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The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 hits Geekbench, boasting impressive early benchmark scores
This phone's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip is kicking out serious numbers
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is expected to launch later this year, but there have already been many talking points, courtesy of many leaks. A few weeks after the device’s specifications were first uncovered, it has now been put through its paces in a benchmark test.
Xiaomi responds to throttling controversy and Geekbench de-listing
Benchmarking numbers indicate Xiaomi doesn't treat all apps equally by default
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Following reports that Samsung throttled performance for several apps and games on its flagship phones (and even throttled recent tablets like the S8 series), other manufacturers have come under scrutiny for their own performance-adjusting behaviors. Testing Xiaomi's latest lineup with the popular Geekbench benchmarking application, we've measured a noticeable performance difference between various "spoofed" versions of the app that were recognized by the system as known apps or games. According to Geekbench, this behavior will result in affected phones being delisted from its benchmarking charts. Xiaomi has since responded, expplaining more about how its performance profiling system works.
Geekbench just banned the last four years of Samsung flagships over throttling debacle
Mess with benchmarks, and your phones get benched
There's nothing worse than picking up a new flagship Android device, only to find out software restrictions hold it back from peak performance. Samsung's Galaxy S22 series might be running on some seriously powerful hardware, but as we reported yesterday, the company throttles its devices when playing popular gaming titles, among other apps. Now, in response to its less-than-honest performance, Geekbench is taking direct action against Samsung.
OnePlus defends its app-throttling on the 9 Pro, Snapdragon 888 'overkill in certain scenarios'
Company claims it tests the changes to make sure the user experience isn't affected
Following the news that OnePlus was throttling the performance of 9-Series phones, the company has taken to its forum with a more detailed response, explaining in greater detail the logic behind its actions. In short, OnePlus claims that modern chipsets are "overkill," and there's no need to run at full power for simple tasks like scrolling on a webpage or social media. So, the company throttles performance to improve power consumption and heat dissipation under the argument that it extensively tests these changes for negative effects.
OnePlus confirms it throttled the performance of 300 popular apps
The fallout continues from yesterday's shocking revelations
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OnePlus always used flagship specs in its devices, even when its phones were undercutting the competition's price. The days of "flagship killers" are long gone, but the company still chooses high-end processors each year. In theory, that should make the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro some of the fastest phones you can buy today — indeed, our reviews say basically the same thing — but it turns out that many applications are being held back from reaching peak performance.A new report from Anandtech dives deep into determining whether or not the OnePlus 9 Pro's benchmarks match real-world usage, and unfortunately, the answer seems to be a hard no. While OxygenOS allows benchmarking apps to reach full performance using its Snapdragon 888, OnePlus has included a blacklist of popular apps from the Play Store, all of which are prevented from taking full advantage of the phone's power. The report speculates it's an attempt to deliver improved battery life — a failure, if our review is anything to go by.
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.
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.