We’ve written about the LG F490L Liger before and now the device has been through Bluetooth certification, showing as supporting Bluetooth 4.0 and LTE 4G radio connectivity. We’re not sure what the other device specifications are apart from it appears to use LG’s own in-house processor and chipset, called Odin. We’ve seen reports that Odin is an octa core 64-bit processor, to a quad core Cortex-A15 unit through to a more typical dual quad core arrangement with a powerful quad core CPU paired up with a high efficiency quad core companion processor. We’re still no closer to understanding the resolution of the new device or the GPU that’ll be paired up alongside the processor: we have more questions and answers.
We’ve seen leaked benchmark statistics for Odin at the end of 2013 and it seems difficult to imagine that it is still a contemporary processor in late 2014. The Cortex-A15 design has been superseded by the Cortex-A57 core, which features a new instruction set that offers a dramatic increase in processor performance and a reduction in power consumption. As part and parcel of the upgrade from A15 to A57 technology, the new processor is now also 64-bit compatible. This will not make any difference whatsoever until Android L ships, as Android 4.4 Kit Kat and older are 32-bit only operating systems. However, going forwards, I would expect Android versions after L to continue to offer 64-bit support and therefore it would be prudent to only buy a high end device with compatible processor technology. I do see the lack of 64-bit support as being an excuse as to why a particular device isn’t updated to the latest version of Android in twelve to eighteen months time. Perhaps The F490L is going to be more of a mid-range device, or perhaps a little like the LG Flex, which has something of a niche role?
Still, we need to remember that LG doesn’t just make smartphones and tablets. They own Web OS, which has been sidelined to go into their smart televisions and of course, this operating system may benefit from their in-house processors and we’ve seen one story explaining that the dual quad core processor will see service in LG’s mobile devices with the vanilla quad core destined for the televisions. The television environment will have less stringent power consumption requirements compared with our mobile devices. What do you think? Let us know what you’d like to see the Odin powering in the comments below.