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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Ryan Smith - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
I won't argue about our timeliness. It's something we're working on.However this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say that they felt we were clickbaity. Could you please elaborate? I personally abhor clickbait, so if we're coming across like that, then that would be extremely helpful feedback.
wolfemane - Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - link
click·baitˈklikbāt/
nouninformal
(on the Internet) content, especially that of a sensational or provocative nature, whose main purpose is to attract attention and draw visitors to a particular web page.
"these recent reports of the show's imminent demise are hyperbolic clickbait"
Shall i point out the retarded PROMOTED STORIES that sprout out. Every time an article is clicked, the page loads straight to them.
Full page adds with video that drag the site load down (specially on mobile)!
Ads that load several seconds after the main page loads very close to a link or relevant title. On slower systems or mobile this forces a miss click on those damn adds, and then the whole process of backing up and reloading all that shit again.
POP UP ADDS.
Yeah, you're site is now full of this stuff. I don't care about long review times on high demand items, or instant articles on low demand items. There are plenty of reviews out there for me to get the gist of a product. I LOVE the drama that spews forth in the comments and lately is the main reason I visit this site! But most of all I thoroughly enjoy every writer that posts an article to this site.
What I can not stand is for you to make a post in user comments about how you don't feel your site is clickbait. Do we need to create a thread on the forums and upload every click bait piece of trash that comes up on this site. If you are truly unaware, I think you would be appalled by what would be posted.
Michael Bay - Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - link
Nothing you described is a clickbait.Beautiful.
wolfemane - Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - link
By definition, everything I described is clickbait.Here it is again: (on the Internet) content, especially that of a sensational or provocative nature, whose main purpose is to attract attention and draw visitors to a particular web page.
Promoted Stories with ridiculous titles pulling you to 8 other websites. Clickbait? CHECK
Giant add on front page "DO YOU NV ME?" by Toshiba taking up a 3rd of the screen. Clickbait? CHECK
Ad by Rockspace claiming no one supports microsoft exchange like they do, loads 5 seconds after page finishes loading, and becomes header ad damn near forcing a miss click (and on mobile). Clickbait? CHECK
There's three right off the bat. Thanks for contributing!
erple2 - Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - link
I still don't see anything as clickbait that you've described. Poor advertising choices, yes (Ryan, please add me to the list of people that despises anything taboola related, and has concerns over the usability of the site as a result). But not clickbait.So far all of the promoted stories have been ... sketchy at best and pretty awful. As wolfemane correctly points out, they make the site seem more like sites that tend to be more clickbait like. Though that gawker is going g under, what does that mean for taboola?
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - link
Hi wolfemane,Thanks for the feedback. To get right down to business, clickbait is typically a description reserved for editorial. i.e. do I make the title of this review "The Samsung GalaxyS7 and S7 edge Review: Part 2" or the "You won't believe this amazing Samsung Galaxy S7 review"? It goes without saying that we avoid the latter, as I don't believe sensationalism does anyone any favors. Descriptions need to be accurate, and content needs to be meaningful.
Advertising on the other hand is a different matter. As you may be aware, advertising is handled by our publisher, Purch. Which is to say that it's not AnandTech's content and editorial has no control over it.
That said, while I don't directly control advertising, the feedback is very useful all the same. All of this feedback gets passed on to Purch, and I have made them aware of your concerns. If you have any concerns about the advertising, please continue to provide feedback, and I'll be sure it gets passed on.
Impulses - Thursday, July 7, 2016 - link
I'm not seeing any of these full page ads, videos, or pop ups, like at all... I do browse mostly on mobile. The promoted stories I do see and I'd agree they're kinda beneath AT, but they don't take up any more space than a standard square ad would.Alexey291 - Thursday, July 7, 2016 - link
Thank you sir.KoolAidMan1 - Saturday, July 9, 2016 - link
Anandtech has consistently been the most thorough, honest tech website around. Reality doesn't match up with your personal brand bias so you call them out for being shills.Give me a break.
h0007h - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
Did you compare the still image peformance between 820 and 8890 variants? It is said that in low light, images thaken by 8890 is much better than 820.