Results: Web Benchmarks
The tests on this page are JavaScript- and HTML5-heavy selections from our Web Browser Grand Prix series. They're extremely meaningful to mobile devices because so much of the in-app content is served via the platform's native Web browser. These tests not only offer a view of each device's Web browsing performance, but since they're traditionally so CPU-dependent, we also get a great way to compare SoC performance between platforms running the same browser software.
In order to keep the browser version even across all Android devices, we utilize a static version of the Chromium-based Opera on that operating system. Due to platform restrictions, Safari is the best choice for iOS based devices, while Internet Explorer is the only game in town on Windows RT.
JSBench
Unlike most JavaScript performance benchmarks, JSBench could almost be considered real-world, since it utilizes actual snippets of JavaScript from Amazon, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo!.
The results from this benchmark align perfectly by CPU architecture, with Krait trailing both Apple’s A7 and the two Cortex-A15-based CPUs. JSBench appears indifferent to the number of cores (the A7 is dual-core and the others are quad-core) and frequency. These results highlight the complexities of designing a modern CPU. Sometimes taking the “easy” approach of adding more cores or bumping clock frequency just doesn’t produce any tangible benefits if the design is bottlenecked elsewhere.
Peacekeeper
Peacekeeper is a synthetic JavaScript performance benchmark from Futuremark.
Once again, the results organize themselves based on CPU architecture, with Krait producing the lowest scores. Snapdragon 805 does manage an 8% improvement over the 801, likely due to its higher memory bandwidth.
WebXPRT 2013
Principled Technologies' WebXPRT 2013 is an HTML5-based benchmark that simulates common productivity tasks that are traditionally handled by locally-installed applications, including photo editing, financial charting, and offline note-taking.
Another benchmark yields another inconsistent result from Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon. In this HTML5-based test, Snapdragon 800 scores 16% higher than the 801 and 19% higher than the 805, again suggesting that the higher-clocked Krait cores aren't spending much time at their peak clock rates.