We tested Android 5.0 using the Moto X, Moto G, LG G3 and Milky way S5 smartphones. Hither's how it went downwards...

This article is a long time coming.

Google released Android 5.0 'Lollipop' concluding Nov, a major milestone in the life of today's most pop mobile operating arrangement. Like with most Android revisions, the update was pushed over-the-air to Nexus devices and all was well in the vanilla Android camp. Google took the opportunity to launch new devices, as well, the Nexus 6 smartphone and Nexus 9 tablet, complete with Android 5.0 back up out of the box.

But again, like with every major Android software update, those without a Nexus device have had to anxiously expect for new software to hit their telephone. Dissimilarity this to iOS or Windows Phone, both of which come with fast upgrade pathways, and Android's update rollout scheme seems severely outdated and frustrating for users.

However this article isn't meant to expose how awful the Android upgrade system is, because frankly, anybody knows this already. Instead, I'm seeking to explore how updates to the core architecture in Android 5.0 take improved performance and battery life on existing handsets. For that, I needed to look until official updates hit for some of the leading devices out there, something that took a lot of patience.

Before I dive into some of the improvements in Android 5.0 "Lollipop", it'due south interesting to explore the global rollout of the software across some of the devices I accept in my possession.

The first thing to annotation is that not every version of the one smartphone was created equally. Devices like the Galaxy S5 accept many different SKUs that are littered effectually the world, and software development teams within the company piece of work at dissimilar rates on different SKUs. Sometimes even regional versions of the same SKU aren't updated at the same time: a perfect example is the SM-G900I Milky way S5 I have with me, which has been updated to Android 5.0 in Taiwan, but not in Australia. Other variants, like the G900H, are all the same stuck on Android 4.four.4.

Of the ten Android smartphones I have in my part, global Android five.0 rollouts for some SKUs have just begun for iv of them: the Moto 10 2022, Moto G 2022, LG G3 and Milky way S5, in that order. Of those 4, the Moto X 2022 is the only smartphone that that allowed me to update over the air to Android five.0 in Commonwealth of australia. The other three were either simply nearly to get Lollipop, or a local rollout hasn't begun.

As for the other six handsets, well-nigh of them are set to receive Android 5.0 at some indicate in the futurity, or then their manufacturers promise. The Galaxy Note three appears on the cusp of receiving an update, while updates for the Xperia Z2 and Z1 aren't far off. Motorola announced an update for the Moto X 2022, though who knows when that will arrive.

The newly released Galaxy A5 shipped without Android 5.0 and I have no hope for the BenQ-manufactured Kogan Agora 4G.

Having a newer device isn't an firsthand ticket to Android 5.0 either. Devices I've recently reviewed, such every bit the Milky way Annotation 4, Annotation Edge and Milky way Blastoff, Sony Xperia Z3, and Huawei Ascend Mate 7 haven't received Android 5.0. The only other recent telephone that has received the update that I can immediately think of is the HTC One M8.

Anyway, enough talk nigh the update process, it'due south time to talk about Android 5.0 itself. How could Google accept squeezed more functioning and more battery life out of a simple software update, you ask? Well, it comes down to Art, AOT compilation, and Project Volta.

ART, or the Android Runtime, has actually been bachelor since Android 4.iv as an optional developer feature that could be enabled if you lot then cull. All the same with Android 5.0, ART is prepare as the default, effectively replacing the one-time 'Davlik' runtime that has been around for years. This change has many performance implications.

Davlik used a just-in-time (JIT) compiler to compile an awarding's Java bytecode into native hardware instructions when said code was executed (such every bit when an app was opened). This form of compiler was necessary in older Android editions due to the hardware limitations of the devices it was running on, specifically in the storage and RAM departments.

ART shifts to an ahead-of-time (AOT) compiler, which compiles the entire application's bytecode into native code just one time, rather than each fourth dimension the application is opened. Equally these native instructions typically employ more space, apps themselves have a larger footprint on Android v.0 and devices running ART; something that has only really been possible since RAM and NAND capacities of Android smartphones accept increased.

By compiling applications into native code ahead of time – typically when the app is opened for the kickoff fourth dimension – a lot of arrangement overhead is removed for any subsequent launch and use of the aforementioned app. Although this does hateful the outset launch of an app will be slower under Art than Davlik, subsequently the first launch, performance should be improved.

Google also claims that by compiling the unabridged application at once and merely once, it can achieve greater optimization of the code, which once again should improve operation. As overhead is removed at the aforementioned time, battery life should be improved thanks to fewer CPU cycles going to compilation each time an app is opened and used.

Art also features an improved garbage collection (GC) mechanism, which works backside the scenes to allocate and reallocate retention. Previously, the GC system would have to pause code execution to make clean upwardly retention utilise, which would cause what Google describes every bit "jank", or general stutter while using an app. With Art, the GC system has been improved to reduce break times, in plough reducing jank. Combined with meliorate memory allocation systems, and again performance increases.

As for Project Volta, Google'south umbrella term for range of improvements, new features and APIs focused on extending battery life. On the feature side we see a new Bombardment Saver mode, and a Battery Historian app designed to give users and developers a improve picture of what's draining the device. Only information technology's the APIs that volition do about to improve general battery life.

The Job Scheduler API is new to Android 5.0 and allows developers to bundle tasks together and execute them at ideal times. When used for background tasks, this could significantly reduce the amount of time the modem and CPU is active for. For example, tasks could be bundled together and executed just when the device is charging, or for non-disquisitional internet-active tasks, when the device is connected to Wi-Fi.

These new features won't necessarily improve battery life merely from an upgrade to Android v.0, though it's possible for Android OEMs to integrate the APIs into their stock applications and other elements of their skins.

About the Test, Impressions and Full general Operation

The four devices used for testing in this article are the Motorola Moto Ten (2014) and Moto Thou (2014) Dual SIM, the Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900I, and the LG G3. All were updated to Android v.0 from Android iv.4, with various skins and OEM adjustments applied.

This is a purely official software comparison, so all Android 5.0 updates were official ROMs provided by the OEM, though not every update was performed over the air. I could have installed custom software such as CyanogenMod on other devices I had, simply I decided to go along this to official and readily available updates but.

On the Moto X and Moto Yard, the update to Android 5.0 provides you with an unskinned and essentially pure version of Lollipop, save for a few customizations that add together extra features. Apart from getting a Nexus or Google Play Edition device, this is the closest to official Android y'all can get. The Moto 10 also had the fastest software update to Android 5.0 out of whatever not-Nexus device.

Material Design, complete with cards and refreshed animations, is seen throughout, and the new notification arrangement (including proper lockscreen notifications) feels more than mature than previous editions of stock Android. Other features like guest logins I didn't use all that much.

The Samsung Galaxy S5's update to Android 5.0 includes a mildly refreshed version of TouchWiz. The general mode of Samsung's software skin is largely identical to the previous version, with minor changes that reflect Google'due south Material Design... to an extent. The carded notification dropdown, notifications on the lockscreen, and the task switcher take all been included, and there'due south a splash of Cloth in stock apps. However the general feel of the OS is withal incomparably Samsung.

Samsung also didn't take the fourth dimension to remove a lot of junk from their software iteration, which isn't that surprising. The settings screen is even so a ridiculous mess, and several stock applications nonetheless feel like they were designed by committee.

LG's Android five.0 update for the G3 includes the to the lowest degree amount of changes. You become a slightly modified notification pane that features Google's carded way, likewise as lockscreen notifications (already a characteristic of LG's Android 4.4 edition) and the task switcher, but well-nigh other aspects of the peel remain visually identical to the previous version.

In general, if you were hoping that Lollipop updates to major smartphones with heavy skins would bring the software closer to stock Android, I think you'll exist disappointed. OEMs seem pretty keen on keeping the style of their skins intact, despite how far many of them are from Material Pattern.

One thing I did notice is that the Android five.0 experience across all four devices felt smoother and faster than Android 4.four. Browsing around the operating arrangement, moving in and out of different screens and stock applications, felt smoother and more seamless despite a healthy dose of animations across the board. The task switcher, for case, loads notably quicker on all handsets, especially on the LG G3 which had a particularly slow implementation in KitKat.

Equally I expected, loading applications for the first time after I installed them from the Google Play Shop was slightly slower on Lollipop than KitKat, for reasons I but mentioned. After the first load, reloading and switching to these apps felt slightly faster, especially on the Moto G with its express resource. On powerful Snapdragon 801 devices, the deviation was less noticeable as app loading was often instantaneous previously.

These observations were purely subjective, and your mileage may vary, especially if yous are applying an OTA to a device already loaded with apps. For this article I tested phones that were factory reset either side of the Android five.0 update, to ensure a clean slate and fair testing ground across all devices.