GSMArena feature labs: The tests

26 April 2012
The GSMArena Labs are tests designed to give an objective account of how a device performs in real-world scenarios. In short, it's about what you can expect from a gadget you're planning to buy. Our tests are constantly being developed...

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  • d
  • david
  • 4MX
  • 27 Sep 2012

it is impressive to see so professional comparison, I wonder is it possible to list the output impedance of compared phones? because impedance will affect the output power.

    • D
    • AnonD-72390
    • f0x
    • 19 Sep 2012

    Anonymous, 22 Aug 2012Fast track pro? seriously?Hahaha, my thoughts exactly...! How about an Apogee Duet or something?

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • vGk
      • 22 Aug 2012

      Fast track pro? seriously?

        • H
        • Harper
        • xgh
        • 05 Aug 2012

        Paul, 12 May 2012Hello GSMARENA, it would be nice to have an interactive da... moreI kinda have to choose,either a PS3 or a phone(Xperia Play).I'm still in a big demlia as I like portable gaming but I also like the PS3.It can happen all type of shit till summer and just not get the console at all,let alone I can get a job for the summer and then get my console,even though I wait for the summer all year and just waste it doing something instead of finally wasting time like I like it's kinda hard for me to digest.

          • M
          • Michaela
          • PNn
          • 04 Aug 2012

          boybawang, 12 May 2012Dear gsmarena, Please specify the resolution and bitrate... more+2This is a very good move from SE. They're kind of leading the way here, psoriming updates for their whole line-ups ahead of time. I wish more manufacturers did that. But SE really needs to get their act together regarding hardware, too. They always seem to use 1 year old processors, like they're RIM or Nokia. I expect better from a top Android manufacturer. Plus, they need to make all their phones as slim as the Arc (or slimmer). Most of their phones, especially the lower-end ones are still as bulky as they were in 2005. Unacceptable. I do like that they kind of have their own design style, there, though. That's respectable. But if they really want to be taken seriously by Android customers, they need to up their game in the hardware department, too.

            • A
            • Aryenna
            • 35t
            • 02 Jul 2012

            Anonymous, 05 Jun 2012ace angel i do agree with you hey Samsung Galaxy S run the Ice Cream Sandwich version and in a pttrey good way as you can see in this video. To know more about it, you can go to the his blog to download anda0 tutorial install Android 4.0

              • A
              • Annie
              • Jjy
              • 02 Jul 2012

              EskeRahn, 25 Apr 2012Nice:) Thanks for a great site. I'm especially happy on t... moreI'm garetful you made the post. It's cleared the air for me.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • ftb
                • 05 Jun 2012

                AnonD-50641, 26 Apr 2012For the Battery test... I suggest do include battery endura... moreace angel i do agree with you hey

                  • D
                  • AnonD-36731
                  • vxK
                  • 23 May 2012

                  not happy, 19 May 2012Hi, thanks for your efforts - however, I think that resu... moreI was about to post something similar. Using 50% is an awful decision and I can't see how if any of these tests are in any way well performed that they could have come up with such a test method.

                  The results are worse than meaningless, they are deceptive!

                  Please set phones to a standard uniform lux setting. You have to also declare the lux setting that could be achieved for the test.
                  Not declaring the lux output in the current tests is just hiding from people how flawed this test is.

                  A real shame as that could have been a great feature for this site.

                    • n
                    • not happy
                    • gxn
                    • 19 May 2012

                    Hi,

                    thanks for your efforts - however, I think that results concerning the screen are utterly useless (even unprofessional)... let me explain:

                    First of all you set the screen brightness to 50%. That's not good enough as each smartphone will emit a different brightness at its 50% setting. Results vary immensely. By setting brightness to 50% you punish phones that offer high screen brightness; therewith punishing good outdoor visibility. And all of that totally unnecessary.

                    You need to choose a certain brightness level in lumens.. or candelas whatever your favorite brightness is. Choose anything that is good indoors. Then measure again.

                    Let me be clear: That's a complete FAIL on your part and comperability is not given.

                    Second: The movie. Which one is it? Is it Batman with almost all black parts therewith completely favoring AMOLEDs or is it some documentary on Antarctica - therewith destroying AMOLEDs? That's just not good enough. You need to choose a movie and state which one you use.

                    Anyway, that's not as much of a fail as the 50% brightness.. Or do you want very dark phones? As you those would rule your test?

                    Please..

                      • P
                      • Paul
                      • 3E0
                      • 12 May 2012

                      Hello GSMARENA,
                      it would be nice to have an interactive database of all phones tested, so that one can sort the phones by web browsing,YOUR stand-by figures (and not the manufacturer's) and total endurance rating
                      thx

                        • b
                        • boybawang
                        • v0X
                        • 12 May 2012

                        Dear gsmarena,

                        Please specify the resolution and bitrate of the Video used in Battery life test.

                        thanks

                          • D
                          • AnonD-50641
                          • u7m
                          • 26 Apr 2012

                          For the Battery test... I suggest do include battery endurance on GPS.
                          Hav a nice weekend ya~

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • n4Y
                            • 26 Apr 2012

                            Please add detailed GPS tests. No website does that and GPS is quite important in modern phones. Most times you just check the lock speed and not much more. Would be good to have tracks displayed, to show accuracy, not only how fast it locks but how precise it is, antenna quality, etc.
                            That would help in GPS failures like the Galaxy 1.

                              • M
                              • Max
                              • Mvv
                              • 26 Apr 2012

                              Excellent article, thanks GSMArena for doing all these test for us all; they do help a lot. None of the following is in contradiction with the article, it's just a few additional points / clarifications I'd like to make:

                              - Display contrast test keep speaking about "black" levels. While entirely correct, this may create the impression that contrast only matters between "white" and "black" parts of a picture, which would fail to take into account that all colors on any display today are composed of distinct red, green and blue light emitters. Thus, for all fairly "pure" colors (mostly just red, just blue or just green) the two "unused" sub-pixels need to stay as "black" as possible for a vibrant result - therefore contrast is quite important even in a picture that has no obvious black parts at all.

                              - Acoustics are measured in decibels (ie. on a non-linear, logarithmic scale) for a good reason - because that's the scale human ears work on, too. Therefore while it is absolutely true that a 3db difference equals double the sound intensity (and a 6db one equals double the sound pressure) in a physical sense, you need a difference of TEN decibels to double the sound volume as perceived by the human ear [1]. A few dbs therefore take a lot more energy to generate but do not sound a lot louder.

                              - Stereo crosstalk is sound in a channel "bleeding over" from another channel, and the less of it you have the better. However, it's important to remember that zero decibel is an arbitrary level of sound intensity (about the typical threshold of hearing of an average human) and since crosstalk is very small usually, amounting to very quiet sound levels, it gets expressed as NEGATIVE decibels. Therefore, the less crosstalk there is, the bigger the db number will get, but in a negative direction (-50db crosstalk is much better than -30db). The original 'The larger this value is "the further away from zero"' is meant as "further away from zero in a negative sense", not as "larger in a mathematical sense, where -5 is a larger number than -50 is".

                              - Everybody knows that displaying remaining battery in most portable devices today is closer to predicting weather than factual appraisal. What not everybody may realise though is that in fact there is no direct way of telling how much energy is left in a cell. An ideal battery would keep its voltage perfectly constant - for any load - until it becomes empty, and absoultely noone could tell how much juice is left in it without taking it apart and analysing it chemically. The only reason we CAN (somewhat) tell what is in there is because cells are not perfect, and their voltage keeps dropping slightly as they discharge - emphasis on slightly. This small change is what devices are trying to detect - but considering that the change is small, dependes on the momentary load, the age of the cell and the way it has been used, the ambient temperature, and just possibly the alignment ocf the stars (just kidding), it becomes understandable that pretty much every portable device suck at telling how much energy it has left. The point where this becomes regrettable however is that these devices use the same measurement to decide they have too little energy left at some point, and switch off - possibly when there would still be quite a bit of juice in the batteries if only they would keep going. Which explains also why apparent battery capacity can depend on the firmware version of the device - even if said firmware does exactly nothing to reduce consumption, it might measure / display the battery levels differently.

                              [1] http://www.sengpielaudio.com/TableOfSoundPressureLevels.htm

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • Mf5
                                • 26 Apr 2012

                                This is a really good idea for the tests for the phones, and it really gives a clear idea on how they perform....AWESOME JOB!

                                  • F
                                  • Fayez
                                  • 6Qq
                                  • 25 Apr 2012

                                  This is why GSMARENA is > all . thank you gsmarena

                                    • E
                                    • EskeRahn
                                    • 0u3
                                    • 25 Apr 2012

                                    Nice:)
                                    Thanks for a great site.
                                    I'm especially happy on the new display and battery tests *ThumbsUp*
                                    :)