The overclocking procedure is the one that allows you to squeeze a computer to the maximum, sending its processor to maximum power and speed. Overclocking is an operation that is foreseen in computer science and is not dangerous if carried out in the right way, in order to exploit the full potential of a component, which for reasons of maximum stability and safety is maintained by its manufacturer at slower speeds.
Overclocking Android therefore means configuring the system to exploit the processor at a higher speed than the set speed, perhaps even going to its maximum when required by games or larger applications.
In more technical terms, what happens with an overclock is to increase the CPU frequency, the one indicated in GHz, which basically tells us how many operations can be processed in a certain time.
If the advantage of an overclock is to make the computer, in this case the smartphone or tablet, faster, the disadvantage is to consume more energy and potentially make the device less stable.
Thanks, however, to some specialized Android applications, it is possible to manage the processor speed dynamically, increasing it when required and when the phone is charging, decreasing it even to lower levels than normal if the phone is not in use.
READ ALSO: 5 App for hardware testing and verification on Android smartphones
NOTE: Android overclocking only works on some root unlocked smartphones.
I therefore refer to the guide to unlock every Android smartphone with Root for those who need it.
NOTE2: Overclocking done with these apps shouldn't harm your phone if you don't go overboard (although it's obvious I can't take responsibility for any problems)
Keep in mind that for sure there are at least these two side effects: the overclocked phone could drain its battery first and get very hot until burned if used too long at maximum CPU power.
Conversely, however, if you use an app that also does the downclocking, i.e. slows down the processor speeds, you can have a gain in battery life, with a possible side effect of a crash of some app in the background (it will be verified) .
The best overclocking apps on Android to make the processor of a smartphone or tablet more powerful and faster in a guided and automated way depending on the moment and use are:
1) SetCPU is an excellent and popular application to configure the CPU overclocking of a rooted Android device (not updated since 2013, so it may not work).
After installation and after granting Superuser permissions, the app checks what speeds are available and possible for the processor.
You can then balance minimum and maximum speeds by following the guided procedure.
The Set on boot option, as in other apps, is used to activate the overclock every time you restart the phone (but the first time better not to do it until you see that everything is ok).
After this, you can create profiles in order to decide when to activate the upper speed with overclocking and when to activate the lower speed with downclocking.
For example, it can be said to go to maximum when under charge and in use and to go slower when the screen is off.
NOTE: Android's power saving function and Doze function to optimize the battery do exactly this overclocking to extend battery life.
2) CPU Control is another very popular app, this one too that hasn't been updated since 2013, which however should still work on many models.
Also in this case, a maximum and a minimum frequency and a governor are set, that is, a mode of operation, for example maximum or minimum performance or "on demand", that is, based on use.
3) CPU Cooling is a tool to change the CPU / GPU speed on a rooted Android phone, plus some statistics on CPU usage and battery consumption.
4) Kernel Tuner is a super powerful application that can modify almost everything in the Android system kernel, including processor overclocking.
5) Kernel Audiutor is the most recent application, which also supports Android Marshmellow and Lollipop, with the latest update to 2016.
In this application, which includes options to modify many hardware parameters of the phone, you can search for the settings that control the CPU clock speed and choose the maximum processor speed from the drop-down menu.
To proceed without problems, you have to try the different speeds for a while going up when everything seems to be going well.
If you encounter instability with overclocking, this app allows you to go back at a slower speed.
Even if the system is stable, be careful of any overheating situations on your phone or tablet.
