Ask Juan: Can Windows Phone Compete with Graphics and Gaming?

From the Twitters:

windows phone xbox live gamingHey Yasi,

So here’s the deal, long story short, current Windows Phone Handsets will run at a deficit compared to current Android handsets when it comes to gaming. Microsoft’s hardware mandate pretty much guarantees that all Windows Phones will rock similar hardware. To date, that means Qualcomm’s older dual core Snapdragon chipset. Even though Windows Phone 8 is a decently lean OS which runs more efficiently than Android, and for day to day tasks you’d be hard pressed to see much difference in operation between WP8 on dual-core and Android on quad-core, gaming is one of those phone taxing activities where the extra horsepower comes in handy.

It’s not to say that the gaming experience is bad, far from it. I’m having a blast playing Halo: Spartan Assault, and Where’s My Water 2 was released on WP before Android. All things being equal though, playing the same game on Android and WP8, like Asphalt 7, I find levels load faster, game play lags less, and newer Android phones tend to run a little cooler than WP handsets. We’re just running into the upper limits of what this older chipset is capable of delivering.

Other comparisons become a bit more subjective. Some claim that the 1080p resolution found on newer Android fare looks better than the 720p screens on Windows Phones. Also, that the better graphics hardware means fancier lighting and particle effects. Both are certainly true scientifically, but I’ve honestly had a difficult time seeing a tremendous advantage on screens smaller than five inches.

It’s not all bad news though, as the Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet is rumored to be the first Windows Phone featuring both a 1080p screen and Qualcomm’s new 800 series chipset, pretty much catapulting Windows Phone up to the current ranks of the premier Android ecosystem. On phones rocking a larger than five inch screen that resolution bump becomes a little more noticeable in fine detail and clarity.

Thanks for the question Yasi!

2 Replies to “Ask Juan: Can Windows Phone Compete with Graphics and Gaming?”

  1. Most people argue about non-essential issues. The most important is overlooked. Security should be first priority and there Blackberry is by far the best, next is Windows Phone 8, them iOS6 and Android is not recommended at all, by those with discernment. Windows Phone 8 is not virus/malware prone as people believe and it has not been hacked, unlike the Mac platform. Android is very unsafe as even many of approved apps will breach security by default. Firewalls won’t help because of the apps being approved.

    Something to consider…..

    QUOTE
    http://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-49/product_id-15556/Apple-Iphone-Os.html
    http://www.cvedetails.com/product/23230/Microsoft-Windows-Phone.html?vendor_id=26
    http://www.cvedetails.com/vendor/9513/Android.html
    http://bgr.com/2013/03/26/iphone-security-software-vulnerabilities-ios-397421/
    https://blogs.rsa.com/iphone-5s-bloggin-lets-start-conversation-biometrics-smart-phones/
    ________________________________________
    True in the Past on Non-Enterprise iOS Devices!
    But you are so right about Apple not giving users an opt out on many App’s access to your personal information. Plus the reason they have to vet Apps so closely is because iOS has simply relied on it’s UNIX base and Garden Walled Network for Security.

    Whereas Google’s Linux (also UNIX based) derived Android by even greater Open Source participation (including DoD/NSA Security Enhanced Linux kernel now in Jelly Bean Android) in making it the most Secure OS on the Planet. Now the first to be cleared for Level 6 (Top Secret) Security use. Neither Apple iOS nor Microsoft or Blackberry have Level 6 Clearance even in their consumer OS devices, like Android! ……Android is also the only mobile OS used by DoD/NSA/GSA that’s completed government testing and trials with it’s own App Store!

    So not only is the OS itself already a whole lot more secure, malware and virus free, but Google is also vetting Android Apps, along with only running Apps totally isolated from the OS itself!
    ________________________________________
    Here’s the simple fact: IOS has more vulnerabilities. An IOS user is more likely to have their device hacked without intervention from the user than Android.

    Now, when you introduce the stupid user principle, things get evened out fairly quickly. This is true of virtually all ecosystems. The stupid user is easily duped into installing harmful products right through the front door, making the need for back door attacks unnecessary.

    However, none of that changes the fact that IOS, when compared to Android, is a wide open back door. And while Android makes it easier to open the front door, it is shut by default, and most of the users most likely to allow themselves to be exploited by a malicious sideloaded app don’t know how to enable sideloading (even though it’s a simple menu click) or know how to go about finding and downloading apps to sideload.

    Android may be more dangerous for the user who has enough knowledge to hack their phone, but not enough sense to be careful about it, but IOS is more dangerous to the full spectrum of their user base.
    ________________________________________
    Longevity
    your quote: “the platform that has been around longest having the greatest number of known vulnerabilities is hardly a surprise”

    Blackberry and Windows are the platforms that have been around longest, for the purpose of this discussion. Blackberry has been shipping mobile devices since 1998, and Windows Mobile has been on handheld devices since 1990, and started making phones in 2002. I owned 5 different Windows Mobile phones before the iPhone was even announced.

    Additionally, IOS and Android were released only 1 year apart.

    So by your logic, if summed vulnerabilities directly correlate to longevity, then Windows and Blackberry should be the worst offenders, rather than the best.
    UNQUOTE

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