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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
266 Comments
View All Comments
realbabilu - Thursday, July 7, 2016 - link
Yes, Rbrowser is very fast, since it optimized for snapdragon, but still doesn't have cpu internal Javascript decoder like nitro.lilmoe - Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - link
Well, JetStream says that my Core i7 4700MQ is only 15% faster than Apple's A9.Just ignore browser benchmarks bro. They're just here to make reviewers feel better about their iPhone...
TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
HOLY @#*% FINALLY!*goes to read article
TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
Alright, after reading the review I can say:Still not worth $600-$700. Battery life is improved, but man junkwiz is an issue. Its too bad there is no longer a GPe store, as the s7 would make a nice contender. Still a non starter due to the sealed battery, but would be better if stock android was installed. Will be interesting to see what the CM community cooks up for it.
retrospooty - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
" too bad there is no longer a GPe store"- That would be great to see... The hardware is really great, but the lousy Samsung software kind of gives is a black eye IMO. Seriously Samsung, just lay off 95% of your software devs and release stock Android phones. You are spending ridiculous amounts of money to make your phones worse. Software is NOT your strong-suit - use your strengths and stop wasting time with your weakness.
ph00ny - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
Do you guys actually use the latest samsung devices? I'm on Note 5 and i don't have any issues with the TW at all. In fact when i occasionally use my spare Nexus 4 for plex in the bedroom, it feels very spartan. I haven't felt the need to root or install custom firmware in many years and i was a habitual custom firmware flasher back in the daysretrospooty - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
Yes, I have had the S7 Edge since March and love it. Day one, I disabled every single Samsung app and every single Verizon app (except for a few that you cannt without root) and the phone is great, battery life is absolutely amazing. The screen is amazing. I love this phone, but Samsung software is absolute crap. I never had an issue with TW, it's the bloatware that sucks. Useless poorly written apps that do nothing but slow you down.ph00ny - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
Like which samsung app? When i got my AT&T Note 5, first thing i did was disable dozen or so AT&T bloat but large portion of the samsung apps were left as is. I have samsung pay, all the note related apps, samsung app store, s-health (i actually use this over google fit)retrospooty - Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - link
All of them. The email app, the VR apps and services, s-health, s-voice, app store, and many many many others. All crap that collectively slow you down. I know some people use some of it, like you say you use s-health. Wouldn't it be nice if the device booted up clean and you had the option to load only s-health and the ones you want instead of having them all shoved onto your ROM and running, consuming memory ? Is it just me?jospoortvliet - Wednesday, July 6, 2016 - link
It isn't just you, I hate all of it too. Turned off what I could, did my best to limit the abilities of the rest but - what a stupid pita. Points for HTC getting rid of that stuff, almost thinking I should've waited for the HTC 10. These apps really are annoying. And yes, uselessly eating ram and battery... sjees.