Samsung ramps up processor speed on Note 3 to score better in benchmarks

They say that cheaters never prosper, which is why Samsung has yet to get away with tweaking the performance of the processors in its phones to get better benchmark scores.

A recent discovery over at Ars Technica reveals that the technology giant has cheated again with its most recent release, the Galaxy Note 3. In a comparison test against LG’s latest phone, the G2, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 tested much, much higher in Geekbench 3 tests, even though it’s fuelled by the same processor, the 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 system-on-a-chip (SoC).

Apparently, the Galaxy Note 3 can identify the difference between a benchmark app, like Geekbench 3, and a regular application. When it identifies the former, the processor revs up to its fastest speeds to get the best results – essentially pushing the Snapdragon 800 SoC to its fullest. When running the same benchmark test on Stealthbench, an app that hides its affiliation as a benchmark suite, Ars discovered that the CPU speed was more on par with the G2.

Samsung already has a smeared recording for flubbing its processor performance benchmarks on the international variant of the Galaxy S4 back in July, so this isn’t exactly good news for its performance reputation. Even if it doesn’t do too much to hurt Samsung’s image, it still gives some credence to the idea that benchmarks aren’t really a good measure of what matters to consumers these days.