Speed is the name of the game. With quad-core processors in the latest smartphones and tablets, the days of lag are virtually over. Of course though, that’s not enough for some and thanks to the great Android developer community, squeezing more power and performance out of devices is a daily objective. The Nexus 7 is at the forefront of tablets right now and has, by no doubt, went on to sell Millions of units at this point.
You get a 1.3GHZ quad-core processor and 1GB RAM for just under 200 bucks. What’s not to love about that? A developer that goes by the username Clemsyn, has created a kernel that, as Pocketnow says, is “like running your Nexus 7 on after-burners!” Called Elite kernel, it does a number of things to improve the performance of the Nexus 7.
Without getting into all the geeky details, some of the changes are increased core voltage and increased CPU voltage to be able to run at a faster speed of 1.7GHZ, and an increased GPU clock for better performing graphics and UI navigation. The performance increase is pretty significant. According to a writer for Pocketnow, they managed to go from a Quadrant score around 3500 to the 5400 range. That’s a massive improvement.
Of course, all of this comes at a cost. Not the kernel itself, that’s free and is available here. We’re talking about battery life. Instead of the 8-10 hours of use on a full battery, you’ll now be looking at around half of that. Also, running the CPU and GPU at higher speeds will result in a warmer device. If you have the Nexus 7 and want to give this kernel a try, we definitely recommend doing your research as there is always the risk of potentially messing up your device.
As Kanye West says in a song, “No one tablet should have all that power // The CPU is tickin’, I can’t believe the power”. Okay, he didn’t say that, but here’s a video which shows off the performance of Elite kernel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZPmBrlArKk