Tegra 2 makes for a scary-fast smartphone
As far as referendums on nVidia’s new Tegra 2 processor go, Motorola’s and AT&T’s Atrix 4G is a shining success. It throws off beastly performance and also manages to greatly reduce power consumption. However, when viewed as a referendum on the ARM architecture’s potential to scale up and supplant x86 in laptops and desktops—or even run Windows—the outlook isn’t quite as promising.
First the basics. This is the fastest phone we’ve ever seen. In our CPU, GPU, and combined benchmarks, the 1 GHz dual-core Tegra 2 CPU and GeForce ULP GPU core helped the Atrix even beat Samsung’s very-fast Epic 4G in most of our tests. We admit that the Maximum PC Lab is just getting started on benchmarking phones, but it’s clear that Nvidia has just dropped notice on the mobile world that its processors are a force to be reckoned with.
The Atrix 4G has a multitouch capacitive 4.1-inch, 960x540 screen with 275 pixels per inch. It also can shoot video in 720p, with 1080p support coming in a future software update.
At the mid- and high-end, Android phones are already pretty peppy, but this surge in performance has a tangible impact upon the interface, and eliminates the slight stuttering found in Motorola’s Droid X and Droid 2. The tandem of the Tegra 2 and 4G connection also speed up the loading and rendering of web pages in a way that will please frustrated AT&T subscribers.
Even more surprising is the lack of strain it puts on the Atrix’s 1930 mAh battery. When Nvidia began touting the Tegra 2’s strengths, reduced power consumption was one of key messages. We’re pleased to report that this is borne out in real life. This is the first Android phone we’ve been able to run for almost two days straight out of the box.
The fact that we’re seeing this level of performance today is outright scary because the 2.2 version of the Android OS has yet to be optimized for multiple threads—that’s coming in the 2.3 Gingerbread update in April. Several of our benchmarks’ diagnostic modes didn’t even recognize the presence of the extra core.
A Laptop without the laptop
As odd as this sounds, all of the information and data above takes a back seat to the Atrix’ true intent and Motorola’s major selling point, which is the ELIMINATION OF THE PC AS WE KNOW IT (Cue lightning flash)..
The Atrix 4 laptop dock offers up a 1366x768 screen and a battery charger for the phone itself, but in-dock performance is lackluster.
Okay, that’s a bit of an overstatement, but the Atrix does take one giant step towards allowing us to work and play without an x86-based desktop or laptop. By plugging the Atrix into the proprietary $400 laptop dock depicted here—which lacks a CPU or storage, and only has a chiclet keyboard, touchpad, battery (which automatically charges your phone), and an impressive 1366x768 screen.
Mac-style shortcuts allow you to launch full-screen applications such as Firefox, a media player, and even Citrix’ client software from the dock-top. Most intriguing however, is Mobile view, which virtualizes the Atrix 4G in its entirety—apps, games, buttons, and everything—into a window on the laptop dock’s screen. Mobile View allows you to operate your phone with a mouse and keyboard on the big screen. You can even make and receive phone calls on speakerphone while in this mode.
The Atrix’s laptop dock is like a combination of Google’s CR-48 and a MacBook Air
The fact that this works at all merits praise. We expect that in two years’ time, all major phones and operating systems will sport similar functionality. Unfortunately, in practice the Atrix’ Webtop mode is not quite ready for prime time. The most noticeable flaw is, in our opinion, the worst kind of problem to have: slowness. We’re talking slower-than-netbook slow. Stuttering-frame-rates-that-try-your- patience slow. Slow application launch speeds, and slower-than-x86 web page load times.
These problems are compounded by other version 1.0 discomforts, such as not being able to use QuickOffice’s productivity apps—word processor, spreadsheet, etc—in full screen mode. Thankfully, you can use Google Docs—or any other web-based application in full-screen mode. But this begs the question: If you’re just going to use this laptop dock as a glorified web browser and phone charger, wouldn’t you be better served with a tablet, or a Chrome-equipped laptop?
Despite these shortcomings, as far as pure phones go, the Atrix is outstanding. And its docking capabilities are literally the first of its kind. We’re not going to penalize the phone for an optional dock, but just know going in that attempting to replace your laptop with the seemingly unholy hybrid here may leave you wanting more.
One final note. If you’re lucky enough to have an unlimited data plan with AT&T and plan on upgrading to the Atrix or any other AT&T 4G plan, get ready to kiss it goodbye. According to AT&T, those plans are incompatible with the 4G network. We’re calling bull.
$500 ($200 with plan); $400 laptop dock, www.att.com
