All those benchmarks that we saw of the OnePlus 5 prior to the release of the phone may now be void. The early benchmarks show the phone outperforming devices like the Samsung Galaxy S8. On paper the phone should be able to do just that. It has the same Snapdragon 835 processor, more RAM, and a newer version of Android Nougat. It should not need the extra help to outperform other phones in benchmarking, but apparently it does.
According to an XDA report the OP5 activates a performance mode when it detects benchmarking apps have been opened. The cheat turns everything to maximum any time the phone is running a benchmark. These settings wouldn't be stable and you wouldn't actually use your phone this way in day to day use.
The performance mode is locked in which may cause overheating and ultimately damage the phone. Carl Pei states that this is the same mode used when the phone is gaming which is a bit alarming.
We have made it so that when running benchmark apps, the phone performs the same as when running resource intensive apps such as 3D games. We also fully activate our chipset in other parts of OxygenOS, for instance when launching apps to make the launch experience faster and smoother.
We are not making it easier for the chipset to perform, for instance by changing to a lower resolution when detecting a benchmark app. We are not changing the performance of our chipset, for instance by overclocking it.
When users run benchmark apps, which I agree aren’t a useful proxy for real life performance, we believe that they want to see the full potential of their device without interference from tampering. That’s what we’ve unlocked.
Every OEM has proprietary performance profiles for their devices, I appreciate that we have a tech enthusiastic following, but feel free to have a look around.
The phone apparently has a killswitch that will shut off the phone if it gets to hot while playing games and doing other graphic intensive tasks. Google has said in the past that OEMs should not use these methods. This will definitely help with the performance of the phone, but is the risk worth it in your opinion?
via 9to5Google
