Why Android 32-bit?

mechul · Post time 2019-01-14 03:56:15

Edited by Phant0m`` at 2019-01-13 22:19

Why is this device running 32-bit mode?

Phant0m`` · Post time 2019-01-14 10:20:47

Edited by Phant0m`` at 2019-01-13 22:52

Why not? :P

Here's something that Beelink should take note for the near future though...

The architecture should not make any difference. However a 64-bit Android device would be more future proof since Google will start mandating 64-bit app support as from August 2019 - https://www.androidpolice.com/20 ... ort/#64-bit_support

Existing 32-bit ARM hardware for Android is already outdated, not to mention that ARM itself no longer designs any 32-bit ARMv7 Cortex-A processor cores.

Another good reference: Why it's time to get on board with 64-bit on Android - https://www.androidauthority.com/64-bit-on-android-932342/

Magendanz · Post time 2019-01-14 12:06:57

Edited by Magendanz at 2019-01-14 12:09

I don't mean to fuel an ideological war, but 32-bits are only needed to address more than 4GB...and these devices aren't using that much DRAM. In our tests on FreakTab, running the same Amlogic S912 IoC in ARM64 resulted in more memory usage, more IO, and more heat...all for no measurable performance benefits.

Yes, very shortly we're going to need a 64-bit address space...but not yet. Until then, building for ARM makes sense. The CPUs can handle both architectures.

Phant0m`` · Post time 2019-01-16 11:50:57

64-bit processors can process more data per second than 32-bit processors. This is because a 32-bit CPU can only handle 4 bytes of data in one CPU cycle (8×4=32). 64-bit processors do not need to go back to memory as often as 32-bit processors do. Hence, 64-bit processors work faster than their 32-bit counterparts.

32bit apps under Android 64bit OS... Doesn't always mean boost in speed. Apps heavily optimized for a 32-bit platform, actually not be any faster. However, if the app was coded with 64-bit in mind, there will be notable differences in speed compared to 32-bit variants.

64-bit Android OS will run faster, last longer, deliver better graphics and video performance and offer improved security. The difference between 32-bit processing and 64-bit processing for such jobs can be enormous: in some cases algorithms that work just fine on 64-bit platforms are too slow to be used on 32-bit.

It's not just about being able to utilize more memory on the Android OS... 64-bit has other benefits—things like data per cycle (and faster), better encryption, and overall moving to new 64-bit chips—specifically the ARMv8 architecture—with improved features, like power efficiency.

"The most notable change in 64-bit OS over 32-bit will be the device performance. In Android, this is due to the change of processor architecture from ARMv7 to ARMv8. The newer design is more energy efficient and is much faster because it can fetch data quicker than the 32-bit ARMv7. Furthermore, the registers in ARMv8 have almost doubled. That’s a game changer because now the processor will spend less time fetching data from memory. Therefore, apps will load faster, and the interface will be more responsive."

Yes to some more storage space, yes to little more RAM. However this small trade-off is so insignificant in this day and age.

Magendanz · Post time 2019-02-06 05:17:03

Edited by Magendanz at 2019-02-06 05:18

While everyone cites the 15-30% performance boost that was claimed in this CNX article, you need to remember that those tests were done on a Juno development board with 8GB of DRAM and faster NOR flash storage. Our Amlogic reference boards have less DRAM and are considerably more I/O bound. Consequently, we haven't seen the same performance improvements in our real-world tests.