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Apple's iPhones Trail Samsung, Google Devices in Internet Speeds (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple's iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and $1,000 iPhone X trail the latest smartphones from Samsung Electronics and Alphabet's Google in download speeds, according to data from Ookla, a company that provides the most popular online service for measuring the speed of an internet connection with its Speedtest app and website. Faster internet data means that users can load websites and start watching movies more quickly, make crisper video calls and get higher-quality video.
[...] Ookla's data are important because they are created by users -- not in a corporate lab -- and encompass the range of random real-world conditions that affect performance like distance from cellular towers and network congestion. Ookla said it hosts millions of tests a day and has done 20 billion in total.
[...] The speed-test data, reviewed by Bloomberg, show that Samsung's Galaxy S9 phones had an average download speed -- across carriers in the U.S. -- of 38.9 megabits per second, based on about 102,000 tests over the past three months. The larger model, the S9+, delivered speeds of 38.4 Mbps, according to a sample size of about 169,000 phone connections. The iPhone X on average downloaded data at 29.7 Mbps, based on a 603,000 tests. The iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 were close behind with speeds of 29.4 Mbps and 28.6 Mbps, respectively.
[...] Ookla's data are important because they are created by users -- not in a corporate lab -- and encompass the range of random real-world conditions that affect performance like distance from cellular towers and network congestion. Ookla said it hosts millions of tests a day and has done 20 billion in total.
[...] The speed-test data, reviewed by Bloomberg, show that Samsung's Galaxy S9 phones had an average download speed -- across carriers in the U.S. -- of 38.9 megabits per second, based on about 102,000 tests over the past three months. The larger model, the S9+, delivered speeds of 38.4 Mbps, according to a sample size of about 169,000 phone connections. The iPhone X on average downloaded data at 29.7 Mbps, based on a 603,000 tests. The iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 were close behind with speeds of 29.4 Mbps and 28.6 Mbps, respectively.
So the larger the sample size, the slower the average download speed. Conclusion: my Windows Phone has the fastest download speed.
There are several stories of Qualcomm and Samsung trying to produce anti-apple propaganda about this, because really they have nothing compelling to say against the iPhone X.
Turns out, none of these differences are even noticeable because the carriers are the limit, not the modem. Also, nobody downloads huge files on their phone because why would you?
If the cellular is fast enough to stream video and load web pages instantly, the rest is just academic.
- Vincit qui patitur.
...Does anyone actually buy phones based on their max LTE download speed? Most of us have quotas and are trying as hard as possible not to burn through them. I've got a 6GB plan, which is big for Canada (I know how sad it is in comparison to Europe's download caps, don't @ me) so I spend a lot of time making sure I do my downloads over wifi, and even then, LTE on my iPhone 7 is usually faster than whatever burdened wifi network I'm on.
I mean, definitely Intel's modems aren't as good, but I'd be really interested to see how many people rate this as a first-tier, dealbreaker feature. Honestly, if this is you, please speak up, I'm honestly curious as to what you're doing on your phone.
Did you read all the numbers? The only 0.3 mbps difference in the summary is between different kinds of iPhones, while Android phones are getting roughly 10 mbps more.
That said, who cares when data plans are capped and it's a constant struggle to not max out. What kind of movie can you watch that requires more than 30 mbps and is short enough that there'll be data left on your plan when it's done?
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
> I can see a case where City people may be more Android focused, (higher cost of living, meaning less money for a phone) would get a cheaper but good quality Android phone. But being in the City they have access to faster internet speeds.
> While the Suburban and Rural users who have lower cost of living, may be willing to splurge more on an iPhone. However those area they don't have access to such high speeds.
While the article (and their conclusion) itself is not that meaningful, your mental gymnastics deserve a medal the size of a dinner plate.
I have the iPhone X, and I stopped using the Ookla app months ago after I discovered that it was giving me incorrectly slow results. When I use the dslreports speed test, I consistently get the speeds I expect to see on any given wifi network; however, the Ookla app shows a much slower speed (consistently) on those same networks. When running these speed tests over cellular, I observe the same issue. This observation led me to conclude that the software was no longer useful, and possibly had gone unmaintained. However, if theyâ(TM)re advertising this data as factual, it leads me to believe they may be doing this as an anti Apple campaign. This makes me wonder if Samsung (or another company) has paid them under the table to do this.