Posts Tagged ‘VRSC mining’

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.

Using the Samsung Galaxy A03s Smartphone for VerusCoin (VRSC) Mining

28, Oct 2023

One of the most popular and affordable smartphones to get if you are interested in crypto mining VerusCoin (VRSC) is the Samsung Galaxy A03s that is also easier to find and also widely available as a locked phone with some no-contract operators at great prices (you can use it for mining without activating a SIM card and getting a phone plan). With a regular price in the $50 USD range for locked phones available on Amazon from Tracfone, Total by Verizon and Simple Mobile and often going for as low as $30 USD when in promotion like it was for the Amazon Prime Day for example it is great way to get it for even less. It is definitely a great device to get you started with mobile crypto mining or if you want to give it a try before deciding should you get into it anyway, offering decent performance with a low power usage and with a killer promo price if you manage to snag a good deal. So, let us see what can you expect from the Samsung Galaxy A03s if you are interested in mining VRSC…

The Samsung Galaxy A03s has been launched in 2021 as a lower-end device with Android 11 operating system (updates to Android 13 are currently available) and decent hardware inside, though nothing too fancy. The device uses Mediatek MT6765 Helio P35 (12nm) chipset and has an 8-core ARM processor inside (4x 2.35 GHz Cortex-A53 and 4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 cores), uses USB Type-C 2.0 interface that supports up to 15W charging and has a 5000 mAh non-removable battery inside. The model we have from Tracfone is with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, though there are apparently other variations with different memory amount, so make sure to check which one you are getting. The device has a 64-bit processor and an operating system running in 64-bit, unlike some other smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy A13 5G that are simply no good for use as crypto mining devices at all. Considering the price point for locked A03S devices and the specs you are getting they actually do make a lot of sense to be used for VRSC mining, especially when you take a look at the performance numbers and power usage as well.

What about the most important thing here, namely the performance you can expect from the Galaxy A03s? Well, it is really great for a smartphone you can get for $50 USD or even $30 USD at times… of course if you are getting a Samsung Galaxy A03s that is not locked to a specific mobile operator it will cost you more, but you don’t need unlocked smartphone to mine with it if it is the only thing you are going to be doing with it. The average hashrate when mining VerusCoin (VRSC) with the Galaxy A03s is around 3.6 MH/s with a power usage of around 2.6 Watts measured at the wall (using Userland and ccminer, a bit slower when using VerusMiner), so damn good performance and very power efficient device. Not the fastest out there, however the price you can get it at is really the best thing here and for that price the performance is surprisingly good… almost makes you start thinking along the way of actually building a smartphone mining farm, though going for large scale mining with smartphones does present some unique challenges that still need to be addressed. You might also want to check out the Alcatel TCL A3 and TCL A3X Smartphones as they can offer similar performance for a lower or similar price point as the Samsung Galaxy A03s, although these devices do come with their own specifics as well, so make sure to check our review.


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