iPhone 4S Benchmarked: Obliterates competition

[.Neo]

A5 processor came with iPad2 in early 2011 so its old.

Yet it's still much faster than whatever the competition managed to come up with since March.

[primexx]

no windows phone? lol

[rajputwarrior]

Yet it's still much faster than whatever the competition managed to come up with since March.

it's not though. the tegra 2 platform is REALLY REALLY fast. just that android is REALLY REALY not fast... :( My transformer would scream if it had a fast OS on it...

[Boz]

This is basically thanks to optimizations and hardware acceleration they added to iOS 5. You can clearly see that as the difference on the iPhone 4 running iOS 5 and iPhone 4 running iOS 4 is almost 2x. This has much less to do with actual hardware.

Ice Cream Sandwich will fix this fairly soon anyways as it brings hardware acceleration, especially in Javascript..

But hey, when Google Nexus comes out in a few weeks with dual GPU PowerVR and new Android phones come out next month or two and BURY iPhone 4S, everyone will be "oh well hardware and benchmarks don't matter". it's so funny the hypocrisy that happens among fanboys. When the numbers go one way, they are like "OH OH" but when Apple gets blasted and destroyed then "it's not about hardware and benchmarks" ..

It's so funny.

[BoredBozirini]

This is basically thanks to optimizations and hardware acceleration they added to iOS 5. You can clearly see that as the difference on the iPhone 4 running iOS 5 and iPhone 4 running iOS 4 is almost 2x. This has much less to do with actual hardware.

Ice Cream Sandwich will fix this fairly soon anyways as it brings hardware acceleration, especially in Javascript..

But hey, when Google Nexus comes out in a few weeks with dual GPU PowerVR and new Android phones come out next month or two and BURY iPhone 4S, everyone will be "oh well hardware and benchmarks don't matter". it's so funny the hypocrisy that happens among fanboys. When the numbers go one way, they are like "OH OH" but when Apple gets blasted and destroyed then "it's not about hardware and benchmarks" ..

It's so funny.

Its happening now the other way around. Isn't it funny?

You said it yourself, using excuses such as OS optimization and the likes. But as soon as a new phone arrives that runs Android and is faster, you will be in the other position saying the 4S is slow, outdated and Apple sucks.

Its funny how the world spins.

[Boz]

Its happening now the other way around. Isn't it funny?

You said it yourself, using excuses such as OS optimization and the likes. But as soon as a new phone arrives that runs Android and is faster, you will be in the other position saying the 4S is slow, outdated and Apple sucks.

Its funny how the world spins.

It doesn't spin.. those numbers are not correct as Anandtech didn't do real tests. They are waiting for the actual real world tests to be done.

Here are tests that show VERY different results

http://www.bestsmart...ipt-benchmarks/

[BoredBozirini]

It doesn't spin.. those numbers are not correct as Anandtech didn't do real tests. They are waiting for the actual real world tests to be done.

Here are tests that show VERY different results

http://www.bestsmart...ipt-benchmarks/

Tough choice between a random blog and a recognized website. You are correct Boz.

[Hardcore Til I Die]

Yeah because the iPhone is using components that were fabricated yesterday....

The parts in the 4S are probably more dated than parts in the Galaxy and Droid. A lot of the Android phones are even clocked much higher than the iPhone, and they still got crushed.

All this shows is that Android is a mess right now and have a lot of work ahead of them if they want to keep up-to-par with Apple.

No it doesn't.. this benchmark doesn't show whether it's the software or the hardware in the iPhone 4S that is faster.. Assuming it's the hardware, it's clearly because the iPhone 4S has a processor with a better/newer architecture than the Android phones it was pitted against.

This is why my 3GHz core2duo outperforms my old 3.4GHz pentium processor despite having a lower clock speed.

Benchmarks don't change the fact that every game I've played flies on my SGS2. The iPhone might be faster on paper but who cares, when everything works on my current phone anyway?

[rajputwarrior]

This is basically thanks to optimizations and hardware acceleration they added to iOS 5. You can clearly see that as the difference on the iPhone 4 running iOS 5 and iPhone 4 running iOS 4 is almost 2x. This has much less to do with actual hardware.

Ice Cream Sandwich will fix this fairly soon anyways as it brings hardware acceleration, especially in Javascript..

But hey, when Google Nexus comes out in a few weeks with dual GPU PowerVR and new Android phones come out next month or two and BURY iPhone 4S, everyone will be "oh well hardware and benchmarks don't matter". it's so funny the hypocrisy that happens among fanboys. When the numbers go one way, they are like "OH OH" but when Apple gets blasted and destroyed then "it's not about hardware and benchmarks" ..

It's so funny.

that's a big IF. that's IF ICS is actually well optimized and hardware acceleration is properly done, because in honeycomb, it was not.

[.Neo]

it's not though. the tegra 2 platform is REALLY REALLY fast. just that android is REALLY REALY not fast... :( My transformer would scream if it had a fast OS on it...

Who cares what makes it faster? All I care about the end result, not what gets me there.

[rajputwarrior]

Who cares what makes it faster? All I care about the end result, not what gets me there.

you are 100 percent right and that's why deep down i effin hate android :( soooooooooo slow.

[etempest]

They stuck the ipad 2 dual core in the phone, it better perform well.

[Astra.Xtreme]

This is why my 3GHz core2duo outperforms my old 3.4GHz pentium processor despite having a lower clock speed.

Benchmarks don't change the fact that every game I've played flies on my SGS2. The iPhone might be faster on paper but who cares, when everything works on my current phone anyway?

Comparing a Core 2 to a Pentium? Really?

Having a true dual core does make a big difference. And Pentium had a huge pipeline design flaw, which made them slow and inefficient. Not a good comparison, so my point still stands.

Sure maybe those games play fine on your phone, but I highly doubt they are taking the full potential of the hardware. Battlefield 3 plays fine on the 360, but plays a hell of a lot better on a PC. That's what these tests are essentially getting at.

[Quillz]

Nice to know the 4S is actually a pretty nice upgrade over the original 4. I'll probably still wait for iPhone 5, though.

[Digitalx]

i dont think anyone has realised this is like comparing a HD 6990 to a GTX 560Ti lol.

These tests don't show that both exynos and A5 are same chip with different graphics chips PVR vs ARM and clock speed and thats it.

Benchmarking with a browser and/or javascript is just stupid too.

[Hardcore Til I Die]

Comparing a Core 2 to a Pentium? Really?

Having a true dual core does make a big difference. And Pentium had a huge pipeline design flaw, which made them slow and inefficient. Not a good comparison, so my point still stands.

Sure maybe those games play fine on your phone, but I highly doubt they are taking the full potential of the hardware. Battlefield 3 plays fine on the 360, but plays a hell of a lot better on a PC. That's what these tests are essentially getting at.

Why not? It demonstrates that clock speed doesn't mean much.

[PyX]

Who cares what makes it faster?

Well, the engineers who build these products do… But not us as end-users.

Why not? It demonstrates that clock speed doesn't mean much.

I was about to criticize the comparison as well, but knew someone else would do it.

You’re comparing a 1-core processor to a 2-core… It’s like comparing 1 person who can lift 340 pounds to 2 people who can lift 300 pounds each. But I do get what you’re saying. You just used a wrong comparison.

[.Neo]

Well, the engineers who build these products do… But not us as end-users.

Enjoy answering rhetorical questions much?

[Hardcore Til I Die]

I was about to criticize the comparison as well, but knew someone else would do it.

You’re comparing a 1-core processor to a 2-core… It’s like comparing 1 person who can lift 340 pounds to 2 people who can lift 300 pounds each. But I do get what you’re saying. You just used a wrong comparison.

My comparison is fine when talking about running applications that don't take advantage of multiple cores (which many still don't).

[Dysphoria]

This is why my 3GHz core2duo outperforms my old 3.4GHz pentium processor despite having a lower clock speed.

Yes, but it's one thing comparing a current gen CPU to last gen. CPU, and it's another thing comparing same gen CPUs and then saying that is not fare since the other company used a better design.... Who is here to blame?

[p1p3]

Just ran sunspider on my Galaxy S2 cyanogenmod nightly build about 2 days old and got 1767 (not overclocked)

[jafoman]

Tough choice between a random blog and a recognized website. You are correct Boz.

AnandTech may be recognized, but they didn't run the actual tests. All they did was compile results from random websites. :)

[bobbyfabulous]

iOS runs on one phone and Android runs on hundreds...iOS is simply more optimized for the hardware configuration that it runs on, this is why the iPhone doesn't need top end hardware to spank other phones in software benchmarks...this is also the huge benefit of Apples closed eco system (although it also has its pitfalls)

Personally I use Android because I like to tinker with my phones (flash roms, overclock) but whenever a friend asks me advice on what smart phone to use and they are NOT a technophile I always recommend iPhone for its sophisticated and polished user experience.

[PyX]

Enjoy answering rhetorical questions much?

No, I felt forced to. I have a philosophy (ethics…) class this semester and haven’t had that for 5 years now.

[sanctified Veteran]

I am quite surprised.

On paper it looks mediocre.

You know, thats the problem with nerds. They think specs are everything.