Benchmark test scores provide a decent way to get a general idea of a smartphone or tablet’s performance, but at the end of the day they’re still just numbers on a piece of paper (or on a computer screen, as the case may be). In reality, a tablet with sky-high test scores might still provide a choppy experience when certain apps are in use, and an entry-level smartphone with low test scores might provide a user experience that is surprisingly smooth.
The problem, of course, is that it’s practically impossible to truly take everyday usage into consideration when quantifying and ranking smartphones and tablets.
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While we may never really be able to rank Android devices in such a way,Futuremark’sPCMark test for Android devices is likely the closest we can come to ranking mobile devices by performance in everyday situations, for the time being. The test benchmarks a device’s performance during everyday tasks including browsing the web, watching videos, editing photos and typing text.
“These tests emphasize the interdependence of the CPU, GPU, storage and memory on overall performance, treating the device as a complete unit rather than a set of isolated components,” Futuremark says.
We previously showed you Futuremark’s ranking of the 10 best Android devices of 2014 by battery life, and now it’s time to rank the best devices of the year by everyday performance.
Tablets dominate the list, as expected, and the No. 1 spot just so happens to be the device we called the best Android tablet of the year when we reviewed it in early November.
Also of note, a version of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note Edge smartphone crept onto the list to grab the No. 10 spot.
Futuremark’s full top-10 list can be seen below.
