Samsung's (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF) new flagship Galaxy Note 7 arguably has Apple's (AAPL +1.20%) iPhone 6s beat when it comes to hardware specs. The Galaxy Note 7 boasts a 14-nanometer Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core 64-bit processor and 4GB of RAM -- not to mention it's waterproof and can charge wirelessly. But Apple's nearly one-year-old iPhone still beats -- or, more accurately, crushes -- Samsung's latest and greatest in an app speed test.
Galaxy Note 7. Image source: Samsung.
The Galaxy Note 7's embarrassing speed test
Samsung's newest phone's poor performance against the iPhone 6s was demonstrated in an app test by PhoneBuff on YouTube (via MacRumors).
"The iPhone 6s has had itself quite the year when it comes to speed tests," said PhoneBuff's David Rahimi in the video. He went on to cite the Apple phone's impressive track record at outperforming many of the world's fastest smartphones. But Rahimi wanted to see if the Note 7 could "take back the speed test title that the Note 5 lost" or if "the iPhone 6s [could] pull off what has never been done here at PhoneBuff, and go undefeated in its lifecycle."
In PhoneBuff's app speed test, which included a succession of apps the two phones would have to open and one video to be rendered, the iPhone 6s achieved "one of the biggest leads" Rahimi had ever seen on a speed test at PhoneBuff by the time there were only a few apps left to open. And after finishing its first "lap" of opening apps, the iPhone 6s proceeded to complete another lap before the Note 7 even finished its first.
As for the Note 7's time during the test, it finished its first lap in two minutes and four seconds -- or 13 seconds after the iPhone 6s finished its second lap.
Specs aren't enough
While this does mark the first time a smartphone in PhoneBuff's app speed tests a smartphone upheld its record during entire first-year lifecycle, the iPhone's stellar performance isn't entirely surprising. Thanks to the company's relentless focus on the user experience, Apple is already known for separating itself from the pack when it comes to performance in PCs and laptops -- a lead over competing PC manufacturers that has actually increased during the past decade. And now Apple's same approach to tightening integration of design, software, and hardware seems to be paying off with iPhone.
Interestingly, one of the iPhone's advantages stems from a bold bet the company made years ago to begin developing its own A-series chips based on ARM Holdings-based architecture. Designing its own chips, the move took the company's vertical integration for iPhone one step further than its Mac lineup, since Macs still use Intel chips.
Apple's increasing investments over the years in its A-series designs have yielded impressive results, turning the iPhone maker into a formidable chip designer in its own right -- and helping iPhone's user experience best competition.
With results from this new speed test making rounds just weeks before Apple launches its latest iPhone, which is rumored to include an even faster and more efficient A10 processor, and possibly even more RAM, is iPhone's real-world performance about to take an unprecedented leap ahead of the competition?
