With the launch of Android 12, Google introduced the new standard called Performance class which” defines a set of device capabilities that go beyond the basic requirements of Android ” and now, while Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6 Pro and the latest flagships of the main OEMs already have the relative support, we are forced to give Samsung a hearing: the whole Galaxy S22 series does not have it.
Media Performance class 12: news and benefits
The purpose of the Performance class standard is to help app developers understand what software functions a certain Android smartphone or tablet can perform. For example, Performance class 12 (reserved for smartphones with the highest level of performance) should offer the “most premium experience”, while class 11 would require you to be satisfied with a “high-quality experience”.
Yesterday Google announced the Jetpack Core Performance library in alpha and with this aim to allow apps to obtain the performance class of the device on those with Android 11 (API level 30) and later versions.
At the center of the attention of the Mountain View team are the scenarios of use with multimedia services and the minimum requirements foreseen by the Android 12 Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) for the Performance class 12 include: a 12 MP rear camera with recording support 4K video at 30fps; a front camera of 5 MP or greater with support for 1080p video recording at 30fps; a minimum display resolution of 1080p with 400DPI and a minimum RAM memory allocation of 6GB. Among the more particular technical requirements, we note the ability to ” initialize a video codec in <50ms even when under load “.
The listed requirements show that all devices capable of meeting Media Performance Class 12 can optimally handle the most common usage scenarios with multimedia services, such as social media apps and capture, encode and share functions.
To give an example, the Snapchat app has already been optimized, therefore it is already able to take advantage of the Performance class standard to identify the capabilities of a device in a scalable way to adapt performance to available resources. While previously it had to rely on factors like RAM, release year and A / B testing, now, on devices that meet Media Performance Class 12 “the viewing quality of the shared videos is improved through the use of higher resolution and bitrates”.
Supported devices: Samsung, what are you up to?
In the same post shared on the official blog, addressing the fundamental issue of supported devices, the Google team did not fail to underline how the collaboration with the various manufacturers has played an essential role: ” the requirements of the Performance classes ” – says Google – ” are have been developed in collaboration with leading device developers and manufacturers, who have recognized the need for a simple, reliable and class-based system to enable large-scale app optimizations ”.
Below is a list of manufacturers who have been at the forefront in optimizing their devices and guaranteeing full support of the requirements of Media Performance Class 12, which includes: OPPO, OnePlus, Realme – we talked about it in a dedicated article -, Vivo and Xiaomi. Have you noticed the great absentee? That’s right, Samsung. The list reported by Google of the first smartphones with support for the new standard consists of:
- OnePlus 10 Pro
- OPPO Find X3 Pro
- Realme GT 2 Pro
- Vivo X60 Pro+ and X70 Pro+
- Xiaomi Mi 12 and Mi 12 Pro
- Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
While this is just a first list, Google posted it directly, and the absence of newly launched premium models like the Samsung Galaxy S22, Samsung Galaxy S22+ and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is heavy. And this is not an oversight: the 9to5Google team has carried out checks on the Samsung Galaxy S22+ and Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, confirming the lack of support. The screenshots below are from Galaxy S22+, Google Pixel 6, and Google Pixel 5.
The disappointment is undeniable, but we can’t even talk about surprises, since the Galaxy S22 series does not even support Android Seamless updates.