendo GameCube (via Dolphin Emulator) and PUBG Mobile running on the device. The video is in Spanish, though, so keep reading below if you’re interested in the benchmark results we put together.

Test Devices – Pixel 4a, 4, 3 XL, 3a XL, and the latest QRD

The Google Pixel 4a is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 mobile platform, which is manufactured by Samsung using an 8nm LPP process. The Snapdragon 730 has an octa-core CPU consisting of 2 clusters: 2 ARM Cortex-A76-based CPU cores clocked at up to 2.2GHz and 6 ARM Cortex-A55-based CPU cores clocked at up to 1.8GHz. The GPU is Qualcomm’s Adreno 618.

The Snapdragon 730 is no longer Qualcomm’s best mid-range processor as that crown goes to the Snapdragon 765, but the 730 is still a significant jump up from the Snapdragon 670 found in the Pixel 3a and 3a XL. We can expect noticeable bumps in CPU performance because of the difference in the architecture between the ‘Performance’ CPU cores. We can also expect the Snapdragon 730 in the Pixel 4a to be more power-efficient than the Snapdragon 670 in the Pixel 3a because of the more modern manufacturing process, though our benchmarks won’t reflect this improvement. In terms of real-world performance, the Google Pixel 4a should noticeably outperform the Pixel 3a because of the better processor, better GPU, higher memory capacity, and faster storage technology.

For good measure, we also added benchmark results from the Google Pixel 4 (powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855), the Google Pixel 3 XL (powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845), and the latest Qualcomm Reference Device (powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865). We collected most of these benchmark results back in December when we benchmarked the Snapdragon 865. We’re fairly certain the upcoming Google Pixel 5 won’t feature the Snapdragon 865, but we thought it would still be interesting to see how much of a performance gap there is between Google’s 2020 mid-range Pixel and the best hardware you can find on any Android device. The Pixel 5 is instead expected to feature the Snapdragon 765, but we don’t have a device with this processor at our disposal yet since few devices with this platform are available outside of China.

	Qualcomm Reference Device (QRD)	Google Pixel 4	Google Pixel 3 XL	Google Pixel 4a	Google Pixel 3a XL
Device Name	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865	Qualcomm Snapdragon 855	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845	Qualcomm Snapdragon 730	Qualcomm Snapdragon 670
Software	Android 10	Android 10	Android 10	Android 10	Android 10
Display	2880×1440 @ 60Hz	2280×1080 @ 60Hz	2960×1440 @ 60Hz	2340×1080 @ 60Hz	2160×1080 @ 60Hz
Memory	12GB LPDDR5	6GB LPDDR4X	4GB LPDDR4X	6GB LPDDR4X	4GB LPDDR4X
Storage	128GB UFS 3.0	64GB UFS 2.1	64GB UFS 2.1	64GB UFS 2.1	64GB eMMC 5.1

Here is an overview of the specifications for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, Qualcomm Snapdragon 730, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 670.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 730, 865, 855, 845, and 670 Specifications

	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865	Qualcomm Snapdragon 855	Qualcomm Snapdragon 845	Qualcomm Snapdragon 730	Qualcomm Snapdragon 670
CPU	1 Kryo 585 ‘Prime’ (ARM Cortex-A77-based), up to 2.84GHz 3 Kryo 585 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A77-based), up to 2.4GHz 4 Kryo 385 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.8GHz	1 Kryo 485 ‘Prime’ (ARM Cortex-A76-based), up to 2.84GHz 3 Kryo 485 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A76-based), up to 2.42GHz 4 Kryo 385 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.8GHz	4 Kryo 385 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A75-based), up to 2.8GHz 4 Kryo 385 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.8GHz	2 Kryo 470 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A76-based), up to 2.2GHz 6 Kryo 470 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.8GHz	2 Kryo 360 ‘Performance’ (ARM Cortex-A75-based), up to 2.0GHz 6 Kryo 360 ‘Efficiency’ (ARM Cortex-A55-based), up to 1.7GHz
GPU	Adreno 650	Adreno 640	Adreno 630	Adreno 618	Adreno 615
Memory	4x 16bit, 2133MHz LPDDR4X 4x 16bit, 2750MHz LPDDR5	4x 16bit, 2133MHz LPDDR4X	4x 16-bit, 1866MHz LPDDR4X	2x 16-bit, 1866MHz LPDDR4X	2x 16-bit, 1866MHz LPDDR4X
Manufacturing Process	7nm (TSMC N7P)	7nm (TSMC)	10nm LPP (Samsung)	8nm LPP (Samsung)	10nm LPP (Samsung)

Quick Overview of Each Benchmark

With input from Mario Serrafero

• • AndroBench: AndroBench is a fairly old benchmark with an equally dated design, but it’s still the go-to for storage testing. It tests the speed of sequential read/write, random read/write, and SQLite insert, update, and delete operations. A sequential read/write is an operation that involves reading/writing storage blocks that are contiguous, while a random read/write involves reading/writing randomly scattered storage blocks. SQLite describes a type of database management system; developers dealing with large databases often have to make SQLite calls to retrieve or modify the database. We can get a good idea of the storage performance of an Android device with AndroBench. By default, the benchmark writes a 64MP file with either 32MB or 4KB buffer sizes for sequential and random read/writes respectively, and an SQLite transaction size of 1. The speed of the former operation is measured in MB/s while the latter in Queries Per Second (QPS).
  • AnTuTu: This is a holistic benchmark. AnTuTu tests the CPU, GPU, and memory performance, while including both abstract tests and, as of late, relatable user experience simulations (for example, the subtest which involves scrolling through a ListView). The final score is weighted according to the designer’s considerations.
  • GeekBench: A CPU-centric test that uses several computational workloads including encryption, compression (text and images), rendering, physics simulations, computer vision, ray tracing, speech recognition, and convolutional neural network inference on images. The score breakdown gives specific metrics. The final score is weighted according to the designer’s considerations, placing a large emphasis on integer performance (65%), then float performance (30%), and finally, crypto (5%).
  • GFXBench: Aims to simulate video game graphics rendering using the latest APIs. Lots of onscreen effects and high-quality textures. Newer tests use Vulkan while legacy tests use OpenGL ES 3.1. The outputs are frames during test and frames per second (the other number divided by the test length, essentially), instead of a weighted score. Aztec Ruins: These tests are the most computationally heavy ones offered by GFXBench. Currently, top mobile chipsets cannot sustain 30 frames per second. Specifically, the test offers really high polygon count geometry, hardware tessellation, high-resolution textures, global illumination and plenty of shadow mapping, copious particle effects, as well as bloom and depth of field effects. Most of these techniques will stress the shader compute capabilities of the processor.
  • PCMark 2.0:  Tests the device as a complete unit. It simulates everyday use cases that can implement abstract algorithms and a lot of arithmetic; the difference is that these are dispatched within an application environment, with a particular practical purpose, and handled by API calls and Android libraries common to multiple applications. The test will output a variety of scores corresponding to the various subtests, which will be detailed below; the composite, Work 2.0 score is simply the geometric mean of all of these scores, meaning all tests are weighted equally.
    

    PCMark 2.0 Subscore Explanations. Click to expand.

    • Web browsing 2.0 simulates browsing social media: rendering the web page, searching for the content, re-rendering the page as new images are added, and so on. This subtest uses the native Android WebView to render (WebKit) and interact with the content, which is locally stored — this means you can run it offline, but it does not simulate web browsing fully as it rules out internet connection factors (latency, network speed). It is specifically tracking frame rates and completion time across seven tasks, with their score being a multiple of their geometric mean.
    • Video Editing simulates video editing performance: applying effects to a video using OpenGL ES 2.0 fragment shaders, decoding video frames (sent to an Android GLSurfaceView), and rendering/encoding the video in H.264/MPEG-4AVC at several frame rates and resolutions up to 4K. It is specifically tracking frame rates on the UI, except for a final test tracking the completion time of a video editing pipeline.
    • Writing simulates general document and text editing work: adding or editing texts and images within a document, copying and pasting text, and so on. It uses the native Android EditText view as well as PdfRenderer and PdfDocument APIs. It will open compressed documents, move text bodies, insert images in the document, then save them as a PDF, to then encrypt and decrypt them (AES). It specifically tracks task completion times for the processes of opening and saving files, adding images and moving text bodies, encrypt/decrypt the file, and render the PDF pages on ImageViews.
    • Photo Editing simulates photo-editing performance: opening images, applying different effects via filters (grains, blurs, embossing, sharpening, and so on) and saving the image. It uses 4MP JPEG source images and manipulates them in bitmap format using the android.media.effect API, android.renderscript API’s RenderScript Intrinsics, android-jhlabs, and the native android.graphics API for drawing the process on the screen. This is an extremely comprehensive test in that it will be impacted by storage access, CPU performance, GPU performance, and it is dependent on many different Android APIs.  The test specifically measures memory and storage access times, encoding and decoding times, task completion times. The various filters and effects come from different APIs.
    • Data manipulation simulates database management operations: parsing and validating data from files, interacting with charts, and so on. It will open (date, value) tuples from CSV, XML, JSON files, and then render animated charts with the MPAndroidChart library. It specifically tracks data parsing times as well as draws per second of each chart animation (similar to frame rate, but specific to the updating chart).

Benchmark Results

AnTuTu isn’t my preferred benchmark, especially after it got booted off the Play Store, but there’s no denying it’s one of the most popular benchmarks for Android devices. In this test, the Pixel 4a scores overall about ~48% as high as the Qualcomm Reference Device and ~70% as high as the Pixel 4, but it does about as well as the Pixel 3 XL and substantially better than the Pixel 3a XL. When we looked at AnTuTu’s subscores, we can see that the Pixel 4a scores fairly well in the CPU, Memory, and UX tests but falls significantly behind all the Snapdragon 8-series processors we tested when it comes to the GPU tests. In fact, the Pixel 4a outperformed the Pixel 3 XL in most of AnTuTu’s tests except for the GPU ones, where the Pixel 4a performed 50% to 60% as well as the Pixel 3 XL. The Pixel 4a’s performance in AnTuTu’s Memory tests is about on par with that of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 3 XL—no surprise, though, since all of these devices have similar memory configurations. The Pixel 4a’s overall UX score in AnTuTu is also about on par with that of the Pixel 4, but it’s about 35-36% higher than the scores for the Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 3a XL. Out of all of these devices, however, the Pixel 4 will still offer the best real-world UI performance since we can’t discount the fact that it’s the only Pixel device with a 90Hz refresh rate panel. Overall, the Pixel 4a outperforms the Pixel 3a XL in nearly every test in AnTuTu while it unsurprisingly underperforms the QRD in every test.

PCMark is one of my favorite benchmarks because of its emphasis on real-world performance. While there’s a big gap in the scores between the Pixel 4a and the Pixel 3a XL, there’s a much smaller gap in the scores between the former device and the Pixel 4 or Pixel 3 XL. The QRD predictably blows the competition out of the water because of its superior hardware across the board, so it’s not even worth analyzing its subscores. The Pixel 4a’s subscores for PCMark’s Writing 2.0 and Photo Editing 2.0 tests are much higher (44% and 56% respectively) than the Pixel 3a XL’s, which is good news for users looking to perform basic document and image editing tasks on their device.

Julio was only able to share a single result from GFXBench with us, but it clearly demonstrates what I was talking about earlier in regards to the GPU performance: The Adreno 618 in the Snapdragon 730 is majorly outclassed by the Adreno GPUs in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8-series. GFXBench’s Aztec Ruins test is Kishonti’s most computationally intensive graphics test by far but it’s not representative of most Android games, so don’t let these results discourage you from trying to play games on the Google Pixel 4a. I would bet that most games will run just fine on the device, even the notoriously performance-intensive ones like Fortnite Mobile, provided you’re willing to turn down some of the graphical settings. For what it’s worth, Julio told me that he played a round of PUBG Mobile just fine at the game’s “High” graphics preset.

If you’re into retro gaming via emulators, though, then you’ll be plenty happy with the Google Pixel 4a’s CPU performance. While the Pixel 4a’s multi-core Geekbench 5.0 scores are significantly lower than that of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 3 XL (again, the QRD is so far ahead it’s not even worth discussing), the Pixel 4a’s single-core score is much closer to the scores from the Pixel 4 and Pixel 3a XL. In a single-core score comparison, the Pixel 4a actually outperforms the Pixel 3 XL, which we can likely attribute to the fact that the Snapdragon 730’s performance cluster is comprised of 2 ARM Cortex-A76-based CPU cores compared to the Snapdragon 845’s older ARM Cortex-A75-based CPU cores. When looking at the Geekbench 5.0 subscores for the multi-core scores, we can see that the Pixel 4a’s Snapdragon 730 mostly underperforms the Pixel 4’s Snapdragon 855 and Pixel 3 XL’s Snapdragon 845 when it comes to cryptographic calculations.

Here’s a table summarizing the overall benchmark scores charted on these bar graphs. To keep this table from becoming too massive, we didn’t include the subscores for each test—if you’re interested in seeing those results, then feel free to reach out to me.

Benchmark	Version	QRD – Snapdragon 865	Google Pixel 4 – Snapdragon 855	Google Pixel 3 XL – Snapdragon 845	Google Pixel 4a – Snapdragon 730	Google Pixel 3a XL – Snapdragon 670
AnTuTu	8.0.4 & 8.3.2	565,384	386,499	278,647	268,973	192,779
Geekbench single-core	5.0.2	929	600	521	548	338
Geekbench multi-core	5.0.2	3,450	2,499	2,125	1,628	1,226
GFXBench 1440p Aztec Ruins OpenGL (High Tier) Offscreen IFH	5.00	20	16	14	6	4.5
PCMark – Work 2.0	2.0.3716	12,626	9,311	8,988	8,687	6,881
Androbench Sequential Read (MB/s)	5.0.1	1,459	873	659	509	301
Androbench Sequential Write (MB/s)	5.0.1	225	189	231	188	237
Androbench Random Read (IOPS)	5.0.1	50,378	37,600	32,376	33,422	16,226
Androbench Random Write (IOPS)	5.0.1	48,410	41,340	37,417	39,053	25,522
Androbench Random Read (MB/s)	5.0.1	195	147	126	131	63
Androbench Random Write (MB/s)	5.0.1	189	161	146	153	100
Androbench SQLite Insert	5.0.1	3,705	3,207	2,627	1,914	1,712
Androbench SQLite Update	5.0.1	4,014	3,996	3,333	2,458	2,080
Androbench SQLite Delete	5.0.1	5,037	4,558	4,081	2,826	2,471

Conclusion – The Google Pixel 4a is a solidly performing mid-range smartphone

The Google Pixel 4a is shaping up to be an excellent mid-range smartphone. If the rumored $399 starting price is correct, that would make the Pixel 4a a direct competitor to the Apple iPhone SE (2020) and Samsung Galaxy A51. While Google may not be packing the greatest hardware in this device, we can be sure that the phone will be capable of taking excellent photos. Google’s software will also be a huge advantage over other mid-range offerings. While some companies were basically goaded into committing to just providing 2 years of Android updates, Google offers 3 years on all Pixel devices. What’s more is that the Pixel 4a will feature most Pixel software features that have been announced already, including Now Playing, Live Caption, and the new Google Assistant (which Julio confirmed to us is supported). All that’s left is for Google to just announce the phone already, but we may have to wait until June 3rd for that to happen.

Google Pixel 4a Forums

Rumored Google Pixel 4a Specifications

• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
• GPU: Adreno 618
• RAM: 6GB LPDDR4X
• Internal storage: 64GB UFS 2.1
• Display: Single hole-punch 5.81-inch display, 2,340 x 1,080 resolution, 443 dpi, 60Hz refresh rate
• Rear camera: 12.2 MP Sony IMX363, f/1.73 aperture, 1.4µm pixels, OIS, EIS, LED flash, 4K video recording, Autofocus
• Front camera: 8.0 MP Sony IMX355, f/2.0 aperture, 1.14µm pixels, EIS, Fixed focus
• Connectivity: 4G, Dual SIM, GPS, WiFi 5, Bluetooth, GLONASS, NFC
• Ports: USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack
• Security: Rear fingerprint sensor
• Battery : 3,080 mAh
• Software: Android 10

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4 Home Theater Essentials You Can Get on Sale Now

With movie theaters across the country shut for quarantine, the last few weeks have been painful for true fans of the big screen. While Netflix on a regular TV is better than nothing, you might want to recreate the full theater experience at home. These projectors and more will help you enjoy dazzling visuals, now with up to 64% off the MSRP at the XDA Developers Depot.

CINEMOOD 360: First 360° Interactive Projector

Ever wished you could step inside the action? You can with the CINEMOOD 360 — the best-selling mini projector on Amazon. This pocket-sized device turns any room into an interactive digital experience, with 360° games and movies. It can also keep your kids entertained, with 40 digital books and built-in access to Disney content and other streaming platforms. Normally priced at $499, the projector is now only $328.99.

TaoTronics 120″ 16:9 Projector Screen

While you can project onto any flat surface, this large screen from TaoTronics will give you a much better picture than any painted wall. It’s made from premium PVC with a black back-coating that ensures light doesn’t leak through. Projected images look perfect through a 160-degree viewing angle, and the screen is easy to install using nails, hooks, or even double-sided tape. Normally priced at $29.99, it’s now just $24.99.

Prima 1080p HD Pocket Projector

Perfect for confined spaces and small apartments, the Prima projector is only the size of an iPhone. However, this device has a 200-lumen bulb to deliver bright, crisp pictures up to 200 inches across. In addition, Prima runs Android on a 64-bit processor; this means you can enjoy games and content from apps on the big screen. It’s worth $799, but you can pick up the projector now for just $279.99.

Vivitek Q38-BK Ultra-Portable Full HD Smart Projector

With an output of 600 lumens and a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, the Vivitek Q38-BK is much more powerful than the other projectors on this list. It offers full 1080p HD playback on a 130-inch display, with a powerful quad-core CPU for running Android apps. Rated at 4.1 stars on Amazon, this projector also provides two hours of battery life. Originally priced at $499.99, certified refurbs are now only $279. 

Prices subject to change 

More from the XDA Developers Depot

• Work-from-home accessories to keep you productive
• DIY projects to keep you entertained indoors
• New skills you can learn without leaving home

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HMD Global rolls out stable Android 10 update for the Nokia 3.1 Plus

The Nokia 3.1 Plus launched in 2018 with Android Oreo as part of the Android One program. A few months later, it was updated to Android 9 Pie, and now the device is receiving Android 10. This marks the second major OS update the Nokia 3.1 Plus has received in two years.

Android 10 for the Nokia 3.1 Plus brings the usual bag of goodies. System-wide dark mode, smart replies, full gesture navigation, the revamped privacy and location controls, and the April 2020 security patches are all present. The update comes in at 1.24 GB in size.

HMD Global has become one of the better companies when it comes to software updates. It’s not uncommon for low-end devices such as the Nokia 3.1 Plus to receive multiple Android version updates. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for a lot of “bargain” devices, so we applaud HMD Global for their efforts.

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Source: Twitter @anantasasmal3

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[Update: Official on iOS] Twitter is starting to show quoted retweets on Android and iOS

Update (5/13/20 @ 9:25 AM ET): Quoted retweet counts are now available in Twitter for iOS, coming soon to Android.

Keeping track of conversations on Twitter can prove to be a nightmare, especially if you’re using your phone to access the social media platform. In order to make it easier for users to keep track of replies, the company has previously experimented with a couple of different features. Back in April last year, Twitter first tested new label tags to help users keep a track of the original author in a conversation and the people mentioned in the original tweet. Then, earlier this year in March, the company started rolling out threaded replies on Android which made browsing through replies a whole lot easier. And now, according to a recent tweet from prolific reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane), the platform is starting to show quoted retweets on Android and iOS.

It turns out Twitter is actually testing the ability to view quote tweets!

via @calcsam https://t.co/lRFELR6kxm

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 21, 2020

For the unaware, Twitter currently lets you retweet both with and without a comment. However, regardless of what you do, the platform doesn’t have a way to let you see what comments people made alongside their retweet unless you click on the “Retweets” button and then check the profile for each person who retweeted the tweet. In order to simplify this process, Twitter is now testing a new UI that separates all retweets into two tabs — those with comments and those without comments.

It looks like this! pic.twitter.com/HaVoRMO6T5

— Divia contact trace presumed positive cases Eden (@diviacaroline) April 21, 2020

As you can see in the tweet above, the tabs list down all the retweets based on whether or not they have a comment and the retweets that do have a comment show the comment alongside the original tweet.

can confirm as well, but i’m seeing a slightly different UI pic.twitter.com/UCsE2AH9GL

— Mehedi Hassan (@mehedih_) April 21, 2020

Twitter is currently testing this feature with a handful of users on both Android and iOS, but the feature has a slightly different UI on each platform. As you can see in the tweet above, the Android version doesn’t have two separate tabs and only has a single button to show all retweets with comments. As of now, it isn’t clear which UI will be released when the feature finally rolls out to more users and we currently have no information on the release timeline. We’ll update the post as soon as the feature rolls out to a broader audience.

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Update: Official on iOS

Don’t miss the Tweets about your Tweet.

Now on iOS, you can see Retweets with comments all in one place. pic.twitter.com/oanjZfzC6y

— Twitter (@Twitter) May 12, 2020

The ability to see all of your tweets that were quoted, or as Twitter calls it, “Retweets with comments,” is now available on iOS. When you tap “Retweets” on a tweet you are brought to a new page with two tabs for “With comments” and “Without comments.” According to a product lead at Twitter, the feature will be rolling out “soon” to Android.

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Huawei HiSilicon’s new 14nm Kirin 710A chip was manufactured by Shanghai-based SMIC

By now, most readers should be well familiar with the Huawei-US trade ban saga. The story started back in May 2019, when Huawei was placed on the U.S. Entity List by the U.S. Commerce Department as a part of the U.S.-China trade war. Since that time, Huawei has noticeably struggled to rise above an existential threat to its international smartphone business, as it has not been able to use Google Mobile Services (GMS) on any new phone launches containing new chips. The company has been forced to re-brand pre-existing products, with bizarre results such as the Huawei P30 Pro New Edition and a series of re-hashed budget phone launches in India and Europe. There have been U-turns and political drama, but the company’s presence on the Entity List has endured even after a full year. More worryingly for the company, the U.S. administration has since escalated a things further by targeting Taiwan-based TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor fabrication company, in an effort to force it to stop manufacturing chips for Huawei. If it’s successful in doing that, Huawei will face of a crisis of survival as all HiSilicon chips have, up until now, been fabricated by TSMC.

The COVID-19 crisis and its political intricacies are beyond the scope of this publication, but it’s fair to note that the onset of this crisis has meant the U.S.-China trade war will only worsen now because of accusations being thrown around by both sides. Huawei may have been hoping for relief in January when a Phase 1 trade deal was signed between the two rival countries, but things have changed now. To that matter, Huawei has been working on its long-term goal to achieve independence from foreign chip makers. The government-run Global Times, a Chinese newspaper falling under the People’s Daily group, has now reported that the Huawei Kirin 710A chip, based on 14nm technology, has achieved commercial mass production. It has the distinction of being the first pure Chinese chip with independent intellectual property (IP) rights.

The Kirin 710A is produced by Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC). Up until now, TSMC has been the only fabricator of Huawei’s HiSilicon chips. In the global smartphone semiconductor industry, TSMC and Samsung stand out as the only major players, with TSMC having a lion’s share of the smartphone chip manufacturing market. This represents a change as TSMC and Samsung are based in Taiwan and South Korea respectively. No home-grown Chinese chip fabricator has achieved mass popularity yet. The Kirin 710A, therefore, could represent a big shift.

The chip has a main frequency of 2GHz, as reported by Chinese financial news site chinastarmarket.cn. As it’s a derivative of the Kirin 710 and the Kirin 710F, the core CPU configuration and the GPU are expected to remain the same. The Global Times reports that almost every employee at SMIC Shanghai had received an Honor Play 4T phone last week, with “Powered by SMIC FinFET” printed on the back. This shows the commercialization of 14nm FinFET chips made by SMIC. The manufacturing process itself is unremarkable, as TSMC and Samsung have achieved 7nm FinFET processes since 2018 and 2019. However, this is the first time a Chinese chip manufacturer has even commercialized the two-generation old 14nm FinFET chips.

Huawei’s chip subsidiary, HiSilicion, declined to confirm or deny the Global Times‘ report. However, Shenzhen-based research firm N1mobile told the publication that research staff from both sides began exchanges on the project last year. According the firm, the successful mass production of the cihp benefits Huawei, as using chips provided by a manufacturer located in mainland China could help it reduce its reliance on Taiwan-based TSMC, which, in turn, would help cushion shocks from the U.S.-China trade conflicts. The publication notes that previously, all chips for Huawei mobile devices were designed by HiSilicon, and then manufactured by TSMC. This resulted in a problem when the U.S. has been planning for several months to prevent TSMC from selling chips to Huawei.

SMIC has high hopes of localizing chip manufacturing in the Chinese mainland and becoming an alternative to TSMC. On May 5, it announced that it would apply to list on the sci-tech innovation board, a new NASDAQ-style tech board in Shanghai. After the news broke, A-shares relevant to chip manufacturing equipment strengthened on Monday this week.

We are waiting to see how the developments play out, but there’s no denying that this could have notable implications on the smartphone market. Protectionism is the preferred government strategy to be applied these days. Consumers will be adversely affected by these power politics, and other stakeholders will be affected as well. With the world in the raging throes of a full-on pandemic, though, things could still get worse.

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Source: The Global Times

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Google’s At A Glance widget prepares to add support for showing work calendar notifications

Google’s “At A Glance” is a simple yet useful widget. The widget changes the information it presents to you dynamically based on what might be relevant to you at a specific time. At A Glance was introduced as a simple time & weather widget exclusively as part of the Pixel launcher. It was eventually made available to other users and can now show alerts related to traffic, your upcoming flights, and calendar events. Google was also looking to expand the scope of this widget with new alerts for upcoming reminders, alarms, and more data from Google Assistant. Now, the widget is looking at another expansion, by showing off data from the work profile on the phone.

Previously, our Editor-in-Chief, Mishaal Rahman, managed to activate three new options in the preferences for At A Glance on his Google Pixel 4. These new additions were in the form of “Reminders”, “Alarms”, and “Experiments” (for new Google Assistant actions), but these additions have still yet to roll out to all users who are currently restricted to “Calendar events,” “Upcoming flight information,” and “Traffic information”. Now, Mishaal has managed to manually enable a new At A Glance option in the Google App v11.9.14.29. This option will allow the widget to show alerts from the device’s work profile. Alerts within the category will likely include calendar events as well as other alerts from the work profile.

At A Glance widget is part of the Google app. There is no information on when Google will open up these options to all users. For now, most users will have to stay content with “Calendar events,” “Upcoming flight information,” and “Traffic information” alerts. You can open preferences by long-pressing on the widget or by going to Home Settings > At A Glance to check which alert options are available to you on your device.

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Google (Free, Google Play) →

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Google Messages starts showing emoji chat reactions for RCS conversations

An APK teardown of Google Messages beta (v5.7) from earlier this year revealed that the company was working to add two new features to the app. At the time, we learned that these new features would allow users to share emoji reactions to messages on the platform and draw on images that they are preparing to share with friends. Now, according to a recent post on Reddit, Google has finally started rolling out emoji chat reactions for RCS conversations.

A couple of Google Messages users on the thread have reported seeing the new feature after updating the app to the latest beta release. As you can see in the screenshots below, the new chat reactions feature works a lot like Facebook Messenger’s reactions and lets users reply to any message with an emoji. The feature currently appears to have a total of 7 emoji reactions, including thumbs up, thumbs down, angry face, face with tears of joy, smiling face with heart eyes, crying face, and surprised face.

To access the emoji chat reactions, all you need to do is tap and hold on a message and then select an appropriate emoji from the selection on offer. It’s worth noting that the chat reactions feature is only rolling out to a handful of users right now, which leads us to believe that it isn’t part of the latest Google Messages beta release and has been enabled by a server-side update. In case you’re in a region where Google Messages supports RCS, you can sign up for the open beta program by following this link and download the latest beta release from the Play Store link below to check if you’ve received the new feature.

Messages (Free, Google Play) →

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Screenshots courtesy of u/rwinftw and u/radtheoristmango

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