It has been established that Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is an all-singing, all-dancing powerhouse, and considering the Korean company always uses the device as a leaning post for some of its most advanced and up-to-date hardware, we’d expect nothing less. Taking this into account, it should also be of very little surprise that the handset’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor offers the fastest gaming graphics of any smartphone currently available to buy.
The evolution of smartphone gaming capabilities has been as impressive as it has been swift. From the early days of Angry Birds, gamers can enjoy those graphically-intensive titles on their mobile devices, and with the likes of the Nintendo DS and Sony PS Vita becoming less and less relevant, handset vendors have continually ensured each new handset is adept to the high-end gaming experience.
CNET’s Eric Franklin has put Sammy’s latest and greatest through its paces, and determined that the device really does kill it when it comes to graphics performance. Utilizing both Futuremarks’ 3DMark and Kishonti’s GLBenchmark 2.7 tests, Franklin discovered that the Galaxy S4’s GPU leaves its rivals very much in its wake. Since 3DMark is only available for Android, the GS4 could only be compared with other devices running Google’s mobile OS, namely the Galaxy S III, HTC One, and the Big G’s own Nexus 10:
While it comfortably outperforms the Nexus 10 as well as its predecessor, we can see that the HTC One is not too far behind in these 3DMark tests. As you’ll also see below with the subsequent GPU and CPU tests, while the Galaxy S4 does come out on top, the HTC One certainly doesn’t do itself a disservice:
In the GLBenchmark 2.7 tests, Apple’s devices join the fray, although from a smartphone perspective, to very little effect. The iPad 4, meanwhile, once again shows the form which has seen it crush Sony’s PS Vita in terms of graphics performance:
At its native resolution, the iPhone 5 does put up something of a fight, but the Galaxy S4 demonstrates its authority in the smartphone industry.
So to conclude, if you like to engage in a little Infinity Blade while on-the-fly, the Galaxy S4 / iPad 4 combo should see you through. With that said, if you’re considering the much more substantially-crafted HTC One for a smartphone, you’re unlikely to notice a major difference in graphics performance, as the above charts illustrate.
We also discussed some early Galaxy S4 benchmarks which gave us an idea how fast the GS4 really is. Compared to the iPhone 5, it’s twice as fast, and when compared to the rest of the smartphone world, it does kick everyone right in the shin.
(Source: CNet)
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