HOBI Weekly Blog Recap 9/20-23/21
The smartphone market still can’t seem to shake off the lingering effect from Apple’s recent ‘throttlegate’ incident. The controversy has led to a boom in business for independent mobile device repairers, which is partially due to an overall lack of trust in Apple’s operations as well as frustration waiting in the often weeks-long line for Apple’s iPhone battery replacement program. Even if you don’t have an iPhone affected by the Apple ‘throttlegate’ controversy, battery capacity and speed are two smartphone functions that worry all users. Any smartphone that is over two years old more than likely does not race along at the same speed like it use to. If you feel like your device has slowed down and find yourself anxious about your smartphone’s health status but don’t have the time or patience to track down a credible mobile device repairers, provided are instructions on how to run some benchmarks and speed tests on your phone – and boost its performance if it falls short.
Benchmark Testing App
Photo: GeekBench4 testing on an iOS device
Benchmarks are tests that measure the performance of different components and compare them against each other. They give computer enthusiasts a way to measure how much extra performance they’re getting from a processor upgrade or a new graphic card. While benchmark testing has been around for years on personal computers, the average consumer isn’t aware that benchmark testing exists for smartphones.
There are various benchmarking apps available for smartphones. On a handset, these programs test the internal components with a series of preprogrammed operations. For example, a browser benchmark might reload the same page 20 times to see how the app copes. On the other hand, a graphics benchmark might render a complex scene on screen to check how fast the phone can throw everything up on the display.
Unfortunately, these benchmarks aren’t particularly useful for comparing one phone to another, due to different models being built and optimized differently. However, they can be extremely useful in helping you track the performance of your device over time and will tell you if you’re getting the speed and responsiveness you want from your phone. And what makes these apps even better is that it doesn’t require any special technical knowledge. Instead, specialized apps can do all the heavy lifting for you.
To get a complete picture of your phone’s performance you’ll want to try a variety of apps. Provided below is a few recommendations to look into if you want to jump into the world of benchmarks.
- Antutu Benchmark (for Android and iOS) is one of the leading mobile benchmark apps. It puts your phone’s processor, RAM, and graphics through a series of different tests to get a broad overview of just how powerful your phone is. As part of these exams, it will render some game scenes, stress test the processor and memory and more. At the end of each run, you can compare your results with others who use the Antutu Benchmark app. Furthermore, besides benchmarking, the app can also tell you details such as CPU load and battery temperature.
- Geekbench 4 (free for Android and $0.99 for iOS) is another well-known and well-respected app that focuses on processor speed and memory. After running a variety of tests, Geekbench 4 will present you with a single-core score on how well the phone’s CPU handles multiple tasks simultaneously. The app keeps a record of your tests over time, so you can check for any further degradation or problems in performance. It also lets you weigh your device against others that have been through the same benchmarking tests, pulled from Geekbench 4’s database.
- 3DMark (free for both Android and iOS) focuses on games and graphics, demonstrating how well your phone can deal with complex visual scenes and intense rendering. One nice touch is the way it shows you how your phone stacks up against tests run on the same exact phone model by other users. That should give you a good idea of whether your handset is running as quickly as it should be.
All three of these benchmark apps allow users to log test results (also referred to as scores) so that users can review them later. By regularly putting the apps through their paces, you should be able to track your system’s performance over time and spot any slowdowns as they begin to happen. You can also compare your scores to those of other users – run a quick web search using the benchmark name and the name of your phone model, if you are unable to find these figures in the apps themselves. However, you shouldn’t worry too much about measuring up against any phones other than your own.
Further tests
Photo: Speedtest by Ookla on Android device
With the benchmark testing apps, you will be able to view a comprehensive overview of your phone’s performance. However, you might also want to test more specific aspects of your mobile experience, such as your web browser and battery.
For these functions, you can start by running an app that will tell you whether your internet service provider (ISP) is providing the download and upload speeds that it promises. As with any benchmark, run the tests two or three times to get an average. Two fan-favorite apps that are free, simple to use, and can tell you specific aspects of your device are:
- Speedtest by Ookla (for both Android and iOS) – It’s also worth noting that for $1, Oola will remove ads that are slowing your device’s speed.
- Fast Speed Test by Netflix (for both Android and iOS)
To test out other areas of your web browser’s performance, such as how quickly it can render pages or deal with complex web apps, try other benchmarking tools. There are multiple apps on the market to try out. As with other tests, run it on a regular basis to make sure your browser keeps giving you a satisfactory level of performance.
And of course, last but not least, you can benchmark your phone’s battery performance. There are other third-party apps that will help spot dwindling battery life on your device, however, if you prefer battery-testing apps, the following free benchmark tests will probably be extremely helpful:
- PCMark
- AnTuTu Tester
- GSam Battery Monitor
Reclaim your performance
Photo: Setup iPhone screen after a factory reset
Now that your equipped with the information (and hopefully the apps!) on benchmark testing, we suggest to start running them regularly. If, over time, you notice a significant drop in your smartphone’s performance, you can take steps to remedy this problem.
Our first suggestions is to declutter your device by getting rid of apps you no longer need or use, delete photos and videos that have been backed-up, and maintain a healthy amount of spare storage space. Then run your benchmarks again to see if you need to take any further action. However, to get your smartphone running at its top speed, you may need to give it a deep cleanse by conducting a full factory reset. This action will clear out unneeded apps, plus any build-up junk data. Although a reset won’t restore your phone to the performance it achieved when it was new – thanks to updates that force the device to deal with more demanding operating systems and apps – it should at the very least boost the device back to an acceptable and tolerable level. We must also stress that before conduct any type of reset to a device, you must safety backup all of your files, photos, and videos, as the reset process will more than likely wipe them all out. You should also double-check that you know your apps and corresponding account information (usernames and passwords), as you’ll need to set them up on your phone again after a reset. After these steps have been taken, you can now move on the resetting your device:
- For Android devices: Open Settings and choose ‘System’ > ‘Reset Options’ > ‘Erase all data (factory reset)’
- For iPhone devices: Open Settings and select ‘General’ > ‘Reset’ > ‘Erase All Content and Settings’
Once you’ve completed the reset, you’ll have to set up your phone from scratch once more. When you do, don’t forget to install a benchmarking tool or two to keep tabs on the system’s performance.
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Thank you so much for sharing this post with us, I am inspired by your work and got some great ideas. Thanks and keep sharing 🙂
Thank you Christopher! HOBI’s blog aims to provide relevant and insightful news stories everyday.