The Samsung Galaxy S4 phone will have the fastest processor available when it launches this spring, according to benchmark tests. A benchmark is a series of standard tests that gauge how fast a mobile device’s processor is. The benchmarking software assigns a numerical value to the device based on how it performed. The higher the number, the better.
Android Authority was able to perform a benchmark test on the Galaxy S4 during Samsung’s big launch event last week. As a follow up, John Poole of Primate Labs performed the same test on several other leading phones and these are the results.
- It’s clear that the Samsung Galaxy S 4 will be the fastest smartphone available when it is released in April. What’s not clear is how the Galaxy S 4 will handle the increased power and cooling requirements that generally come with faster processors.
- The Samsung Galaxy S 4 is twice as fast as the Samsung Galaxy S 3. Given that the Samsung Galaxy S 3 is less than a year old, that’s a remarkable achievement. I am amazed at how quickly smartphone technology is improving.
- The Samsung Galaxy S 4 is also twice as fast as the Apple iPhone 5. Apple has improved performance dramatically in the past (there was 2.5x increase in performance from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5). Will they be able to make a similar improvement for the next iPhone?
- The Samsung Galaxy S 4 is also twice as fast as the BlackBerry Z10. However, unlike the Galaxy S 3 and the iPhone 5, the Z10 launched this year, not last year. Will BlackBerry feel compelled to release an updated handset with a faster processor sooner rather than later?
- Android Authority only tested the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the QualcommSnapdragon 600 SoC. We have no idea how the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the newExynos 5 Octa SoC will perform, but given how the different Samsung Galaxy S 3s performed I imagine the Geekbench score will be similar.
- Both the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S 4 use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 SoC, although the HTC One runs at a slower speed (1.7 GHz vs. 1.9 GHz). The HTC One is also running an older version of Android (4.1.2 vs. 4.2.2), so the HTC One’s performance should improve slightly once it is on the latest version of Android.
In this case, the Galaxy S4 received a benchmark of 3,163. The iPhone 5 got a 1,596, meaning the GS4 is about twice as fast. The GS4 is also twice as fast as Samsung’s last flagship phone, the Galaxy S III.
Credit: Primate Labs
