We asked, you told us: Here's what you think of phone benchmark tests

Benchmark tests are considered one of the better ways to measure a smartphone’s horsepower, and there are a range of benchmark apps out there. However, a Google exec recently said that the company was “very comfortable” with not winning benchmarks, focusing on AI-powered features instead.

This assertion got us wondering about what our readers thought of benchmark tests. Are benchmarks important to you? We posted this question inside our news story and as a separate article, and here’s how you answered it.

What do you think of benchmark tests?

Results

This was a popular poll, attracting over 5,600 votes to date. The winning pick? Well, it turns out that 50.86% of respondents said they don’t really care about benchmark tests.

We can see the logic here, as real-world performance is ultimately all that matters. After all, who cares about a flagship phone topping the benchmark charts if it’s a stuttering mess to actually use? This is also particularly noteworthy due to several smartphone brands cheating at benchmarks over the years.

Meanwhile, 40.81% of polled readers said that benchmark tests are one of several factors they take into account for a smartphone. Finally, just 8.33% of respondents said that benchmark tests were their main reference for performance.

Comments

• Stanley Kubrick: My 7 Pro works great for me. Every OnePLus phone I ever used worked great for me including the N20 5G that was replaced by this Pixel 7 Pro. Benchmarks are something I have NEVER ever even considered for a phone! Useless for 99.9% of all cell phone users!
• Reon: Benchmarks are almost useless. They don’t even show sustained performance or the fluidity of a phones UI. They were useful when android phones where lagging their way to success to find the fastest phone.
• PL: Between the inclusion of custom SOC and improved development frameworks, the processing benchmarks on phones has become irrelevant. It is a remnant of the past when most software was written badly and you needed a bulky processor to compensate for bad development. At this point I would be far more interested in metrics for camera, radio and battery performance.
• Wizzy: Forget these silly benchmarks. Work on battery life!
• deltatux: Benchmarks are great but honestly unless you buy bottom of the barrel devices, you’ll get great performance. Used to be a much bigger thing than it is now. I guess if you need the best performance at all costs because you play lots of games on the phone then I guess one would really care about benchmarks?
• Mark Kendrick: Benchmarks aren’t all that relevant in my opinion. While it’s interesting to see how phones with similar processors score, it doesn’t determine which phone I buy. A devices smoothness, feature set, and support are my priorities.
• AD_LB: If it’s really low, it almost always means that the device has quite a weak hardware. But when it’s similar to others, it’s just a nice-to-know detail.