In a video speed test by YouTuber Phonebuff, you may be surprised by just how much faster Apple’s iPhone 7 is than Samsung’s Note 7 at loading apps.
With the iPhone 7 using the new class-leading Apple A10 processor and the Samsung Note 7 using the Qualcomm SnapDragon 820 processor, which is the same processor in the Galaxy S7, LG G5 and HTC 10, it should truly come as no surprise to see the A10 is way faster at loading apps.
This is despite many reviews of the Note 7 noting how speedy it is, but clearly, it is all relative. Put something faster beside the Note 7 and that speed turns into sloth.
Interestingly, The Verge features this video with the headline of ‘The iPhone 7 completely demolishes Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 in a speed test’ yet states further in the article: “Even though Samsung’s phone [the Note 7] is slower than the iPhone 7 in this test, users shouldn’t notice any real lag.”
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To me, this statement seems disingenuous. If you are waiting for apps to load, are you not suffering lag?
If you don’t have an iPhone 7 next to your Samsung Note 7, you might not realise how slowly apps are loading, but that doesn’t mean Note 7 app loading isn’t slow.
Clearly, it is.
That said, once you are running the app in question, you would imagine app running at effectively the same speed as on an iPhone.
Well, you might say that but Phonebuff’s video does show that turning a video into ‘time lapse’ mode is dramatically faster on an iPhone 7 than the Note 7, so it clearly depends on what you are doing.
One big question to Samsung is why it decided to use the SnapDragon 820 processor, a chip that was used in Android smartphones launched near the beginning of 2016, rather than the SnapDragon 821 processor, which Qualcomm states is approximately 10% faster than the 820.
Here's Qualcomm's own doucment outlining the differences between the 820 and 821 processors.
Here's a website talking about differences between the 820, 821 and upcoming 823 processors.
Perhaps the 821 wasn’t ready, perhaps it cost more or perhaps Samsung’s rushed timetable to get the Note 7 out the door before the iPhone 7 was the issue.
Bloomberg has reported that Samsung’s desire to get the Note 7 out quicky is what rushed the battery maker, and which led to the exploding battery issue that simply should never have happened.
So, here’s Phoneduff’s speed test between the iPhone 7 and Note 7, allowing you to make your own decision on the matter.