A better benchmark for Android devices

PCMark for Android introduces a fresh approach to benchmarking smartphones and tablets. It measures the performance and battery life of the device as a complete unit rather than a set of isolated components. And its tests are based on common, everyday tasks instead of abstract algorithms.

PCMark for Android is protected by rules for manufacturers and supported by a detailed technical guide that explains exactly what's being measured and how the scores are calculated.

See how well your Android device performs, then compare it with the latest models. Better benchmarking starts here.

• Measure the performance of the whole device with the Work benchmark.
• Tests are based on everyday activities, not abstract algorithms.
• Tests use real applications and native APIs whenever possible.
• See every test in action, instead of watching progress bars.
• Measure performance for a range of image recognition tasks.
• Test storage performance with the dedicated Storage benchmark.
• Our guide tells you what is being measured and how scores are calculated.

 

"A solid example of mobile benchmarking done right."

Alex Voica, Senior Marketing Specialist at Imagination Technologies

Work 2.0

Benchmark performance and battery life with tests based on everyday activities

 

 

 

Web Browsing 2.0

The Web Browsing 2.0 test measures performance when rendering a web page, searching for content, and adding items using the native Android WebView.

Video Editing

Video Editing stresses video playing, editing, and saving performance. The test uses OpenGL ES 2.0, the native Android MediaCodec API, and Exoplayer.

Writing 2.0

The Writing 2.0 test measures the time to open, edit, and save a document using the native Android EditText view and the PdfDocument API.

Photo Editing 2.0

Photo Editing 2.0 measures the time to open, edit and save a set of images. Photo Editing 2.0 uses the latest version of the Android renderscript API.

Data Manipulation

This test measures the time taken to parse data from a variety of file formats. It then measures the frame rate while interacting with dynamic charts.

Work

Compare the performance and battery life of older Android devices

 

 

 

Web Browsing

Web Browsing measures the time to render a web page, search for content, and add items using the native Android WebView view.

Video Playback

Video Playback measures frame rate as well as the time to load, and seek within, 1080p video content using the native Android MediaPlayer API.

Writing

Writing measures the time to open, edit, cut, copy and paste text and images into a document using the native Android EditText view.

Photo Editing

Photo Editing tests the time taken to open, edit, and save a set of photos while using four different APIs to filter and manipulate the images.

Computer Vision

Measure device performance for a range of image recognition tasks

 

 

 

Image recognition

The Computer Vision benchmark measures device performance for a range of image recognition tasks using popular open-source libraries.

TensorFlow

TensorFlow is an open-source machine learning library developed by Google. The test uses a trained neural network to recognize objects.

ZXing

ZXing, also known as Zebra Crossing, is a multi-format barcode processing library. The test uses XZing to read a set of barcodes and QR codes.

Tesseract

Tesseract is an open-source optical character recognition library. The test recognizes and extracts English text from a set of images.

Storage

Test the storage performance of your smartphone and tablet

 

 

 

Storage performance

One of the most overlooked measures of smartphone performance is the speed of the storage. No matter the processor, when the storage is too slow you get a laggy, stuttering experience. The PCMark for Android Storage benchmark measures storage performance in three key areas.

Internal Storage

Internal Storage is where your apps save private data such as settings, user data, and other sensitive app files. The Android default cache directory is also in the internal storage. The internal storage performance of your device determines the startup time and smooth running of your apps.

External Storage

External Storage is used to save public data such as documents, photos, videos, and non-sensitive app files. Depending on the device, external storage can be removable or built-in. External Storage performance most commonly impacts your experience when loading and viewing media files.

Database

The Database test measures performance when reading, updating, inserting and deleting database records using SQLite, the default relational database management system in Android. Following default Android behavior, the test database is saved in the device's internal storage.

Hardware monitoring

See what's happening inside your device

 

 

 

Hardware monitoring charts show you how the CPU clock speed, temperature and battery charge level changed during the benchmark run.

Use these charts to see how CPU scaling and thermal management affect your device's performance and battery life.

Battery life testing

Measure battery life for everyday use

 

 

 

Measuring performance and battery life together provides a better overall assessment of the device than benchmarking performance alone.

The test produces a battery life result, an overall Work performance score, and a chart showing the score from each individual pass of the benchmark.

Compare devices

The most popular devices ranked by performance

 

 

 

The Best Devices list is the ideal way to compare the performance, popularity and battery life of the latest smartphones and tablets.

Tap any device to see a side-by-side comparison with your own device, or search by model, brand, CPU, GPU, SoC, or Android OS version.

 

 

For home users

PCMark for Android

PCMark for Android is 100% free. No ads. No in-app purchases. No restrictions. Download now and start benchmarking your smartphone and tablet.

For business, government, and commercial users

PCMark for Android Professional Edition

With PCMark for Android Professional Edition you can automate your benchmarking using adb (Android Debug Bridge). A Single-Seat License allows you to install PCMark for Android on one device at a time. To test more than one device simultaneously, you will need a Site License.

 

Minimum system requirements

OS:	Android 5.0
Processor	Dual core processor
Memory	1 GB
Graphics	OpenGL ES 2.0 compatible
Display	480 x 800 minimum resolution
Storage	23 MB app, 550 MB app + tests*

You can uninstall tests to free up storage space while leaving the app available to browse your scores and the Best Devices list.