The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge Review: Part 2
by Joshua Ho on July 5, 2016 8:00 AM ESTSystem Performance Cont'd
Now that we've gone over the more general purpose system benchmarks we can focus on new benchmarks that emphasize GPU performance much more strongly. For the most part we haven't had huge issues here like we've had with good CPU and general performance benchmarks, but it's important for us to keep our benchmarks up to date in terms of workload balance and overall performance.
One of our first new benchmarks designed to better test the GPU is 3DMark's Sling Shot ES 3.1 test, which is designed to test a GPU's performance when the application is either using OpenGL ES 3.1 or Metal. As one can see, the Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890 have basically comparable GPU performance in this test and in the physics test as well. Once again we're seeing how core count and clock speed are basically the primary determinants of performance in the physics test when the device isn't strongly limited by thermals. I wouldn't draw any real conclusions from this as generally game CPU code can extract ILP unlike what we're seeing in this test.
In this test we start to see that the Mali GPU in the Exynos 8890 and the PowerVR GPU in the A9 are providing a noticeable advantage over the Snapdragon 820's Adreno 530 to a noticeable extent.
With GFXBench we can see that in Car Chase and Manhattan the Adreno 530 actually manages to pull away. However, because we have basically zero architecture disclosure on the Adreno 530 there's really no way for us to explain what's going on here and why. The reasons for the difference in performance could be related to drivers or architecture or architecture implementation and in the absence of information it's probably best to avoid making blind guesses. Regardless of these details, the Snapdragon 820's GPU should be more than enough for playing the latest games, but unless you use Samsung's automatic game optimizer system to set render resolution to 1080p it won't do as well as the iPhone 6s but given that most Android games target a much lower spec level it's likely that you won't have any problems given that the Adreno 530 is on the bleeding edge for Android SoCs.
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phexac - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
"I heard iphone sales are an all time low. Are you suggesting Apple is still selling more iphones than Samsung is selling their Galaxy series?"Yes, by a lot.
Not to mentioned, that "iphone sales have declined for the first time quarter over quarter" does not mean "iphone sales are an all time low," which would imply that iphone sales are zero since there were no iPhones pre-2007.
retrospooty - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
"Yes, by a lot."- that is not correct. Samsung sells more phones than anyone. Samsung outsells Apple by a HUGE margin, not just a little. Apple sells the most of a single model, because they only have a few each year, but Samsung vastly outsells Apple in total, consistently every year without exception.
michael2k - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
The question was Galaxy vs iPhone, not Samsung vs iPhone. In terms of Galaxy S, their flagship phones are selling far fewer than flagship iPhones, per quarter. Not entirely sure about their entire Galaxy range, but Samsung doesn't sell many more phones than Apple in some quarters:http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3215217
retrospooty - Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - link
m2k, what are you even arguing here? Samsung outsells all other makers, consistently every quarter - always, without fail. They are huge. They are the Toyota of phones. FWIW, I dont think that is a good thing, but it is what it is and no amount of debate will change it.KoolAidMan1 - Saturday, July 9, 2016 - link
"Samsung sells more phones than anyone. Samsung outsells Apple by a HUGE margin"The majority of those phones are low end models, just like the rest of the Android ecosystem. If we're only comparing high end models like the GS6 and GS7 it is still far outsold by the iPhone. This is reflected in higher app revenue, higher web traffic, higher ad revenue, and so on coming from iOS as it always has.
You are being intellectually dishonest as usual by omitting important information.
Ratman6161 - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
Not really true that they are "at an all time low". See: http://www.statista.com/statistics/263401/global-a...Growth rate is at an all time low but that's true of smartphones in general. Its the same reason that PC sales leveled off a couple of years ago. PC's became fast enough/good enough to the point where there was just no reason to replace the one I already have. Example: I've got an i7 2600K system I built when that CPU was new in 2011 and its still overkill for most of what I do. Likewise, when I got my Galaxy Note 5 last November, I finally had a phone that was fast enough for anything and everything I do. Unless what I do with a phone changes radically (which I doubt will happen any time soon) I'll have no reason to replace it until the hardware dies.
As far as Apple selling more phones than Samsung, that has really never been true unless you only consider the US market. Globally, Samsung has always sold more. Even in the US, Android overall has greater market share than iOS. Apple is the largest single company because its got a lock on iOS where Android is spread out among many companies.
HardwareDufus - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
Huge Apple Bias. Evident by the fact there is not a single review of the Lumia 1520, the 'flagship' Windows phone for the better part of two years.However, I understand that and don't fault them for it. I just read each article predisposed to the idea that the writers are predisposed to favor the apple version of whatever they are reviewing. So be it.
Anandtech objectivity slid about 2 years before Anand himself actually left. They're just mirroring the rest of the tech blogosphere.... writers/reviewers/editors have mouths to feed. Everybody is beholding to whoever is writing the check and each piece of content will reflect that. Our modern enlightened world. Same greed. Same game.
fanofanand - Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - link
Anand (who I still admire) showed the way, shill long enough and you will land a cushy job in Cupertino.dsumanik - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
Actually no.This site, like many other review sites, receives money directly, or indirectly for writing positive apple coverage, especially in the the articles of their fiercest competitors.
Then marketing shills like you come on here and quote sales figures in the comment sections, again paid for directly, or indirectly by apple.
Oh and instead of just making statements to justify your argument...heres proof:
http://www.ibtimes.com/apples-ios-still-getting-cr...
IOS is just a drop in the smartphone bucket, theres no internet BIAS, it's the author 100%.
michael2k - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
I wish Apple paid me for my posts.What you're seeing, as retrospooty correctly surmised, is that Anandtech is in fact biased, but not towards Apple or away from Samsung, but towards the readers that pay their bills via ad impressions and click through. What he wishes is that the site cater more towards him, even if he is a smaller part of the readership.