Best android device for emulation

RetroArch Android devices
#1

Something i don’t have a concrete answer for yet, guys.

Obviously, Android smartphones come with different CPUs and GPUs. But even the same model, let’s say Note 4, has 2 very different versions. One is a quad-core clocked at 2,7 Ghz, and the other is an octa-core clocked at 1,9 Ghz.

Common sense tells me that the higher the clock speed, the better the emulator will run, but ironically, all the speed tests (not emulation related, true) favor the slower clocked versions…

Simply put, what should i look for in an android device, when talking strictly emulation?

#2

The number of cores and clock speed mean nothing if the core has a low IPC (instructions per clock).

Staying just in the “standard” ARM cores, for example Cortex-A73 Cortex-A72 Cortex-A17 Cortex-A15 Cortex-A12 Cortex-A9 Cortex-A53 Cortex-A7 Cortex-A5 (from faster to slower, roughly) But it’s not so clear as it may seem, because implementation, fabrication process and lots of different factors play a role. (just like a Core2Quad from many years ago “feels” slower than some recent lower-clocked dual cores) And in smartphones, there’s also the thermal element. Some chips (SoCs) were made for burst usage, not for sustained full on stuff (like emulation). That’s why the Snapdragon 810 loses so many tests against it’s predecessors.

So, TL:DR, it’s impossible to make a general statement about what is most important.

#3

Nothing can beat the Nvidia Shield TV for emulation on Android.

#4

Thanks for the answers.

It’s true that it is more than clocks that matter. However, the general consensus would be that (ignoring thermal throttling, which can be controlled through kernel) as a single core performer, Krait architecture computes faster than Cortex.

Is this what i should be looking for? A device with strong performance in single core? Or multi core helps so much in emulation that it makes a difference?

#5

(In most emulation scenarios) A higher performance single core is usually faster than slower multiple cores. (that’s part of the idea behind BIG.little)

I believe Krait’s performance is equivalent to something around Cortex A15. And regarding cores, most SoCs are multicores nowadays anyway. So, on the best SoCs, you usually have at least two of the faster cores alongside many slower ones (A53 usually).

(edited my previous reply to remove 1 of 2 references to the A53)

#6

If we’re only talking about CPU performance, but depending on what emulator and shader filters you like to use, the GPU can also matter. It then becomes also important for good driver implementations. For example, the Vulkan render path in Retroarch runs incredibly slow on my Snapdragon 820 phone. Especially when using multi combinations of shader filters. But the same runs exceptionally smooth on my Shield TV.

If we’re talking about emulators with any kind of hardware rendering with ES3+, then it’s even more apparent the lacking driver implementation on the Snapdragon device.