Author Archives: Justin Greene

Check out our new WebXPRT video!

on September 20, 2018

At over 305,000 runs and counting, WebXPRT is our most popular benchmark app. Device manufacturers, tech journalists, and developers around the world use WebXPRT because test runs are quick and easy, it runs on almost anything with a web browser, and it provides reliable data about how well devices perform when completing real-world tasks.

WebXPRT is not just for “techies,” however. To help explain what WebXPRT does and why it matters to everyday consumers, we’ve published a new video, What is WebXPRT and why should I care? The video explains the concepts behind some of WebXPRT’s workloads and how even small delays in common online tasks can add up to big headaches and a significant amount of wasted time. We all want to avoid those problems, and WebXPRT can help anyone that wants to see how their device, or a new device they’re thinking about buying, stacks up against the alternatives. We encourage you to check out the video below, which you can also find on YouTube and WebXPRT.com. If you have any questions about WebXPRT, please let us know!

Justin

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Browser-based benchmarks, Cross-platform benchmarks, Mobile devices, Performance benchmarking, Video, Web-based testing, WebXPRT, WebXPRT 3 |

CrXPRT in the Chrome Web Store

By Justin Greene

on September 13, 2018

Testers searching for CrXPRT in the Chrome Web Store may be puzzled to see “no results.” While CrXPRT no longer appears in Chrome Web Store searches, the app is still live in the store and there’s nothing wrong with it. CrXPRT is freely available and functioning normally, but you can access it only through a direct link. It’s an unusual situation that results from a strategic decision by the Chrome team, a decision affecting many apps in addition to CrXPRT.

For several years, Chrome supported two types of apps—hosted apps that wrap online websites, and packaged apps that have offline capability. CrXPRT is a packaged app built for Chrome OS. In December 2017, the Chrome team stopped providing search and browse functions for hosted and packaged apps in the Chrome Web Store. Instead, they’re encouraging folks to develop Progressive Web Apps. You can read about the reasoning behind this decision on the Chromium blog. Despite this shift in focus, the Chrome Web store will continue to support existing apps packaged for Chrome OS.

In short, the Chrome Web Store will support CrXPRT for the foreseeable future, and we’ll continue to issue any necessary bug fixes through the store. With the help of the community, we’ll reevaluate CrXPRT next year and decide the best way forward for the app. In the meantime, you can access CrXPRT from the direct link below and from CrXPRT.com. Note that the direct link may take you to a splash page if you use an unsupported platform.

CrXPRT 2015: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/crxprt/hiajijaeaacmnpjpkcfnhohmaijanjgf

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Justin

Posted in Chrome OS, Chromebooks, Collaborative benchmark development, CrXPRT, Google Chrome, Performance benchmarking | Tagged Apps, Chrome, Chrome Web Store, Chromebooks, CrXPRT |

HDXPRT 4: A little lighter and a lot faster

By Justin Greene

on August 30, 2018

This week, we’re sharing a little more about the upcoming HDXPRT 4 Community Preview. Just like previous versions of HDXPRT, HDXPRT 4 will use trial versions of commercial applications to complete workload tasks. We will include installers for some of those programs, such as Audacity and HandBrake, in the HDXPRT installation package. For other programs, such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018 and CyberLink Media Espresso 7.5, users will need to download the necessary installers prior to testing using links and instructions that we will provide. The HDXPRT 4 installation package is just over 4.7 GB, slightly smaller than previous versions.

I can also report that the new version requires fewer pre-test configuration steps and a full test run takes much less time than before. Some systems that took over an hour to complete an HDXPRT 2014 run are completing HDXPRT 4 runs in about 25 minutes.

We’ll continue to provide more information as we get closer to releasing the community preview. If you’re interested in testing with HDXPRT 4 before the general release but have not yet joined the community, we invite you to join now. If you have any questions or comments about HDXPRT or the community, please contact us.

Justin

Posted in Application-based benchmarks, Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Community Preview, HDXPRT, HDXPRT 4, HDXPRT development process, HDXPRT release cycle, Performance benchmarking | Tagged Adobe, Audacity, benchmark, BenchmarkXPRT, CyberLink, Handbrake, HDXPRT, HDXPRT 4 |

Sneak a peek at HDXPRT 4

By Justin Greene

on August 23, 2018

A few months ago, we shared some details about HDXPRT 4 development progress. Now that we’re closer to releasing a community preview build, we wanted to offer a sneak peek at the new benchmark. We may still tweak a few things during pre-release testing, but we’re close to the final look.

Below, you can see the benchmark’s new start page. After installation and completing a few brief pre-test configuration steps, running HDXPRT 4 is as easy as entering a test name and clicking the start button.

During the test, you’ll see HDXPRT’s real-world trial applications such as Adobe Photoshop Elements and CyberLink Media Espresso open and close during each iteration, though you won’t see workload graphics within the HDXPRT UI harness. When the test finishes, the results screen pops up. As you can see below, the results screen displays the overall and individual workload category scores in a straightforward and easy-to-understand manner. Below the workload scores, a button provides access to additional test and system information.

We’re not yet ready to share a date for the community preview, but we’ll provide more information in the coming weeks. As always, XPRT community previews are only available to BenchmarkXPRT Development Community members. If you’re interested in testing the HDXPRT 4 Community Preview, we invite you to join the community now. If you have any questions or comments about HDXPRT or the community, please contact us.

Justin

Posted in Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Community Preview, HDXPRT, HDXPRT 4, HDXPRT development process, HDXPRT release cycle, PCs, Performance benchmarking, Windows 10 |

AI and the next MobileXPRT

By Justin Greene

on August 16, 2018

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, we’re in the early planning stages for the next version of MobileXPRT—MobileXPRT 3. We’re always looking for ways to make XPRT benchmark workloads more relevant to everyday users, and a new version of MobileXPRT provides a great opportunity to incorporate emerging tech such as AI into our apps. AI is everywhere and is beginning to play a huge role in our everyday lives through smarter-than-ever phones, virtual assistants, and smart homes. The challenge for us is to identify representative mobile AI workloads that have the necessary characteristics to work well in a benchmark setting. For MobileXPRT, we’re researching AI workloads that have the following characteristics:

They work offline, not in the cloud.
They don’t require additional training prior to use.
They support common use cases such as image processing, optical character recognition (OCR), etc.

We’re researching the possibility of using Google’s Mobile Vision library, but there may be other options or concerns that we’re not aware of. If you have tips for places we should look, or ideas for workloads or APIs we haven’t mentioned, please let us know. We’ll keep the community informed as we narrow down our options.

Justin

Posted in AI, Android, Benchmark metrics, Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Future of performance evaluation, Google, Machine learning, Mobile devices, MobileXPRT, Performance benchmarking | Tagged AI, benchmark, Google, image processing, mobile, MobileXPRT, optical character recognition |

The 2018 XPRT Spotlight Back-to-School Roundup

By Justin Greene

on August 9, 2018

With the new school year approaching, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve just published our third annual XPRT Spotlight Back-to-School Roundup! The Roundup allows shoppers to view side-by-side comparisons of XPRT test scores and hardware specs from some of this school year’s most popular Chromebooks, laptops, tablets, and convertibles. We tested the devices in our lab using the XPRT benchmarks and provide not only performance scores, but also photo galleries, PT-verified device specs, and prices. Parents, teachers, students, and administrators who are considering purchases for use in their education environments have many options, and the Roundup can help make their decisions easier by gathering product and performance facts in one convenient place. We’ll continue to add devices to the Roundup, including the new Microsoft Surface Go, as they arrive over the next few weeks.

The Back-to-School Roundup is just one of the features we offer through the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight. Every week, the Spotlight highlights a new device, making it easier for consumers to select a new laptop, phone, tablet, or PC. Recent devices in the Spotlight include the Acer Chromebook Tab 10, the 2018 Samsung Chromebook Plus, the Intel Hades Canyon NUC mini PC, and the OnePlus 6 phone. The Spotlight device comparison page lets you view side-by-side comparisons of all of the devices we’ve tested.

If you’re interested in having your devices featured in the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight or in this year’s Black Friday and Holiday Showcases, which we publish in late November, visit the website for more details.

If you have any ideas for the Spotlight page or suggestions for devices you’d like to see, let us know!

Justin

Posted in Battery life, BatteryXPRT 2014 for Android, Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, CrXPRT, Education, Mobile data, TouchXPRT, WebXPRT, XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight | Tagged convertible, education, laptop, PC, school, Spotlight, tech, XPRT Spotlight |

Author Archives: Justin Greene

Check out our new WebXPRT video!

CrXPRT in the Chrome Web Store

HDXPRT 4: A little lighter and a lot faster

Sneak a peek at HDXPRT 4

AI and the next MobileXPRT

The 2018 XPRT Spotlight Back-to-School Roundup

Check out the other XPRTs: