Test System Specs
We decided that in order to give a fair and reasonable picture of performance variance, we should test with a variety of different devices. From Qualcomm, we included last year’s Nexus 4 with the Snapdragon S4 Pro along with the currently mid-range Snapdragon 600 in the HTC One. The LG G2 was also included as it carries the same high-end Snapdragon 800 chipsets as the Nexus 5. The recently reviewed EVGA Tegra Note 7 brings Nvidia’s Tegra 4 SoC to the table, while Apple's iPhone 5s shows off the latest iPhone’s A7 SoC.
Nexus 4 was added to show that Android 4.4 optimizations can't and won't make that older device run at the same level as these newer chipsets. It's a sanity check, if you will. The reason LG's G2 was added was to illustrate the performance deficiencies of our retail-purchased Nexus 5. As we will demonstrate, when the benchmarks aren't being hampered by the slow CPU core of this specific Nexus, its Adreno 330 can compete and in some cases even beat the best of performers.
Both Nexus devices are running Android 4.4.2 KitKat, while the Tegra Note, LG G2, and HTC are all running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
| Device | SoC | CPU | GPU | RAM | Display |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone 5s | Apple A7 | ARM v8 (dual-core) @ 1.3 GHz | PowerVR G6430 (four-cluster) @ 300 MHz | 1 GB DDR3 | 4" IPS @ 1136x640 |
| EVGA Tegra Note 7 | Nvidia Tegra 4 | T114 ARM Cortex-A15 (quad-core) @ 1.7GHz | GeForce ULP | 1 GB DDR3 | 7" IPS @ 1280x800 |
| LG G2 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 | Krait 400 (quad-core) @ 2.3 GHz | Adreno 330 (quad-core) @ 450 MHz | 2 GB DDR3L | 5.2" IPS @ 1920x1080 |
| Google Nexus 5 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 | Krait 400 (quad-core) @ 2.3 GHz | Adreno 330 (quad-core) @ 450 MHz | 2 GB DDR3L | 4.95" IPS+ @ 1920x1080 |
| HTC One | Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 | Krait 300 (quad-core) @ 1.7 GHz | Adreno 320 (quad-core) @ 400 MHz | 2 GB DDR3 | 4.7" SuperLCD3 @ 1920x1080 |
| Google Nexus 4 | Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro | Krait 200 (quad-core) @ 1.5 GHz | Adreno 320 (quad-core) @ 400 MHz | 2 GB DDR3 | 4.7" IPS+ @ 1280x768 |
Benchmark Suite
Our gadget test suite consists of five major sections: CPU, GPU, Web, Display, And Battery.
| CPU Benchmarks |
|---|
| AnTuTu v4 |
| CF-Bench Pro |
| Primate Labs Geekbench 3 |
| Principled Technologies MobileXPRT 2013 |
| GPU Benchmarks |
| Futuremark 3DMark |
| Rightware Basemark GUI Free |
| Rightware Basemark X |
| Epic Citadel |
| Kishonti GFXBench v2.7.2 |
| Silicon Studios Mobile GPUMark v2.0 |
| Web Benchmarks |
| Rightware Browermark v2.0 |
| JSBench |
| Futuremark Peacekeeper v2.0 |
| Impact HTML5 Benchmark |
| Principled Technologies WebXPRT 2013 |
| Display Measurements |
| Brightness (Minimum and Maximum) |
| Calibrated Black Level |
| Calibrated Contrast Ratio |
| Calibrated Gamma |
| Calibrated Color Temperature |
| Color Gamut Volume (sRGB and AdobeRGB) |
| Battery Tests |
| Gaming (Mobile GPUMark - Loop) |
Let's begin with CPU testing and see how our Nexus 5 (with its slow-rated CPU core) stacks up in computational performance.
- Redefining The Android Experience With Google's Nexus 5
- Product 360: Look And Feel
- GEL: A Better Experience
- GEL Gets Personal
- Benchmark Variance: Not Every SoC Is Created Equal
- Test Setup And Methodology
- Results: CPU Benchmarks
- Results: GPU Benchmarks
- Results: GPU Benchmarks, Continued
- Results: Web Browsing Benchmarks
- Results: Display Measurements
- Results: Battery Testing
- Does The Nexus 5 Raise Expectations?
Yes PVS scores do indicate something. They indicate the efficiency of a chip at a given frequency. The lower PVS numbers will heat up faster, and thus be at the optimal 2.23Ghz frequency less often, thus giving the perceived impression of being significantly slower.
I have a Nexus 5 myself, same PVS scoring (1). Running Antutu in my hand, and I'll score 22,000 - 23,000. However, out of curiosity, I rest the phone on an AC vent for 15 minutes, started the Antutu benchmark while leaving it there, and managed to score 29,500. All results easily and consistently repeatable. And my phone has never been unlocked/flashed. 100% Factory ROM, 4.4.2.
The issue purely heavy thermal throttling under heavy sustained loads.
In day to day operations though, it is absolutely flawless, and felt ever so slightly snappier then my previous HTC One (M7). Still incredibly happy with this device, and the only one I have never felt the need to unlock and flash silly. My only gripe was Camera issues, but the 4.4.2 update resolved those problems.
They mentioned the Nexus 4, which is right alongside spec-wise with the Moto X; also its probably to the 2 most compared phones out right now.