One of the big storylines surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6 is the processors. Before the LG G6 was even announced, people were dismissing it for having the Snapdragon 821. The Galaxy S8 has the Snapdragon 835, and since 835 > 821, it must be a better processor. Right? We decided to put that to the test.
In my LG G6 review, I made the comment that “it’s 2017 and all processors are good now.” I was exaggerating, but the point of that comment was high-end processors are very good. The difference from year to year is not nearly as big as it used to be. Even low-end processors like the Snapdragon 675 have impressed us. So what exactly is the difference between the 821 and 835?
To perform the comparison, I opened a variety of apps and games on both devices. I did this in two ways. First, I opened the apps on the phones after they had been running all day. Second, I rebooted the devices and performed the test again. The apps I used in the test included Twitter, Instagram, Forums for Android, Camera, Pokemon GO, and Gentleman Ninja.
I’ll let you be the judge of which device was faster, but I also have a couple of observations. 1) The animations on the Galaxy S8 are cranked up a bit more. Apps sprung open quickly but then paused for a second before fully loading. 2) The Galaxy S8 is much quicker after rebooting. After being powered on all day, the results were pretty close.
Which device do you think performed better? Was the difference in speed as big as you expected? Do you think the Snapdragon 821 is a bad processor now?
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