Archive for the ‘Tests and Reviews’ Category

Using Samsung Galaxy A14 5G Smartphone for VRSC Crypto Mining

12, Dec 2023

We put another budget-oriented smartphone to the test of crypto mining VerusCoin (VRSC) with it, this time around it is the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G. After the recent disappointment that the Samsung Galaxy A13 5G turned out to be with a 32-bit OS and unable to be used for mining we were a bit concerned about the A14 5G, but still decided to give it a go and risk it after seeing a good price deal on the Total by Verizon Samsung Galaxy A14 5G, 64GB, Black – Prepaid Smartphone (Locked) over at Amazon, was temporary down to $59 USD, though it seems to be back at $79.99 USD now. Specification wise the A14 5G did seem interesting and the nice price drop did get us to pull the trigger, but the question at hand is was it able to deliver. Read below to find out what you can expect from the Galaxy A14 5G if you plan on using it for mining VRSC…

The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G seemed a bit bulky when we got it and opened it up, it is a large smartphone with a 6.6-inch display, a device announced earlier this year. It does seem to have two versions though, one with Mediatek Dimensity 700 (the one we got) and another with Exynos 1330 chipset that will probably do a bit better than what we got as results. The Mediatek Dimensity 700 (7 nm) chipset has 8 ARM CPU cores (2x 2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 and 6x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) and Android 13 and the good news here is that unlike on the A13 5G model here we do have a 64-bit OS making it suitable for crypto mining. At least that is good news, but the results are not exactly as what we have expected to see from the device unfortunately.

And while the Galaxy A14 5G does work for crypto mining and provides decent hashrate mining VerusCoin it is probably not the best choice price wise and performance wise out there for sure. Initially it peaked with higher hashrate, but then stabilized at just around 3.8 MH/s and we had it running for quite some time just to be sure because of the initial fluctuating hashrate. That performance is paired with around 3.8 Watts of power usage measured at the wall, so slower and less efficient than other devices we have tested not to mention more expensive as well, so not the most suitable choice. We kind of expected to see better performance out of it, maybe the version with better specs that uses the Exynos chipset will be more interesting for crypto mining, though it is more expensive and harder to find.

Using Motorola Moto G Power (2021) and Moto G Pure (2021) for VRSC Mining

21, Nov 2023

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals right around the corner or already here you could be in for a good deal on Smartphones that can be used for mining VerusCoin (VRSC), so do look for sweet deals on Samsung Galaxy A03s as a popular option, that one can get you around 3.6 MH/s with a price as low as $30 USD when in promo (for an operator locked device). We are not going to be talking about Samsung here however, but about two smartphones from Motorola that you can get at a good price at the moment even without special deals – Motorola Moto G Power (2021) and Motorola Moto G Pure (2021) and we are going to see if they are good for VRSC mining and if so, what can you expect performance wise.

Starting up with the Motorola Moto G Pure (2021), a device that normally is in the $50 USD mark when operator locked or around $100 USD for an unlocked version, but you can currently get it as low as $24.99 USD from Amazon for a TracFone Moto g Pure (2021)(Locked/Renewed). This is a pretty sweet deal price wise and you essentially get a device that is like brand new with a data cable and a charger bundled as well, but the question here is if the smartphone is suitable for VRSC mining. An Android 11 device that features a Mediatek MT6762G Helio G25 (12 nm) chipset that utilizes an 8-core ARM CPU (4x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 and 4x 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53), so far so good, but unfortunately what you get is a bit disappointing if you want it for mining. The smartphone we got was with Android 12 installed and it felt kind of sluggish right out of the box, but the bad news here is regarding mining as this device is simply a no go as it features a 32-bit OS even though the processor is 64-bit capable. Simply said this smartphone will not be able to run 64-bit apps and thus the VRSC miners are not going to work. So, do not go for that Motorola if you are looking for a smartphone for crypto mining!

The other device from Motorola, namely the Moto G Power (2021), is more promising and just a slightly more expensive than the Pure. The $34.99 USD TracFone Moto G Power (2021) Locked/Renewed deal on Amazon gets you a device that can actually be used for VRSC mining and not only is the price good, but also the performance. The Moto G Power (2021) comes with a Qualcomm SM6115 Snapdragon 662 (11 nm) chipset that has an 8-core processor (4x 2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold and 4x 1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver) and Android 11, though it is upgradable to Android 12 (but you should not, why in a moment). The refurbished version from Amazon is pretty much as a brand-new device with a charger and a data cable bundled, but at half the price what a regular locked version of this model normally goes for and at a quarter or even more of the price of an unlocked device. The next question is if the Moto G Power (2021) is good for mining VRSC what performance to expect from it?

The hashrate you can expect for VerusCoin (VRSC) mining on the Motorola Moto G Power (2021) is in the range of around 4.2-4.4 MH/s with a power usage of about 3 Watts measured at the wall. We’ve mentioned that you should not upgrade the phone to Android 12 even though it is available as it will reduce the performance a bit, the image on the right above shows Android 12 with about 0.1 MH/s slower hashrate than the same device with Android 11 on the left… and the Android 11 looks and feels better than the 12 on that particular Motorola device. Still, even if you upgrade you can still use the Moto G Power for mining, just with a slight performance hit and a bit more annoying user interface. So, Motorola Moto G Power (2021) is definitely a good option for VRSC mining, especially if you manage to get a great deal like the Refurbished one (essentially like new) from Amazon currently available. At a regular price for a Locked device, it could still be quite good considering the good hashrate, but there is more competition in that price range as well.

Using the Motorola Moto G Stylus (2021) Smartphone for Mining VerusCoin (VRSC)

30, Oct 2023

A quick look at the possible use of the Motorola Moto G Stylus (2021) smartphone for mining VerusCoin (VRSC) because of the great offer currently running on Amazon for Tracfone Motorola moto g Stylus (2020), 128GB, Gray – Prepaid Smartphone (Locked) available for just $49.99 USD. Do note that although the product page says 2020 model you are getting the slightly upgraded 2021 version instead (model XT2115DL). The Moto G Stylus is a large 6.8-inch smartphone powered by a Qualcomm SDM678 Snapdragon 678 (11 nm) chipset that has an 8-core processor (2x 2.2 GHz Kryo 460 Gold and 6x 1.7 GHz Kryo 460 Silver CPU cores), 128GB flash memory and 4GB RAM. It is a killer deal specifications wise for that price, so using the device for crypto mining (it is a locked phone!) does sound like a pretty reasonable idea, but the big question is what will be the performance it will offer for mining. It does even come with a charger in the package and not just a USB-C power cable.

The Motorola Moto G Stylus (2021) is a 64-bit hardware with 64-bit software, so good for mining. One thing to note on this model is that you need to have the SIM card inside the device during the initial phone initialization and then you can remove it, most other locked smartphones from Tracfone normally do not require the card to be in for the device initialization. The device itself does not have problems after the initial initialization and there is no need to have active Tracfone phone plan if you are going to use it for crypto mining. So, what about the hashrate that the Moto G Stylus 2021 can provide for mining VRSC? Well, it is very good at about 4 MH/s, slightly faster than what Samsung Galaxy A03s can provide. The drawback here from the larger display and the more powerful hardware – increased power usage compared to other smartphones we have tested such as the A03s for instance. Measuring the power consumption at the wall while the device is mining shows around 3.7 Watts, so efficiency wise not the greatest even though the performance itself is not bad.


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