Imagine if you programmed a smartphone so it would systematically increase its performance when specific apps were opened. Sounds almost genius, if the apps weren’t benchmarking apps. AnandTech has done some tests with the Samsung Galaxy S4 and has found that the device varies the voltage and frequency of its processor when it senses a benchmarking app is running.
Simply put, this gives the Galaxy S4 a bit of an advantage as it is able to selectively increase its performance when benchmarks are conducted, which include all the big names apps like AnTuTu and Quadrant. The Galaxy S4 has been shown to be able to vary the performance of both the CPU and GPU through the use of an app named TwDVFSApp.apk.
If you’re still wondering why this is such a big deal, the issue is that this kind of power and performance is only available when a benchmarking app is open; all other times, the processor will be running at a slower, less powerful level, meaning the performance indicated by the benchmark won’t be attainable during normal use.
There still needs to be more investigation into this as I’m sure that Samsung is not the only manufacturer of being guilty of this, but it does raise some very big questions about whether doctoring of benchmarks is acceptable, and which of the processors is actually the fastest.
For a more in-depth, technical break-down of the findings, hit the source link. What do you think about this revelation? Let us know what you think about this in the comments.
Source: AnandTech via Android Police
