
Steve Kovach/Business Insider
The
AnandTech's breakdown is incredibly wonky and technical. Most people probably won't understand it, but here's the gist:
Samsung noodled around with the way it measured the performance of the Galaxy S4 hardware to make it seem faster than it actually is. AnandTech did tested the phone's performance using more accurate tools that are built into the device. The results were significantly weaker than what Samsung originally reported.
It's also worth noting that this isn't a new practice. For years, PC and graphics card makers have tried to juice their gadgets' performance numbers by using tests that made them seem better.
In the end, this doesn't really matter for most people. You average consumer doesn't care about processor speeds and other wonky tech specs. All they care about is whether or not the device works smoothly. The Galaxy S4 does work smoothly.
But it is pretty shady of Samsung to juice its numbers for those who do make purchasing decisions based on specs.