There was a lot of excitement around the arrival of the new Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro earlier this month. The pair debuted the Tensor G2 processor, the newest in-house creation from Google, along with a slew of other new software capabilities.
The Tensor G2 was heavily criticized by internet users prior to its debut. Why? The results of certain benchmark tests appeared online, indicating a minor improvement in performance.
Many people had already written out these gadgets as useless based on a single online test result, weeks before the general public even got an opportunity to lay their hands on one. It’s safe to say that it seemed a little too soon.
Google’s Director of Product Management, Monika Gupta, has recently said that the company is “totally fine” with its products not doing well in competitive benchmarks. She said this in a podcast with 9to5Google(opens in new tab) “Classical benchmarks may have had their day and place in the industry, but I believe the field has moved on since then. They may convey a tale, but it’s not the whole story, at least not in our opinion.”
It’s a logical assertion. Many AI-enabled features debuted with Google Pixel 7 lineup. Although not often part of a benchmark, such applications may enhance the user experience.
Should we, as customers, then, stop caring so much about standards? Here’s why I get to that conclusion.
If you want a good phone, don’t expect to find it in a benchmark.
There is a high degree of specificity in benchmark testing. You might think of this program as a timer that gives your device a few tasks and measures how fast it completes them. For both multi-core and single-core performance, a rating is generated by this. Still, it has a lot of flaws.
To determine the capabilities of a CPU, benchmarks are used, although only for a brief duration. In the real world, you need reliable operation at a wide range of power levels. Testing a product at its maximum top performance for a few seconds is pointless since no customer will really do it. It’s like having a marathon runner compete in the 100-meter dash to see how fast they are.
Gupta is correct in his assessment that the greatest smartphones no longer excel just in terms of raw CPU power. Incorporating AI and ML into gadgets allows them to maximize their processing potential and improve efficiency.
In addition, most people aren’t going to stress their phones’ current processors to their limits. Maybe, but if you play mobile games often, you could be better off with one of the best gaming phones instead.
Even so, it serves little use. A nice technique to compare raw CPU performance is through benchmark tests. Considering the growing number of individuals who purchase technology online without first trying it out, it may be rather helpful.
However, the story of what constitutes a standard has to be rewritten. We shouldn’t use it as the only criterion for deciding whether or not a phone is worth our time; instead, we should see it as just one tool among many for evaluating features.
