iPhone 6s Bests Samsung's New Galaxy Note 7 in App Speed Test

[r3m1]

I'm done with Samsung for good. Recently they release some really fancy hardwares. But real life experience is far behind the iphone. Im using the Note 4. Worst thing is the longer you have the phone, the laggier it is. All because of Touchwiz.

My wife has been using a Note 4 since launch date, no lag, looks pristine, runs smooth - she doesn't want to part with it even with the newer models being out - her previous phone was an iPhone 5 - but screen size and flexibility made her switch to the Note 4

So different experiences for different people.
[doublepost=1471926912][/doublepost]It is amazing that a tricked head to head test between a Note 7 and iPhone 6s can instill so much hope in the Apple believers; the most meaningless tests are exactly those that launch apps; differences in architecture, OS, app coding, etc will introduce too many variables to get any kind of comparable result.

 

[Taz Mangus]

I thought specs and tests didn't matter?
[doublepost=1471913719][/doublepost]

Because Apple won?

It does show how less can be more.

 

[jrswizzle]

This is not even remotely scienftiic and to somehow connect this so-called test to real-world use case scenarios is pure hyperbole. Fact is, Samsung just makes better hardware and software. Samsung's hardware has more cores and more RAM. So I have to think these tests are just false.

The one so-called advantage the iPhone 6s has over the S7 is 3D Touch, a so-called feature that adds no additional level of interactivity or pratical usability. You can compile a list of everything 3D Touch offers and it still wouldn't matter. OLED is a higher priority than 3D Touch. A bigger battery is a higher priority than 3D Touch. Smart Scroll is a higher priority than 3D Touch. It just saddens me that Apple wasted years of resources for something so stupid as 3D Touch. Ooh, I can now interact on z-axis interfaces. How is this revolutionary? It's like adding a 5th wheel to a car.

There has never, ever been a time where I've personally wished I could press harder on an interface element. Never.

So the way I see is the iPhone is clearly inferior to the S7 and Android in every single category. Don't be so quick to be guilible that Apple's stupid so-called custom chip has some advantage over Samsung's superior chip.

Is this a purposefully trollish post or do you actually believe the nonsense you spewed here?

Speed doesn't matter, only numbers of cores a RAM - if that were true the 4GB of RAM in the 2012 MBP would be the same as the 4GB of RAM in the 2015 Air. Of course we know that's not true, as technology advances making RAM modules faster so the same amount of it does more.

As for 3D Touch - I've found it slow myself to incorporate the feature into my normal use case with one exception: 3D touching the keyboard and basically turning the display into a trackpad that allows me to press firmer for word selection and firmer still for paragraph selection. This is a feature I use ALL THE TIME. It can also be extremely useful for quick replies, mass clearing notifications and the equivalent of a right click on apps for shortcuts.

There isn't a benchmark out there that corroborates your claim that Apple's chips are inferior to Samsung's....literally zero factual basis for that claim.
[doublepost=1471927431][/doublepost]

My wife has been using a Note 4 since launch date, no lag, looks pristine, runs smooth - she doesn't want to part with it even with the newer models being out - her previous phone was an iPhone 5 - but screen size and flexibility made her switch to the Note 4

So different experiences for different people.
[doublepost=1471926912][/doublepost]It is amazing that a tricked head to head test between a Note 7 and iPhone 6s can instill so much hope in the Apple believers; the most meaningless tests are exactly those that launch apps; differences in architecture, OS, app coding, etc will introduce too many variables to get any kind of comparable result.

So if the same app runs better on iOS, that's not significant? Of course there are many variables - thats the point of the argument against a spec sheet determining which phone is better. That's what a test like this shows - that the sum of all the parts/variables produces a better overall experience on one phone than the other. That my iPhone is far quicker and more powerful than my Note 7 because I can load/play games at much smoother frame rates, render videos more quickly, and switch between apps with less down time waiting for things to load.

That's literally the point of having a more powerful anything....so things get done more quickly and efficiently. I wonder if the same folks were crying when the Note 5 held the "speed test" title?

 

[palmerc]

This test is meaningless since it's not something that people normally do. Also, Android and iOS behave differently in regards to background multitasking with Android allowing apps to run in the background like a modern PC whereas on iOS apps get suspended in the background then killed after three minutes so it's inadequate if you need to run an app that requires a persistent connection in the background like SSH, VNC, RDP, FTPS, bittorrent, etc. Apps like vSSH even warn of this iOS limitation. That's why iOS can get away with lower specs/DRAM/battery since it's not true multitasking and more like task switching.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vssh/id527244258



Now, that we're aware of the 3 minute kill limitation of iOS we can question why they massaged this test to run under 3 minutes to avoid iOS killing and reloading apps. If they actually use all the apps they open like most people do the test would run over 3 minutes and show just how more meaningless this test is.

This isn't the only test that describes the abysmal performance Note 7. It has very poor performance in terms of UI animations, frame rate and scrolling. This has plagued Samsung for years on its highest priced and spec 'd phones.

I personally start playing with the animations the second I pick up one of my development Galaxy phones just to see if stutter fest was fixed in the latest Android update, but alas, no.
[doublepost=1471928350][/doublepost]

I thought specs and tests didn't matter?
[doublepost=1471913719][/doublepost]

Because Apple won?

CPU benchmarks are arbitrary and don't provide a very good benchmark for real world tasks. They can and are cheated on by burning special test detection in the hardware that can change the behavior of the CPU. The upside is that they are very easy to compare.

 

[xDKP]

A quarter of the pixels that it has to push round the screen, you don't think that's worth mentioning. It's practically like looking at an 8 bit Sega mega drive screen compared to the notes screen. Pathetic in 2016!!

If we were measuring FPS, then yeah. But in load times?

 

[Muscle Master]

A lot of ignorance in this thread regarding the performance of the CPUs

The A9 is faster than the 820 but not when it comes to true multitasking

The 820 will always out multitask the A9 every time.. But that's not even something you can compare due to the limitations of iOS which is getting dated

That's what a quad core is for... Multitasking... You fanboys on both sides need to go to hell... Ruining the conversation here

 

[r3m1]

Ple

Is this a purposefully trollish post or do you actually believe the nonsense you spewed here?

Speed doesn't matter, only numbers of cores a RAM - if that were true the 4GB of RAM in the 2012 MBP would be the same as the 4GB of RAM in the 2015 Air. Of course we know that's not true, as technology advances making RAM modules faster so the same amount of it does more.

As for 3D Touch - I've found it slow myself to incorporate the feature into my normal use case with one exception: 3D touching the keyboard and basically turning the display into a trackpad that allows me to press firmer for word selection and firmer still for paragraph selection. This is a feature I use ALL THE TIME. It can also be extremely useful for quick replies, mass clearing notifications and the equivalent of a right click on apps for shortcuts.

There isn't a benchmark out there that corroborates your claim that Apple's chips are inferior to Samsung's....literally zero factual basis for that claim.
[doublepost=1471927431][/doublepost]

So if the same app runs better on iOS, that's not significant? Of course there are many variables - thats the point of the argument against a spec sheet determining which phone is better. That's what a test like this shows - that the sum of all the parts/variables produces a better overall experience on one phone than the other. That my iPhone is far quicker and more powerful than my Note 7 because I can load/play games at much smoother frame rates, render videos more quickly, and switch between apps with less down time waiting for things to load.

That's literally the point of having a more powerful anything....so things get done more quickly and efficiently. I wonder if the same folks were crying when the Note 5 held the "speed test" title?

Plenty of YouTube videos going around showing load speeds of apps on Note 7 versus iPhone 6s - like the MR intro says this is a very unusual tests in other scenarios the app load speed is neatly the same.

In other real life scenarios the Note 7 is marginally faster - but not to a point I would say it harms user experience - either phone can be crashed in the right scenario - Android loads apps in a multi tasking manner, iOS does not - so any YouTube tester can come up with a video to attract the the masses to his channel.

To your point is the described scenario something that you would often do? And really phones getting faster is part of the technology evolution; the A10 will be faster for sure, than the next round will start again. Us consumers are the ones benefiting from competing giants. Without Samsung we would not an iPhone 6+

 

[MrX8503]

The performance is close enough that the missing iPhone features are glaring. My "second" phone is a Note 7 and once you have built in wireless charging, you never want to go back. And when you grt caught in the rain, waterproof suddenly becomes a very important feature.

The iPhone 7 will offer very little in true improvements - and some view the headphone jack being removed as a downgrade. I've had every iPhone since the first one that could run apps (and every iPad, period). But the only reason I'm looking at iPhone 7 is the potential 256GB storage option.

Apple needs to step up its innovation game.

A year old phone outperforming a brand new phone is quite innovative.

 

[MrX8503]

I have a feeling for the Note this has a lot to do with the screen resolution. It's 4x that of the iPhone here so the 820 has to work that much harder to render everything. Harken back to the old days of gaming on CRT monitors when dropping the resolution to 800x600 would net a significant performance gain over 1600x1200. I'm going to bet the iPhone would not perform as well if it had a QHD display here. A better test, though the iPhone would probably still win, would be the 6S plus vs the Note as the 6S plus is at least closer to its resolution.

The offscreen tests show the A9's GPU outperforming the 820.

 

[jntdroid]

There's so much confirmation bias in this thread. Both phones are great and have strengths and weaknesses the other doesn't have. Does iOS manage memory better? Sure thing. Did it excel in this particular test? Yep. But the Note 7 has plenty of strengths over the 6S as well. I love how people just throw the baby out with the bathwater as if their particular favorite device has zero faults. And this goes both ways, this particular thread just happens to be focused on bashing the Note 7.

 

[ahireasu]

And why wasn't the test done with a iPhone 6s plus?????????

 

[617aircav]

I want to see the same test with the plus. Big screen vs big screen. The 6s is screen resolution is so low.

 

[Jsameds]

A lot of ignorance in this thread regarding the performance of the CPUs

The A9 is faster than the 820 but not when it comes to true multitasking

The 820 will always out multitask the A9 every time.. But that's not even something you can compare due to the limitations of iOS which is getting dated

That's what a quad core is for... Multitasking... You fanboys on both sides need to go to hell... Ruining the conversation here

What sort of tests would you do on both phones to compare "multitasking speed"?

 

[apolloa]

Split on this one as I really see these tests of opening all the apps as utterly pointless, but the Note 7 is noticeably slower then the iPhone in doing so hmmm.
Don't new Samsung devices usually lag though and the a software patch fixes it all later?

 

[Mildredop]

Earlier this month, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Note 7, its newest smartphone with a 14-nanometer Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core 64-bit processor, 4GB RAM, a 12-megapixel camera, waterproofing, and wireless charging.

Spec wise, the Galaxy Note 7 seems to best the dual-core A9 processor and the 2GB RAM of the iPhone 6s, but based on a new speed test, it's clear raw hardware can't quite match superior hardware and software integration when it comes to real world usage.

In the performance comparison in which the two phones simultaneously launched the same apps, Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 was thoroughly defeated by the iPhone 6s, despite the Note 7's cutting edge hardware and the fact that it's a year newer than Apple's latest iPhone.

The iPhone was able to launch apps in succession at a much faster rate than the Galaxy Note 7, launching 14 apps (including rendering a video) in one minute and 21 seconds and eventually lapping the Galaxy Note 7, which took two minutes and four seconds to complete the same tasks. The iPhone was able to cycle through two laps of the app test in one minute and 51 seconds, while the Note 7 took two minutes and 49 seconds, almost a full minute longer.

This is just a single test that compares an unusual usage scenario, but it does suggest Apple's efforts to deeply integrate hardware and software give the iPhone some significant benefits compared to even the latest Android devices.

Apple will be announcing a new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in the near future with improved hardware that includes a faster, more efficient A10 processor and perhaps more RAM, at least in the larger device. The new phones are expected to debut in early September with a launch coming later in the month.

Article Link: iPhone 6s Bests Samsung's New Galaxy Note 7 in App Speed Test

Bests? Is that actually a word?

 

[chr1s60]

This is impressive from Apple for sure. However, to me it isn't a surprise since I have always found the app experience on iOS better than that on Android. As impressive as it is, speed isn't everything. No phone is perfect for everyone. As is the case in the ongoing battle raging between Samsung and Apple, each phone has things it does better than the other. I say this as a current iPhone user and as someone who has owned Samsung phones and still owns a Samsung tablet. People need to stop looking at Android and iOS or Apple and Samsung as a one winner, one loser situation. Look at everything and pick the device that suits your needs. Maybe one has a tablet or phone that works for you better than the other. Just because you have always loved Android or iOS doesn't mean that the other side doesn't have a phone or tablet that meets your needs better. And if you are someone on either side of the "fanboy" battle, do yourself a favor and actually try the other side. And by try I mean for more than 30 seconds inside of a Best Buy.

 

[44267547]

It's pathetic of how people here and particularly in the YouTube video really show their fanboyisms. What happened to being a smart consumer? I'll tell you why I switched to the Galaxy Note 7 -

Apple's ecosystem has become murky and convoluted. Its computers (Besides the MacBook Air 13") have become stale and way too expensive. I decided to go to the pathway of the MacBook Air and a built PC, and I couldn't be happier.

Sold the MacBook Pro.

My iPhone 6 Plus has had many problems - frozen screens randomly, dropped calls, easily scratched screens, home button not registering my finger print, decreasing battery life after the most recent iOS updates...

Sold the iPhone 6 plus and consequently the Apple Watch.

So now I look at the Galaxy Note 7 - Yes, its performance could do better relative to the other Android phones and the iPhone S models... But water proofing, the screen resolution, battery life, expandable storage, S pen... The list can go on and on. At the end of the day, you can make your own decision of what's the better choice. But for those who are claiming that this video shows why iPhone 6S is the best phone in the market? Don't kid yourself. There are pros and cons for each phones.

Right. To each their own. Everyone's experience may vary with every device and their needs. I will say this regarding your 6 Plus experience, that particular iPhone had a lot of reported problems, many of which you already listed. It was not a good start for Apple in the larger iPhone market, plus the issue it suffered from blurred images with the camera, which Apple opted to repair free of charge. It suffered from software issues and hardware with the aluminum bending (Which it depends how the iPhone was used.)

But coming from a 6s Plus owner, it appears This model corrected a lot of the issues with the bending, using the 7000 series aluminum from the Apple Watch, Stonger Gorilla Glass, Gen 2 Touch ID, A9 Processor, stronger LTE.

I could go on. But you get the point. The 'S' model is usually the stronger of the second model, typically correcting all the wrongs from the first model. My whole Office uses the 6s Plus model and I have yet to hear an issue.

But the Note 7 does have Waterproofing and a Better display. I expect the iPhone 7 will be more water resistant.

I don't blame you for selling your MacBook Pro. But honestly, The new Skylake Pro is around the corner and I feel it's worth the wait. Some were forced to build their own PC and cannot wait any longer.

That all being said, I think the iPhone 7 is going to be a powerhouse Phone, not in the sense of hardware, but with the A10. And Apple's ecosystem has always worked flawlessly for me between all my devices.

The only thing I have heard negative about the Note 7 is the battery life is disappointing and the software is laggy. Otherwise, I agree the Note is a gorgeous piece of hardware.

 

[chr1s60]

The only thing I have heard negative about the Note 7 is the battery life is disappointing and the software is laggy. Otherwise, I agree the Note is a gorgeous piece of hardware.

From a hardware standpoint over the past year or two I think Samsung has made some fantastic phones. I loved the Edge when I used it during the Samsung Test Drive and if I could have had that phone running iOS I would have done it in a second over my 6 Plus.

 

[44267547]

From a hardware standpoint over the past year or two I think Samsung has made some fantastic phones. I loved the Edge when I used it during the Samsung Test Drive and if I could have had that phone running iOS I would have done it in a second over my 6 Plus.

The Galaxy line definitely makes a compelling argument. Agreed.

 

[SgtPepper12]

What really makes me wonder is why the Samsung seems to be worse even at that time lapsing thing. It's a task that can easily run in parallel and the Note 7 simply has more raw performance. Still, it looks like the lapsing takes almost twice as long, which is an insane difference. The only possibility I see to explain this difference is actually that app developers are simply bad programmers. Performance just seems to get wasted away. Hell, even if the programmers never heard of threading, then the performances should be at least about the same, but it's way off. So where does it go? It's really weird to me.

 

[Mildredop]

It really makes zero sense to me why Samsung continues to be so popular.

Because they get the mix of features right in order to appeal to most people.

To you, an app opening a few milliseconds faster is very important, so the One Plus Two (or iPhone 6S according to this article) is the right phone for you. To me, I don't care exactly how fast the phone is, so long as it's fast enough I don't notice any delay.

I bought the Samsung S7 because no other phone had the things I wanted - not too big, SD card slot, good battery life, good screen.

 

[chopdog]

It totally 'bests' it.

I can't stand the horrible American phrase - BESTS !!!

 

[sunapple]

The Verge?? Come on, we all know intelligent people don't read the Verge for tech reviews. After all, it was The Verge that had this to say about Google Glass:

The design of Glass is actually really beautiful. Elegant, sophisticated. They look human and a little bit alien all at once. Futuristic but not out of time — like an artifact from the 1960’s, someone trying to imagine what 2013 would be like. This is Apple-level design. No, in some ways it’s beyond what Apple has been doing recently. It’s daring, inventive, playful, and yet somehow still ultimately simple. The materials feel good in your hand and on your head, solid but surprisingly light. Comfortable. If Google keeps this up, soon we’ll be saying things like "this is Google-level design."

Anandtech is the place to go for reviews. I haven't read the Galaxy Note 7 review, but their product reviews are extremely thorough and not just one long opinion piece. http://www.anandtech.com/show/10559/the-samsung-galaxy-note7-s820-review

Even if it's just an opinion piece it could be an interesting read. I read/watch from multiple tech sources like Wired and a few YouTube channels and I'm sure that this way I'm getting just as much of a feel of a product than just the one Anandtech review would give.

Design is very subjective, but I just meant that you can have a bigger screen in a smaller body which is a step ahead of the iPhone 6 Plus that I use. That's actually a fact.

Also don't call people who don't share your supposedly right taste of tech websites stupid, even if your quote from three years ago sounds pretty hilarious now (wonder if that guy cringes too if he reads it back).

 

[admob71]

The Sega Megadrive was a 16bit machine - so forgive me for not listening to your nonsense as you clearly don't really know what you're talking about.

I know it was sir, I'm using hyperbole for comic effect. Just go with it..

You have yourself a smashing day now.

 

[The Game 161]

C4ETECH just did a speed test with note 7 at 720p resolution and iPhone 6s still was faster so you can't blame resolution

Here is his original comparison

That said I'm surprised by the amount of overreaction to the iPhone being faster here

People are making out that the note 7 is slow and Performance isn't great..that's simply not true at all. It's still very quick. Surely that's all that matters?

iPhone is a beast performance wise but that doesn't mean the note 7 isn't. Samsung have brought out an outstanding device and feature wise very few can compare. Does apps loading 1 or 2 secs slower matter? No it really doesn't.