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Web browsers are famously complicated pieces of software with plenty of very demanding features. In turn, browser developers take performance very seriously, which has led to one of the most competitive (friendly) rivalries in all of tech. Thanks to a number of optimizations to Chrome’s code, and even the way code is compiled, it has set a new record in Apple’s own browser benchmark test and claimed the crown from Safari as the fastest browser on macOS. But this isn’t just a win on Apple’s computers, the improvements can be felt on almost all versions of Chrome.
Samsung will soon let you decide whether your Galaxy S22 throttles in apps and games
Earlier Samsung phones are also affected
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Samsung's new Galaxy S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra may pack some of the fastest hardware you can get right now, but you might not actually be able to enjoy that benefit when playing games or other popular apps. According to Geekbench developer John Poole, and confirmed in our own testing, the Galaxy S22 series and earlier Samsung phones throttle performance severely when playing certain popular game titles, like Genshin Impact, and we've got the numbers to back it up.
The latest Pixel 5 update contains a surprise performance boost
Courtesy of the April security patch
The Google Pixel 5 (and 4a 5G) with its mid-tier Snapdragon 765G was not made to please mobile gamers — something we even mentioned in our review. While that notion is not changing completely, the April Pixel update seems to have brought a sizable improvement in GPU performance, as noted by several users.
DontKillMyApp benchmark released from Early Access with new icon
From Urbandroid, the folks behind dontkillmyapp.com and Sleep as Android
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Urbandroid, the developers behind Sleep as Android, have suffered plenty of headaches getting their app to work on a wide range of Android phones. Different manufacturers all think they have great ideas when it comes to stretching out battery life. Usually, they do it by aggressively killing apps in the background, which can break app functionality. Urbandroid even made a site called DontKillMyApp to track and shame the worst offenders and point out how to fix these issues on different phones (if you even can). Now Urbandroid is making a new benchmarking tool to measure your own phone's background apps performance. Like the previous site, it's also called DontKillMyApp, and it's available now in early access on the Play Store.
Back in 2013, when the Galaxy S4 was the flagship of Samsung's smartphone lineup, we got word that the South Korean tech giant was artificially boosting CPU and GPU performance to report inflated benchmark scores. After three years and one class-action lawsuit to reprimand Samsung for its infraction, a settlement is finally happening to the tune of $13.4M.
Earlier this month, I wrote about possibly the worst benchmarking application I had ever seen, 'Nenamark.' But Geekbench has come to save the day, bringing their Geekbench 4 benchmarking utility to Android. Geekbench is another cross-platform benchmarking program, so you can compare your results to a wide range of devices.
Benchmarking applications like 3DMark and PassMark are great for scoring the graphics or computational power of a given device. Nenamark 2 was a popular choice for benchmarking graphics back in the day, and five years after Nenamark 2 launched, Nenamark 3 has arrived. It's not clear why.
When you're looking to see just how capable your Android hardware is, Futuremark's 3DMark is one benchmarking app that will let you know real quick. Fire it up, see how smoothly you device can handle a beautifully rendered scene, and walk away with a better idea of where your phone or tablet sits in the global hierarchy of things.
, but if you want to see our best look yet at the upcoming OnePlus 2, a five-minute video of the phone has leaked onto YouTube. Well, it's apparently the OnePlus 2 - we can't confirm it, of course, but the low-quality video seems to match the leaked images from a Chinese regulator that we saw earlier this week. Look closely and you can see what appears to be a fingerprint sensor beneath the screen.
Attention: the following roundup contains absolutely no mention of the new release of Google Reader... because that happened in April. But it does have some great picks for new apps from March, including our top seven and a handful of honorable mentions. News readers, social tools, and root-only apps are covered, plus some diagnostic tools for tech heads. And if customization is your thing, check out the honorable mentions section for cool icons and live wallpapers.
Some graphical benchmarks are meant to be fairly boring but reliable tests of visual output - the reliable Quadrant benchmark from Aurora Softworks is a good example. Others create an intense graphical test by making a fully-realized 3D environment, essentially a tech demo that's meant to be a digital ruler for the performance of competing components or devices. 3DMark's Android benchmark, with its space battle cutscene, is one of these tests.
Remember those rumblings of overheating problems with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 mobile processor? I think it's safe to say that they've been confirmed. Dutch enthusiast site Tweakers used a thermal camera to test the temperature of various high-end phones while running the intense GFXBench benchmark application. They found that the new HTC One M9, powered by the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 810, could reach temperatures as high as 55.4 degrees Celsius (131.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
Last year, Samsung got into some hot water for including an automatic "high power mode" for certain apps, dialing up the processor and GPU scaling. There's nothing wrong with that in theory, but these changes were enabled specifically for benchmark apps, giving the benchmarks results that, while not technically incorrect, were artificially inflated and unlikely to be indicative of everyday performance.
Sprint's Day One MI5 OTA Update For The Galaxy Note 3 May Remove Controversial Benchmark Boosts [Update: Nope]
Sprint's Day One MI5 OTA Update For The Galaxy Note 3 May Remove Controversial Benchmark Boosts
Update: We've heard back from Sprint on the "Restriction to benchmark sites removed" line. Here's what a representative told us:
The Geekbench benchmarking program is a staple on PCs, thanks to quick and varied tests for multiple hardware systems and an impressive database of results. The Geekbench 2 test has been gaining steam on Android as well - we've used it in a few reviews and comparisons. Version 3 has been released as a stand-alone app, but the small list of improvements hardly seems to justify it. It's a good thing that it only costs a dollar.
Update: Samsung has posted an official response to yesterday's benchmark kerfuffle, explaining that the maximum frequency for the S4 is actually 533MHz, but that it is actually scaled down for "certain gaming apps that may cause an overload". The maximum frequency, according to the statement, is also attainable in "apps that are usually used in full-screen mode" like the gallery, S Browser, etc. This may not fully explain the explicit mention of certain benchmark apps in TwDVFSApp, but it is at least nice to see an official response to the situation.
Futuremark Bringing PCMark Benchmark App To Android, iOS, And Windows Phone
Futuremark Bringing PCMark Benchmark App To Android, iOS, And Windows Phone
Hardware enthusiasts are probably already aware of Futuremark and its PCMark software, a standard for testing and comparing computer hardware for years. PCMark is popular among reviewers and users for its comparison of hardware on standards that are more likely to reflect real-world, typical usage. Today Futuremark announced that it's bringing the software to the "Big three" mobile operating systems, Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. Futuremark's press release did not include a date.
If you don't keep an obsessive eye on video game development, you might not be aware of Unity. It's a 3D game engine that makes it easy to develop games for multiple platforms and multiple rendering engines, including Direct3D, OpenGL, and (on Android and iOS) OpenGL ES. It's not the most powerful or flexible thing around, but a lot of developers rely on the tool. Now they've got an easy way to estimate game performance on different Android hardware, via the Basemark X benchmark from Rightware.
Popular benchmark and performance test maker Futuremark today announced that their 3DMark product, "the world's most popular benchmark and PC test," will be getting an update that brings it to Windows, Windows, RT, Android, and iOS, allowing the tool to join the ranks of cross-platform benchmarkers like the popular GeekBench.