Ugh, Samsung Rigged the Note 3 to Perform Better in Benchmark Tests

fchis on 03/10/2013 - 14:21

Just a heads up if you intend to purchase a Samsung Phone in the future.

Link: http://gizmodo.com/ugh-samsung-rigged-the-note-3-to-perform-…

After pulling the same dirty trick with the Galaxy S4, Samsung has been caught rigging the Galaxy Note 3 to perform better in benchmark tests than it does anywhere else. It's like all Samsung phones are on performance enhancing drugs or something.

Ars Technica found that the Note 3 can inflate benchmark scores by as much as 20%. That means though the Note 3 looks like it's 20% faster in some tests, it's real life performance will hardly show that speed difference. Ars first noticed the speed discrepancy because the Note 3's 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor smoked the LG G2's 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 in benchmark tests. That shouldn't happen to identical SoCs.

How does Samsung do it? A lot of juicing. Ars discovered that certain benchmark tests would trigger maximum 2.3GHz CPU speed on all four cores of the Snapdragon 800 processor while that same benchmark test just re-named would show three of the four cores completely shut off and the other running at 300MHz. Samsung had made the CPU push the pedal to the floor in specific tests just to look good. That's just one aspect of the cheating.

Here's the difference in speed that Ars found:

Mobile

Comments

  • ESEMCE on 03/10/2013 - 14:49
    +1

    Anandtech have found that most (not all) do the same to a generally lesser extent.

    • meroveus on 03/10/2013 - 22:15

      Should be:
      "Anandtech have found that most Android phones (not all) do the same to a generally lesser extent."

  • scrimshaw on 03/10/2013 - 16:37

    Most people hardly care about speed tests anyway. As somebody pointed out, the device is made for consumers, not reviewers.

    GeekBench / Antutu benchmarks only give you a numerical comparison of processor performance — it doesn't tell you squat about how the phone performs in real life. No phone company uses benchmark scores to advertise their devices anyway… the only ones who do are the smaller Shenzhen sellers such as THL, Jiayu etc.

    Everyone's doing this, except for Google Nexus, iPhone and the latest crop of Motorola phones.
    http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/02/samsung-reportedly-not-al…

    • nsm on 04/10/2013 - 00:43
      +2

      If no one cared then why do it in the first place?

  • RockyRaccoon on 04/10/2013 - 08:41

    Everyone is correct. The Average Joe doesn't really look at or understand how these tests work. BUT the geeks do and they are the ones who tell their AJ friends what to buy.

    The AJ comes to sites like this and ask - what should I buy and are told XX is the fastest etc So these benchmarks cheats are influential, thats why they do it. As nabeelshah points it out. Why do these manufacturers even bother with the cheats if they dont have some advantage. Most is so they can at release, emphasise their speed.

    Have look here for another interesting blog on benchmarks

    http://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/im-disgusted-with-…

    Then again, if my team cheats it's cheeky, if its the other team, then its a capital offence :)

    A perfect test is to see how many of the rabid fans/voters even comment on this thread, when they will voluntarily comment on any opposition product posting with as many derogatory comments as they can.

  • auna on 04/10/2013 - 11:40
    -2

    I'm using the Note 3 now. Couldn't give a hoot about this.

  • oringal on 05/10/2013 - 00:14

    it doesnt really matter, ICS onwards if your phone has more than 1GB ram and dual core processor, android runs quite nicely.

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