The next step was to figure out just which apps are affected by this. This big of a boost means that the Note 3 is not just messing with the CPU idle levels significantly more oomph is unlocked when the device runs a benchmark. With the benchmark boosting logic stripped away, the Note 3 drops down to LG G2 levels, which is where we initially expected the score to be, given the identical SoCs. In Geekbench's multicore test, the Note 3's benchmark mode gives the device a 20 percent boost over its "natural" score. The Note 3 should treat our benchmark like any other app and give a true representation of the phone's performance relative to other devices. By disassembling the benchmarking app, changing only the package name, and reassembling it, we could run the app without the CPU knowing we were running a benchmark app. So we slapped together "Stealthbench," a renamed version of Geekbench 3. A bit of testing showed that the device's boosted benchmark mode is triggered by the package names of the most popular benchmarking apps-loading Geekbench, for example, starts this mode. If we could defeat this behavior, we could have before and after benchmark numbers and thus see just how deep the rabbit hole goes. While it's difficult to determine every bit of special programming that affects the CPU while a benchmark is running, one sure-fire way to see what's going on is to trick the phone into not entering a special "benchmark mode" during a benchmark. Benchmarks exist to measure the performance of a phone during normal usage, and a device should never treat a benchmark app differently than a normal app. Stopping the CPU from idling shouldn't in and of itself affect the benchmark scores a whole lot, so this was our first sign that something was wrong. However, if you load up just about any popular CPU benchmarking app, the Note 3 CPU locks into 2.3GHz mode, the fastest speed possible, and none of the cores ever shut off. The above picture shows how differently the CPU treats a benchmarking app from a normal app. Normally, while the Note 3 is idling, three of the four cores shut off to conserve power the remaining core drops down to a low-power 300MHz mode. The smoking gun here is CPU idle speeds, which can be viewed with a system monitor app while using the phone. Right: The Note 3 in a benchmarking app, unable to idle. We also found a way to disable this special CPU mode, so for the first time we can see just how much Samsung's benchmark optimizations affect benchmark scores.Įnlarge / Left: The Note 3 idling normally, with 3 cores off, and one in a low-power mode. What makes one Snapdragon so different from the other?Īfter a good bit of sleuthing, we can confidently say that Samsung appears to be artificially boosting the US Note 3's benchmark scores with a special, high-power CPU mode that kicks in when the device runs a large number of popular benchmarking apps. Samsung did something similar with the international Galaxy S 4's GPU, but this is the first time we've seen the boost on a US device. A quick comparison of its scores to the similarly specced LG G2 makes it clear that something fishy is going on, because Samsung's 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 blows the doors off LG's 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800. We noticed an odd thing while testing the Samsung Galaxy Note 3: it scores really, really well in benchmark tests-puzzlingly well, in fact. XDA have included multi-core throttling results and graphs to elaborate "How manufacturer discovered doing this". The trigger process for benchmarking apps will not be present in upcoming OxygenOS builds on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T. “In order to give users a better user experience in resource intensive apps and games, especially graphically intensive ones, we implemented certain mechanisms in the community and Nougat builds to trigger the processor to run more aggressively. However, OnePlus has promised that they will remove these tweaks in a future update. It wasn’t based on the CPU workload, but rather on the app’s package name, which the hidden build could fool.” “OnePlus was makings it CPU governor more aggressive, resulting in a practical artificial clock speed floor in Geekbench that wasn’t there in the hidden Geekbench build. Īccording to latest reports from XDA, OnePlus and Meizu is targeting specific applications like AnTuTu and Geekbench to boost the clock speeds of the chipsets inside the OnePlus 3T and Meizu Pro 6 to score high. ![]() A few years ago, Samsung, HTC and a few other companies were caught manipulating performance of their smartphones to score high in various benchmark apps including GeekBench and Antutu Benchmark.
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