Hello, everyone! The Fan Q&A (Issue 41) has been organized for you. Are there any questions of interest this time? Let’s take a look!

Q: Hi, is the Meizu Pro6 Plus 64GB version worth buying? How is the performance of the downgraded 8890?

A:The Pro6 Plus 64GB uses the 8890M, which in terms of actual performance output can be roughly understood as the 14nm version of the Snapdragon 653. Of course, the GPU is better than the Adreno 510 of the 653 overall, and under the same performance premise, the power consumption is lower. Compared to the Kirin 960 and Snapdragon 821, it still falls short, but this does not prevent it from being the best model from Meizu at present. After fixing scheduling issues, the overall smoothness has greatly improved compared to the initial version, and this 2K screen performs well among models in the same price range, and the camera tuning is also okay. The downside is that the performance is not top-tier, and it does not support full network access, so it still depends on your needs to decide.

Q: Hello, I heard that the A screen does not have ghosting issues. I use the OnePlus 3, why does this screen have serious ghosting in dark scenes? (There is ghosting in both sRGB mode and default mode)

A:I don’t know what specific ghosting you are referring to. The OnePlus 3’s screen should have flickering at low brightness, which can be tiring to the eyes after prolonged viewing, but it is generally fine at medium brightness. LCD ghosting can have visual remnants regardless of brightness, and the impact is more noticeable when frequently browsing text.

Q: Hi, does the Kirin 960 in normal mode have any improvements compared to the Kirin 955 in the Honor V9? Is the frequency lock of the V9 due to the CPU being defective or other reasons?

A:The CPU improvement is not significant. Even the full-blooded Mate 9 does not have a large performance gap compared to Mate 8, as the official only promotes a 15% improvement. However, the GPU has a significant improvement compared to Kirin 950/955. As mentioned in previous videos, the Mate 9’s G71MP8 compared to the Mate 8’s T880MP4 shows an improvement of about 15%-45% in different games. Therefore, even if the performance of the V9 is somewhat limited, it is still more powerful than the full-blooded Kirin 950.

Currently, we cannot see the CPU/GPU voltage information for Hisilicon processors, so it is difficult to determine if it is a systemic issue. The current tests confirm that the V9’s thermal control threshold is set much lower than that of the Mate 9, so when the core temperature rises, it reduces the frequency in advance, failing to achieve the sustained performance of the Mate 9.

Q: Hi, the Xiaomi 5 supports returning to the previous level with a light touch on the home button and launching recent tasks with a double press. Will pressing it multiple times affect the home button and fingerprint sensor?

A:The Xiaomi 5 can indeed implement most of the mBack functionality with the developer version, but the double press of the home button to open recent tasks still feels a bit unsatisfactory compared to the Flyme’s swipe up from the bottom. Of course, pressing will definitely affect the lifespan, as mechanical components have a certain number of presses and lifespan. However, for most users, as long as you use it normally, there is no need to worry about whether pressing will cause malfunction. The theoretical press lifespan is much higher than your actual presses. For example, I often press the fingerprint to wake the screen out of boredom, then manually lock the screen, then press the fingerprint to wake again, and lock the screen again… it’s quite amusing, haha.

Q: Hello, can the scheduling mechanism of mobile processors be modified with third-party software? For example, can the scheduling mechanism of Huawei’s Honor V8 be changed? Also, do larger screen phones dissipate heat better? Will they be more relaxed in scheduling mechanisms?

A:Without rooting or flashing, it is difficult for third-party software to have practical effects. For example, X20 can use MTKBOOST to force the A72 big core to participate in calculations, but once the core temperature reaches a certain level, it will still shut down. Therefore, the scheduling settings need to be optimized by the manufacturer in advance, and ordinary mobile users find it difficult to improve with software.

Theoretically, larger screens and metal bodies can provide better conditions for heat dissipation, but this is not the key factor that determines whether the processor scheduling is active. It also involves the manufacturer’s considerations, and the quality of heat dissipation also requires the device itself to have good thermal design, such as PCB circuit layout, graphite pads, heat pipes, etc.

Q: Do you think single-core performance or multi-core performance is more important for mobile processors?

A:For Android, both single-core and multi-core are important. Whether multi-core is strong and single-core is weak, or multi-core is weak and single-core is strong, both will affect the experience. They can be said to complement each other. Moreover, there is also the issue of sustained performance. In architectures such as ARM A9/A15/A57, there was no consideration for sustained performance for mobile devices based on the process node at that time. Most of the time, benchmark scores are just scores, and actual usage can show another performance (to reduce heat and power consumption, it must reduce frequency). Therefore, starting from the A73, ARM’s core architecture has begun to focus on sustained performance output of processors. This means that whether single-core performance or multi-core performance, running for a long time without reducing frequency, without generating heat, and still having good performance is the best!

Q: Brother Dami, can you predict when the Xiaomi 6 will be on sale? Also, is it still cost-effective to buy the Xiaomi 5s Premium Edition now? Should I buy it directly or wait for the Xiaomi 6?

A:This still depends on Lei Jun’s supply chain control ability. For today’s mobile phone manufacturers, the focus is on supply chain! Supply chain! Supply chain! Currently, the 10nm Snapdragon 835’s early production capacity is definitely limited, and a large portion of the orders have been taken by Samsung. Xiaomi has also grabbed a portion of the first batch, but whether this amount can meet everyone’s needs is uncertain. For now, it is better not to buy the Xiaomi 5S. If necessary, you can buy a high-end Redmi 4 as a transition and wait for the Xiaomi 6 to see if there are any surprises. As for the specific sale date, Dami does not have exact news, but it can be said that it will definitely be released in April. It is still uncertain whether there will be hope this month.

Q: Dami, do you know when the Honor V9 standard version will be released? Is it more cost-effective to buy the standard version, or will the high-end version not be outdated in two years? I’m quite conflicted. I heard that the standard version has locked cores, and its performance is not as good as the high-end version. Is that true? Also, does the V9 use UFS2.1?

A:The standard version at 2599 yuan does indeed have a better cost performance than the high-end version, as it is only missing 2GB of memory, with the same other specifications. However, it is currently unclear whether the cores are locked or not, as the 2599 version has not been seen on sale yet. Currently, the performance of the high-end version’s processor does not match that of the Mate 9. Moreover, the high-end version of the V9 with 6+64GB has confirmed that it uses UFS2.1, and the read and write speed performance of the flash memory is good.

Q: Hello Dami, if I use a 2K OLED screen, will there still be pixelation?

A:A major basis for “no 2K, no A screen” is that in the case of a 5.7-inch or 6-inch screen, 2K resolution greatly alleviates the issues of screen fineness and jagged edges caused by the A screen’s P arrangement. Therefore, a 5-inch screen with 1080P A screen is acceptable, but for 5.5, 5.7, and 6.0-inch A screens, the fineness is significantly inferior to 1080P LCD screens. To achieve better fineness performance, a 2K resolution is still the best.

Q: Dami, why doesn’t Huawei sell its Kirin processors externally? With so many domestic manufacturers, that’s a significant market!!!

A:If Huawei sells the Kirin 960 to Xiaomi, and then Xiaomi uses the Kirin 960 in the Redmi to sell it for 1599 yuan, wouldn’t that impact Huawei’s flagship models? Definitely! Therefore, not selling externally is to ensure product differentiation to a certain extent, and also to ensure product self-sufficiency. For example, with the Snapdragon 835’s initial launch, Xiaomi’s ability to grab orders is not as good as Samsung’s, making it easy for others to choke the supply chain. However, the Kirin 960 is produced and used by itself, and the number of orders can be adjusted based on its own shipment volume.

Moreover, if a third-party manufacturer’s product is not good, Huawei can decide the product’s fate. For example, last year, Meizu only had MediaTek, but MediaTek’s entire product line was not good, leading to Meizu’s entire mobile product line losing competitiveness compared to models in the same price range. It was quite awkward, and only at the end of the year did they come out with the 8890 flagship. Of course, all of this is predicated on the fact that if you make chips, you must make them well; otherwise, the result will be the same. For instance, the Hisilicon K3V2 performed poorly, and the Kirin 910 performed poorly, which would also create competitiveness issues for their own product line.

Q: Where is the video for Xiaomi 5C? Where is the video for Xiaomi 5C? Where is the video for Xiaomi 5C? Important videos said three times~ Also, can Dami reveal who is stronger, the performance of the Surge S1 or the P10?

A:The video will definitely be up tomorrow! The video will definitely be up tomorrow! The video will definitely be up tomorrow! Important is said three times! The GPU performance of the Surge S1 crushes that of the P10 and X20. More tests can be found in tomorrow night’s evaluation video.

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That’s all for this Q&A session! If you have any questions about mobile digital products, you can continue to leave comments on the fan message board. Dami will regularly organize and reply to everyone~ See you tomorrow night for the detailed performance test video of the Xiaomi 5C & Surge S1!