Apple once again tops the 2016 mobile phone benchmark rankings, but the era of competing on parameters is a thing of the past

AnTuTu recently released the 2016 mobile phone performance benchmark rankings. The benchmark results are reasonable, but also unexpected. After several years of development, the saying "If you don't agree, run a test" seems to have faded in the industry, because the homogeneity of configurations makes the benchmark seem less important. However, the method of initially judging the basic performance of a mobile phone through the benchmark has been deeply rooted in people's minds.

Undoubtedly, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 7 take the first and second place in the benchmark list. The third place is the recently launched OnePlus 3T. From the entire ranking list, except for iPhone, basically all Android devices use Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 or 820 processors.

The same is true from the Android rankings. There is basically no MediaTek, Samsung or Kirin chips in the top ten. This picture also indirectly reflects the powerful performance of Qualcomm's 82X series chips, while also exposing the shortcomings of Huawei and MediaTek's chips. MediaTek's "good friend" Meizu is probably crying in the toilet.

The iPhone's A10 chip is really not to be underestimated, and the Snapdragon chip is also not to be ignored. This is obvious from the picture. The A9 chip on the 2015 iPhone 6S also crushes other chips. Why is Apple's chip performance so powerful? Why is there such a big gap in the running scores of Android flagships that are both powered by the Snapdragon 821 chip?

A10 chip: high performance and high power consumption

The A10 processor is manufactured using TSMC's 16nm FinFETInFO process, with 3.3 billion transistors and a 64-bit quad-core. It is much more powerful than the dual-core chip previously speculated. The two high-performance large cores are 40% faster than the A9. The design of 2 large cores + 2 small cores not only improves performance, but also reduces power consumption.

The strong performance is attributed to the advantages of self-design, of course, even self-design cannot lack the absorption of traditional concepts. From the perspective of the A10 chip's large core + small core architecture, ARM's design should provide a lot of reference. As for why A10 has such a strong performance, it should be attributed to the superb design level and the closed iOS system. After all, the system is its own, and it can redeploy any iOS software interface to the performance controller as needed, so it has a wider range of applications and stronger performance.

Both are Snapdragon, but the running scores are very different

Android flagships are basically dominated by Snapdragon processors, of course, excluding Meizu. Although the processors are the same, the difference in running scores is very obvious, which is ultimately related to the optimization of each company.

The reason why OnePlus 3T can stand at the top of Android running points is not only related to its "6GB+64GB" configuration, but also to its system. Although OnePlus 3T's "Hydrogen" and "Oxygen" OS are both customized UIs based on Android, the biggest difference from other customized UIs is the depth of customization. OnePlus mobile phone system retains a lot of the style of native Android, while deeply customized UIs like MIUI basically have no trace of native Android. The Android system is very memory-intensive, and with the cumbersome system customization, resources are particularly tight. So the gap in running points is not surprising.

A high score does not mean it is easy to use

Why is the concept of "running score" gradually becoming blurred in the industry? Because the configuration differences between most models are very small, so running scores seem unnecessary. Also, running scores are only a one-sided concept and cannot represent whether a mobile phone is good or not.

A high running score directly reflects only a better processor and better overall performance of the phone, but it does not represent the user experience. Even if the running score is high, the phone will not be easy to use without a good system. Mobile phones are the product of the combination of software and hardware. Hardware cannot change the software experience, and software cannot make up for the shortcomings of hardware. Only phones with good collaboration can be easy to use.

Of course, everyone hopes that their favorite brand has a powerful CPU, which is why when Meizu released the PRO 6 plus, it mentioned the use of Samsung 8890 processor, Meizu fans were excited. It is because MediaTek chips have poor performance. Although there is a gap between Samsung 8890 and Snapdragon 820, it is still better than MediaTek. In terms of performance, Meizu has not released a "real flagship" in 2016.

Good performance does not necessarily mean high sales

Many people buy mobile phones not for the parameters, but for the appearance or fans. Therefore, the success of vivo and OPPO is not only a success in marketing, but also a success in appearance design. The design of the iPhone is imitated, which makes many people like it very much. The offline explosion of mobile phone sales of blue and green manufacturers in 2016 has a lot to do with these factors.

A friend once told me that he was chatting with a girl and asked her: Do you know which one is Meizu and which one is OPPO? The girl said: I don’t know. Then the friend asked: Which one do you think is good-looking? The girl said: OPPO is good-looking. This is the cleverness of marketing. Of course, every manufacturer has its own fans. No matter what the configuration is, there are many crazy fans who like it, so the "fan economy" is also a strategy of some manufacturers.

Solve the pain points to be better

At present, many mobile phone manufacturers are aware of the importance of personalization, such as Hi-Fi, fast charging, photography, etc. Some people just need these functions, and I will not buy a phone without these functions even if the configuration is good and the running score is high.

Apple has already released 7 generations of mobile phones, but still does not have the fast charging function, which has been criticized by many users. No matter how smooth the system is or how powerful the performance is, people will not buy it. The lack of the fast charging function of the iPhone 7 has lost some users. Improving the user's pain points has become an important means of attracting fans, just like the necessities of life. It is okay to not have new clothes to wear, but it is definitely not okay to not have food to eat.

There are too many standards to measure whether a mobile phone is good or not, and the running score is only one of them. We cannot say that a low running score means "killing it with one blow". Comprehensively considering all aspects of the mobile phone, appearance, photography, battery life, system, etc., can give a relatively objective evaluation. Choosing a mobile phone should also be based on your actual situation. Different focuses will definitely lead to different purchase directions. Everyone has a different definition of "good". Choosing a mobile phone is like choosing a partner. Different people have different preferences, and the best one is the one that suits you.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.