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Category: browser performance

Want to see your WebXPRT 4 results on WebXPRT.com? Here’s how to submit them for review

In a recent post, we discussed some key features that the WebXPRT 4 results viewer tool has to offer. In today’s post, we’ll cover the straightforward process of submitting your WebXPRT 4 test results for possible publication in the viewer.

Unlike sites that publish all submissions, we publish only results that meet our evaluation criteria. Those results can come from OEM labs, third-party labs, reliable tech media sources, or independent user submissions. What’s important to us is that the scores must be consistent with general expectations, and for sources outside of our labs and data centers, they must include enough detailed system information that we can determine whether the score makes sense. That being said, if your scores are a little bit different from what you see in our database, please don’t hesitate to send them to us for consideration. It costs you nothing.

The actual result submission process is quick and easy. At the end of the WebXPRT test run, click the Submit your results button below the overall score, complete the short submission form, and click Submit again. Please be as specific as possible when filling in the system information fields. Detailed device information helps us assess whether individual scores represent valid test runs.

Figure 1 below shows how the form would look if I submitted a score at the end of a recent WebXPRT 4 run on one of the test systems here in our lab.

Figure 1: A screenshot of the WebXPRT 4 end-of-test results submission screen.

After you submit your score, we’ll contact you to confirm how we should display the source of the result in our database. You can choose one of the following:

  • Your first and last name
  • “Independent tester” (for users who wish to remain anonymous)
  • Your company’s name, if you have permission to submit the result in their name. If you want to use a company name, please provide a valid company email address that corresponds with the company name.

As always, we will not publish any additional information about you or your company without your permission.

We look forward to seeing your scores! If you have questions about WebXPRT 4 testing or results submission, please let us know!

Justin

Up next for WebXPRT 4: A new AI-focused workload!

We’re always thinking about ways to improve WebXPRT. In the past, we’ve discussed the potential benefits of auxiliary workloads and the role that such workloads might play in future WebXPRT updates and versions. Today, we’re very excited to announce that we’ve decided to move forward with the development of a new WebXPRT 4 workload focused on browser-side AI technology!

WebXPRT 4 already includes timed AI tasks in two of its workloads: the Organize Album using AI workload and the Encrypt Notes and OCR Scan workload. These two workloads reflect the types of light browser-side inference tasks that have been available for a while now, but most heavy-duty inference on the web has historically happened in on-prem servers or in the cloud. Now, localized AI technology is growing by leaps and bounds, and the integration of new AI capabilities with browser-based tasks is on the threshold of advancing rapidly.

Because of this growth, we believe now is the time to start work on giving WebXPRT 4 the ability to evaluate new browser-based AI capabilities—capabilities that are likely to become a part of everyday life in the next few years. We haven’t yet decided on a test scenario or software stack for the new workload, but we’ll be working to refine our plan in the coming months. There seems to be some initial promise in emerging frameworks such as ONNX Runtime Web, which allows users to run and deploy web-based machine learning models by using JavaScript APIs and libraries. In addition, new Web APIs like WebGPU (currently supported in Edge, Chrome, and tech preview in Safari) and WebNN (in development) may soon help facilitate new browser-side AI workloads.

We know that many longtime WebXPRT 4 users will have questions about how this new workload may affect their tests. We want to assure you that the workload will be an optional bonus workload and will not run by default during normal WebXPRT 4 tests. As you consider possibilities for the new workload, here are a few points to keep in mind:

  • The workload will be optional for users to run.
  • It will not affect the main WebXPRT 4 subtest or overall scores in any way.
  • It will run separately from the main test and will produce its own score(s).
  • Current and future WebXPRT 4 results will still be comparable to one another, so users who’ve already built a database of WebXPRT 4 scores will not have to retest their devices.
  • Because many of the available frameworks don’t currently run on all browsers, the workload may not run on every platform.

As we research available technologies and explore our options, we would love to hear from you. If you have ideas for an AI workload scenario that you think would be useful or thoughts on how we should implement it, please let us know! We’re excited about adding new technologies and new value to WebXPRT 4, and we look forward to sharing more information here in the blog as we make progress.

Justin

The WebXPRT 4 results viewer: A powerful tool for browsing hundreds of test results

In our recent blog post about the XPRT results database, we promised to discuss the WebXPRT 4 results viewer in more detail. We developed the results viewer to serve as a feature-rich interactive tool that visitors to WebXPRT.com can use to browse the test results that we’ve published on our site, dig into the details of each result, and compare scores from multiple devices. The viewer currently has almost 700 test results, and we add new PT-curated entries each week.

Figure 1 shows the tool’s default display. Each vertical bar in the graph represents the overall score of a single test result, with bars arranged left-to-right, from lowest to highest. To view a single result in detail, hover over a bar to highlight it, and a small popup window will display the basic details of the result. You can then click to select the highlighted bar. The bar will turn dark blue, and the dark blue banner at the bottom of the viewer will display additional details about that result.

Figure 1: The WebXPRT 4 results viewer tool’s default display

In the example in Figure 1, the banner shows the overall score (237), the score’s percentile rank (66th) among the scores in the current display, the name of the test device, and basic hardware configuration information. If the source of the result is PT, you can click the Run info button in the bottom right-hand corner of the display to see the run’s individual workload scores. If the source is an external publisher, users can click the Source link to navigate to the original site.

The viewer includes a drop-down menu that lets users quickly filter results by major device type categories, plus a tab with additional filtering options, such as browser type, processor vendor, and result source. Figure 2 shows the viewer after I used the device type drop-down filter to select only laptops.

Figure 2: Screenshot from the WebXPRT 4 results viewer showing results filtered by the device type drop-down menu.

Figure 3 shows the viewer as I use the filter tab to explore additional filter options, such as processor vendor.

Figure 3: Screenshot from the WebXPRT 4 results viewer showing the filter options available with the filter tab.

The viewer will also let you pin multiple specific runs, which is helpful for making side-by-side comparisons. Figure 4 shows the viewer after I pinned four runs and viewed them on the Pinned runs screen.

Figure 4: Screenshot from the WebXPRT 4 results viewer showing four pinned runs on the Pinned runs screen.

Figure 5 shows the viewer after I clicked the Compare runs button. The overall and individual workload scores of the pinned runs appear in a table.

Figure 5: Screenshot from the WebXPRT 4 results viewer showing four pinned runs on the Compare runs screen.

We hope that you’ll enjoy using the results viewer to browse our WebXPRT 4 results database and that it will become one of your go-to resources for device comparison data.  

Are there additional features you’d like to see in the viewer, or other ways we can improve it? Please let us know, and send us your latest test results!

Justin

Another milestone for WebXPRT!

Back in November, we discussed some of the trends we were seeing in the total number of completed and reported WebXPRT runs each month. The monthly run totals were increasing at a rate we hadn’t seen before. We’re happy to report that the upward trend has continued and even accelerated through the first quarter of this year! So far in 2024, we’ve averaged 43,744 WebXPRT runs per month, and our run total for the month of March alone (48,791) was more than twice the average monthly run total for 2023 (24,280).

The rapid increase in WebXPRT testing has helped us reach the milestone of 1.5 million runs much sooner than we anticipated. As the chart below shows, it took about six years for WebXPRT to log the first half-million runs and nine years to pass the million-run milestone. It’s only taken about one-and-a-half years to add another half-million.

This milestone means more to us than just reaching some large number. For a benchmark to be successful, it should ideally have widespread confidence and support from the benchmarking community, including manufacturers, OEM labs, the tech press, and other end users. When the number of yearly WebXPRT runs consistently increases, it’s a sign to us that the benchmark is serving as a valuable and trusted performance evaluation tool for more people around the world.

As always, we’re grateful for everyone who has helped us reach this milestone. If you have any questions or comments about using WebXPRT to test your gear, please let us know! And, if you have suggestions for how we can improve the benchmark, please share them. We want to keep making it better and better for you!

Justin

Working with the WebXPRT 4 source code

In our last blog post, we discussed the WebXPRT 4 source code and how you can contact us to request free access to the build package. In this post, we’ll address two questions that users sometimes ask about code access. The first question is, “How do I build a local instance of WebXPRT?” The second is, “What can I do with it?”

How to build a local WebXPRT 4 instance

After we receive your request, we’ll send you a secure link to the current WebXPRT 4 build package, which contains all the necessary source code files and installation instructions. You will need a system to use as a server, and you will need to be familiar with Apache, PHP, and MySQL configuration to follow the build instructions. WebXPRT 4 uses a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) setup on the “server” side, but it’s also possible to set up an instance with a WAMP or XAMPP stack.

The build instructions include a step-by-step methodology for setup. If you are familiar with LAMP stack configuration, the build and configuration process should take about two to three hours, depending on whether your LAMP-related extensions and libraries are current.

What you can do with a local WebXPRT 4 instance

We allow users to set up their own WebXPRT 4 instances for purposes of review, internal testing, or experimentation.

One use-case example is internal OEM lab testing. Some labs use WebXPRT to conduct extensive testing on preproduction hardware, and they follow stringent security guidelines to avoid the possibility of any hardware or test information leaving the lab. Even though we have our own strict policies about how we handle the little amount of data that WebXPRT gathers from tests, a local WebXPRT 4 instance provides those labs with an extra layer of security for sensitive tests.

We do ask that users publish results only from tests that they run on WebXPRT.com. As we mentioned in our most recent post, benchmarking requires a product that is consistent to enable valid comparisons over time. We allow people to download the source, but we reserve the right to control derivative works and which products can use the name “WebXPRT.” That way, when people see WebXPRT scores in tech press articles or vendor marketing materials, they can run their own tests on WebXPRT.com and be confident that they’re using the same standard for comparison.

If you have any questions about using the WebXPRT 4 source code, let us know!

Justin

WebXPRT in PT reports

We don’t just make WebXPRT—we use it, too. If you normally come straight to BenchmarkXPRT.com or WebXPRT.com, you may not even realize that Principled Technologies (PT) does a lot more than just managing and administering the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community. We’re also the tech world’s leading provider of hands-on testing and related fact-based marketing services. As part of that work, we’re frequent WebXPRT users.

We use the benchmark when we test devices such as Chromebooks, desktops, mobile workstations, and consumer laptops for our clients. (You can see a lot of that work and many of our clients on our public marketing portfolio page.) We run the benchmark for the same reasons that others do—it’s a reliable and easy-to-use tool for measuring how well devices handle web browsing and other web work.

We also sometimes use WebXPRT simply because our clients request it. They request it for the same reason the rest of us like and use it: it’s a great tool. Regardless of job titles and descriptions, most laptop and tablet users surf the web and access web-based applications every day. Because WebXPRT is a browser benchmark, higher scores on it could indicate that a device may provide a superior online experience.

Here are just a few of the recent PT reports that used WebXPRT:

  • In a project for Dell, we compared the performance of a Dell Latitude 7340 Ultralight to that of a 13-inch Apple MacBook Air (2022).
  • In this study for HP, we compared the performance of an HP ZBook Firefly G10, an HP ZBook Power G10, and an HP ZBook Fury G10.
  • Finally, in a set of comparisons for Lenovo, we evaluated the system performance and end-user experience of eight Lenovo ThinkBook, ThinkCentre, and ThinkPad systems along with their Apple counterparts.

All these projects, and many more, show how a variety of companies rely on PT—and on WebXPRT—to help buyers make informed decisions. P.S. If we publish scores from a client-commissioned study in the WebXPRT 4 results viewer, we will list the source as “PT”, because we did the testing.

By Mark L. Van Name and Justin Greene

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