BenchmarkXPRT Blog banner

Category: Performance benchmarking

The XPRTs in action

In the near future, we’ll update our “XPRTs around the world” infographic, which provides a snapshot of how people are using the XPRTs worldwide. Among other stats, we include the number of XPRT web mentions, articles, and reviews that have appeared during a given period. Recently, we learned how one of those statistics—a single web site mention of WebXPRT—found its way to consumers in more places than we would have imagined.

Late last month, AnandTech published a performance comparison by Andrei Frumusanu examining the Samsung Galaxy S9’s Snapdragon 845 and Exynos 9810 variants and a number of other high-end phones. WebXPRT was one of the benchmarking tools used. The article stated that both versions of the brand-new S9 were slower than the iPhone X and, in some tests, were slower than even the iPhone 7.

A CNET video discussed the article and the role of WebXPRT in the performance comparison, and the article has been reposted to hundreds of tech media sites around the world. A quick survey shows reposts in Albania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Chile, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Italy Japan, Korea, Poland, Russia, Spain, Slovakia, Turkey, and many other countries.

The popularity of the article is not surprising, for it positions the newest flagship phones from the industry’s two largest phone makers in a head-to-head comparison with a somewhat unexpected outcome. AnandTech did nothing to stir controversy or sensationalize the test results, but simply provided readers with an objective, balanced assessment of how these devices compare so that they could draw their own conclusions. The XPRTs share this approach.

We’re grateful to Andrei and others at AnandTech who’ve used the XPRTs over the years to produce content that helps consumers make informed decisions. WebXPRT is just part of AnandTech’s toolkit, but it’s one that’s accessible to anybody free of charge. With the help of BenchmarkXPRT Development Community members, we’ll continue to publish XPRT tools that help users everywhere gain valuable insight into device performance.

Justin

WebXPRT 3 is here!

We’re excited to announce that WebXPRT 3 is now available to the public. BenchmarkXPRT Development Community members have been using a community preview for several weeks, but now anyone can run WebXPRT 3 and publish their results.

As we mentioned on the blog, WebXPRT 3 has a completely new UI, updated workloads, and new test content. We carried over several features from WebXPRT 2015 including automation, the option to run individual workloads, and language options for English, German, and Simplified Chinese.

We believe WebXPRT 3 will be as relevant and reliable as WebXPRT 2013 and 2015. After trying it out, please submit your scores and feel free to let us know what you think. We look forward to seeing new results submissions!

WebXPRT 3 arrives next week!

After much development work and testing, we’re happy to report that we’ll be releasing WebXPRT 3 early next week!

Here are the final workload names and descriptions.

1) Photo Enhancement: Applies three effects to two photos each using Canvas.
2) Organize Album Using AI: Detects faces and classifies images using the ConvNetJS neural network library.
3) Stock Option Pricing: Calculates and displays graphics views of a stock portfolio using Canvas, SVG, and dygraphs.js.
4) Encrypt Notes and OCR Scan: Encrypts notes in local storage and scans a receipt using optical character recognition.
5) Sales Graphs: Calculates and displays multiple views of sales data using InfoVis and d3.js.
6) Online Homework: Performs science and English homework using Web Workers and Typo.js spell check.

As we mentioned in an earlier blog post, the updated photo workloads contain new images and a deep learning task. We also added an optical character recognition task to the Local Notes workload and combined part of the DNA Sequence Analysis scenario with a writing sample/spell check scenario to simulate online homework in the new Online Homework workload.

Longtime WebXPRT users will immediately notice a completely new UI. We worked to improve the UI’s appearance on smaller devices such as phones and we think testers will find it easier to navigate.

Testers can still choose to run individual workloads and we’re once again offering English, German, and Simplified Chinese language options.

Below my sig, I’ve included pictures of WebXPRT 3’s start test and results pages, as well as an in-test screen capture.

We’re thankful for all the interest in WebXPRT 3 so far and believe the new version of WebXPRT will be as relevant and reliable as WebXPRT 2013 and 2015—and easier to use. We look forward to seeing new results submissions next week!

Justin

WebXPRT 3 start page

WebXPRT 3 in test

Results page

WebXPRT 3, Mobile World Congress, and the next HDXPRT

We’re excited about everything that’s in store for the XPRTs, and we want to update community members on what to expect in the next few months.

The next major development is likely to be the WebXPRT 3 general release. We’re currently refining the UI and conducting extensive testing with the community preview build. We’re not ready to announce a firm release date, but hope to do so over the next few weeks. Please try the community preview and give us your feedback, if you haven’t already.

During the last week of February, Mark will be at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Each year, MWC offers a great opportunity to examine the new trends and technologies that will shape mobile technology in the years to come. We look forward to sharing Mark’s thoughts on this year’s hot topics. Will you be attending MWC this year? If so, let us know!

In addition, we’re hoping to have a community preview of the next HDXPRT ready in the spring. As we mentioned a few months ago, we’re updating the workloads, applications, and UI. For the converting photos scenario, we’re considering incorporating new Adobe Photoshop tools such as the “Open Closed Eyes” feature and an automatic fix for pictures that are out of focus due to handheld camera shake. For the converting videos scenario, we’re including 4K GoPro footage that represents the quality of video captured by today’s “prosumer” demographic.

What features would you like to see in the next HDXPRT? Let us know!

Justin

New features for the WebXPRT Processor Comparison Chart

We’re excited that the WebXPRT 2015 Processor Comparison Chart is becoming a valuable resource for community members and visitors interested in comparing web-browsing performance scores. When we introduced the chart, we mentioned that the first iteration was only the beginning. We planned to add additional capabilities on a regular basis, and today we’re happy to announce some new features.

The chart now offers a drop-down menu for displaying more than 20 results per page. (You can choose 20, 50, 100, or all.) When you click on a system to view the details of its score, you will see that we added a column displaying browser information. If the “Browser” column entry shows as “Unknown,” this means we can’t find browser information for a specific test result.

We’re also working on adding a drop-down menu for filtering scores by device type (laptop, tablet, etc.).

We hope these features will prove to be helpful. We want the chart to continue to be a great asset for its users, so if you have ideas for features and types of data you’d like to see, let us know!

Justin

Here’s to 100 more!

This week’s Essential Phone entry marks the 100th device that we’ve featured in the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight! It’s a notable milestone for us as we work toward our goal of building a substantial library of device information that buyers can use to compare devices. In celebration, I thought it would be fun to share some Spotlight-related stats.

Our first Spotlight entry was the Google Pixel C way back on February 8, 2016, and we’ve featured a wide array of devices since then:

  • 33 phones
  • 16 laptops
  • 16 tablets
  • 16 2-in-1s
  • 6 small-form-factor PCs
  • 5 desktops
  • 5 game consoles
  • 3 all-in-ones



In addition to a wide variety of device types, we try to include a wide range of vendors. So far, we’ve featured devices from Acer, Alcatel, Alienware, Amazon, Apple, ASUS, BLU, CHUWI, Dell, Essential, Fujitsu, Google, HP, HTC, Huawei, Intel, LeEco, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OnePlus, Razer, Samsung, Sony, Syber, Xiaomi, and ZTE. We look forward to adding many more to that list during the year ahead.

XPRT Spotlight is a great way for device vendors and manufacturers to share PT-verified specs and test results with buyers around the world. If you’re interested in sending in a device for testing, please contact XPRTSpotlight@PrincipledTechnologies.com.

There’s a lot more to come for XPRT Spotlight, and we’re constantly working on new features and improvements for the page. Are there any specific devices or features that you would like to see in the Spotlight? Let us know.

Justin

Check out the other XPRTs:

Forgot your password?