An introduction to R – Part 2
devices are designed to last, it’s not surprising the OS support should be expected to as well. Knowledge worker devices must be available in unlocked form, with security updates within 90-days of release for three years ( tinyurl.com/ybpdsepn).
In practice, devices fitting the knowledge worker recommendation include the usual top-drawer suspects – the Google Pixel 2 XL, Nokia 8, LG’s V30 and Sony Xperia XZ1. Android’s recommended ‘rugged’ devices list includes brands such as Zebra, Sonim and Honeywell. Reports are Panasonic is among additional brands working through the certification process at time of writing.
RAM MATTERS
It may go against the grain, but when looking for your next phone, we think RAM should matter to you as much as the CPU chip under the screen. Sure, it sounds a bit boring and geeky, but if you’re a power user, whether it’s gaming or just running your office on your phone, the amount of device RAM is increasingly determining what you can do. If you need further convincing, gaming hit Fortnite, with its minimum 3GB RAM requirement that matches its total storage needs, should be proof enough. If that’s not enough, the 2GB minimum in the Enterprise Recommended program should do it.
That leaves us questioning just how long the 1GB limit for an Android Go device can survive. As app demands continue to grow along side those of the full Android OS itself, you’d have to think Google has to either strip more away from the OS to have it work inside 1GB of RAM, or risk dwindling performance. Neither option is all that appealing.
MORE DEVICES UP-TO-DATE
A major goal of all this work is to move the Android ecosystem closer to the latest Android release. With more than half the market still running Marshmallow/6.0 or older as of mid-September 2018 ( tinyurl.com/ ker3bcv), the ability to shore up security issues in older Android OS versions is limited at best, potentially leaving millions of Android devices at risk of security flaws. And this is before you even get to hardware security risks like the recent Spectre/ Meltdown problems affecting many devices with Intel or ARM Cortex-A series technology. Android Go Edition helps address these issues.
GO PAST GO?
The pre-paid market is huge in Australia – as of mid-2017, Optus reportedly had 3.7million prepaid customers alone ( tinyurl.com/ y86ccrph) and given budget phones are popular in this segment, it’s an important issue. If your budget forces you to choose between an older, less-computationally demanding version of Android with 2GB of RAM and a cut-down modern release with updates but stuck to 1GB of RAM, it’s not an easy choice to make. It also remains whether or not Android Go Edition becomes the de-facto standard for budget phones, forcing your hand.
Arguably the simplest option is to just give up coffee for a month, save your pennies and buy further up the Android food-chain. Android Go’s trimmed-down Google Apps may be fine on 1GB of RAM, but it doesn’t guarantee the rest of the Google Play store will be. Nevertheless, regardless of your budget, the growth in Android device and OS programs means there’s more to think about in choosing your next device than ever before.