Last month I posted Geekbench 2 scores for the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the Qualcomm 600 processor. Scores for the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the Exynos 5 Octa processor were unavailable at the time:
We have no idea how the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the new Exynos 5 Octa SoC will perform, but given how the different Samsung Galaxy S 3s performed I imagine the Geekbench score will be similar.
Now that Geekbench 2 scores for the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with the Exynos 5 Octa processor have started to appear in the Geekbench Browser, it turns out “similar” means “15% faster”:
Some new points to consider:
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While the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa is marketed as an eight-core processor, it’s easier to think of it as two four-core processors, where one is a low-power processor and the other is a high-performance processor. Only one processor is active at a time, and the operating system can dynamically switch between the two depending on its power and performance needs.
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Note the performance difference between the two Samsung Galaxy S 4 handsets: even though the Exynos 5 Octa runs at a lower frequency than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, the Exynos 5 Octa is the faster of the two processors.
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The performance difference between the two BlackBerry handsets is also surprising, considering both use the same Qualcomm processor. However, the Q10 is running the latest BlackBerry 10 OS (10.1) while the Z10 is running the original BlackBerry 10 OS (10.0). This suggests BlackBerry Z10 owners will see a boost in performance once 10.1 is released.
Again, I’m amazed at how quickly smartphone performance has improved over the past few years. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out over the next year and finding out if this pace can be maintained.