How do I measure the gaming performance of each tablet? (Disclaimer of Gametabletz tablet reviews)

Written by B Johnson December 18, 2019
Disclaimer of Gametabletz tablet reviews (How do I measure the gaming performance of each tablet?)
Hi guys, bear in mind that i don’t actually own the device by myself. So this is not some in-depth review. This is like my personal or opinion about the device.

However, in writing this personal review, it will be based on my knowledge of the device from many sources like articles, news, user reviews or video reviews around the net or YouTube.

And if i don’t like the device, i will directly say it on my personal review. And if i love it, then i’ll say good things about that device.

How to quickly measure the gaming performance of any tablet?

From the past few years, I’ve been showing you guys a lot of tablets here on this website. Even though I discuss almost every part of those devices, I mainly focus my review only on their gaming performances, of course with some other things that have anything to do with the gaming aspect of those devices, like battery life, UI, design, etc.

But you probably wonder, where did I get most of the information about every tablet I reviewed on this website?

What makes me so sure when measuring the gaming performance of each tablet? And how exactly do I know that some tablets are great for gaming, while the others are not that great for playing games?

Well, in order to be able to answer those questions more thoroughly, of course I’m gonna need a lot of words to explain to you regarding this topic.

I perfectly know that all of my reviews here on this website are not some in-depth reviews just like any other trusted reviews from other tech websites around the net.

So there are many flaws that you can easily spot in many of my tablet reviews. But of course, I always try to improve my reviews and fix many mistakes that I’ve made in my previous reviews.

This is the main reason why today, I’m so excited to share to you about the methods I’ve been using for the past couple of years to measure the gaming performances of many tablets I’ve reviewed on this website.

Who knows, you might find the tips below useful and hopefully can help you find the right tablet that is perfectly capable to play your favorite 3D games.

Well, without further ado, here they are, 5 methods that you can use to help you measure the gaming performance of tablet.

1. By watching video reviews on YouTube

Okay, the first and I think the easiest way to know how great the performance of any tablet when playing games is actually by watching video reviews on YouTube. And I think this is also the best way because we can see the actual videos of how a tablet performs for playing some specific games.

In measuring the gaming performance of the tablet, I usually find some specific games that are considered as the latest and also the most graphically demanding games on the market right now.

For example, if I want to find out how Google Nexus 7 performs when playing games, say, GTA San Andreas or Asphalt 8: Airborne, I can simply search for the key phrase “Google Nexus 7 GTA San Andreas” or “Google Nexus 7 Asphalt 8: Airborne” on YouTube.

By searching for this specific key phrase on YouTube, I usually can get a bunch of results showing how Google Nexus 7 performs when playing GTA San Andreas or Asphalt 8: Airborne. However, that’s not the end of my research.

After finding some video review showing the gaming performance of Google Nexus 7 when playing these games, I will then see in the video about the graphics setting that is currently being used in the review.

Usually the reviewers always inform about the graphics setting that they’re currently using when playing the games on their tablets.

So if they’re playing GTA San Andreas on Google Nexus 7, they will firstly show the graphics setting screen so that viewers can be sure whether this game is played in full graphics or only in low graphics setting.

Meanwhile, as for other games like Modern Combat 4 or Asphalt 8: Airborne, I personally can easily figure out whether these games are run in full graphics or not.

And that’s because I’ve been following these 2 games for quite some time and I’ve also already watched a lot of video reviews showing the graphic levels of these 2 games.

For example, there are some great video reviews from Chris Nacca or “Oode” on his YouTube channel. Anyway, if you haven’t known him already, Chris Nacca is a tech reviewer on YouTube.

There have been a lot of devices he has reviewed on his channel. But the thing that makes his reviews so great than any other reviews on YouTube is his detailed analysis about the gaming performance of each tablet he reviews.

So on his YouTube channel, Chris has reviewed the gaming performance of the first-gen Google Nexus 7 (Tegra 3) especially when playing some graphics-intense games like Modern Combat 4, Asphalt 8: Airborne, GTA Vice City, Dead Trigger and Need for Speed Most Wanted.

And according to his reviews, we can totally see how great Google Nexus 7 really is when playing these games in full highest graphics. They run smoothly without any lag whatsoever and of course the graphics as well as visual effects in these games can all be executed perfectly by Google Nexus 7.

So this is how exactly I measure the gaming performance of this Google Nexus 7 before I made the review of this tablet. And this goes the same with almost all other tablets that I have reviewed on this website in the past few years.

However, gaming performance is not the only thing that I mainly focus on when writing my reviews on this website. There are many other variables like camera, display, battery life and even design that I mostly gather from many video reviews from many channels on YouTube.

So if you’re currently looking for a tablet, but you don’t have a clue about how it performs for playing games, then YouTube is definitely the best place you want to visit right now.

For example, if you want to buy Nvidia Shield Tablet and you want to know its gaming performance, you can simply find video reviews of this tablet on YouTube by using the key phrase “Nvidia Shield Tablet gaming performance”.

But you can also get more specific results by typing “Nvidia Shield Tablet GTA San Andreas” or other any heavy games like Modern Combat 5, Trine 2, Half Life 2 or Asphalt 8: Airborne.

However, you probably don’t need to do all this because you already know that Nvidia Shield Tablet is a beast when it comes to playing games. I mean, you can literally throw any games and even console/PC-quality games on this device and it will still perform great without any problem.

2. By looking at the CPU or GPU of the tablet

The next alternative method you can use to measure the gaming performance of any tablet is by looking at the GPU and CPU that it comes with through the spec sheet of that device.

For example, you can easily find out that HP Slate7 Extreme is gonna be awesome for playing heavy games given that this device is powered by Nvidia Tegra 4 processor. And you probably know that this Tegra 4 processor is packing a staggering 72-core GPU.

So basically, if you see Tegra 4 processor in the spec sheet of any tablet, then it’s no brainer that that tablet is going to be a beast for gaming. No argue about that.

Besides Tegra 4 processor, there are some other flagship processors that have been proven to be great for gaming like: Snapdragon 800 + Adreno 330 GPU (and above), Tegra K1 + 192-core Kepler GPU or Mediatek MT6752M + Mali-T760 GPU (and above).

So if a tablet is powered by any of these processors and GPUs, then it’s really easy to guess that this tablet will be amazing for playing heavy 3D games.

3. By looking at entire specs of the tablet

Besides the GPU and CPU, you can then measure the gaming performance of a tablet by looking at its entire spec sheet. And this is really important because a tablet with Snapdragon 800 processor and Adreno 330 GPU doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be that great for playing heavy games.

And that can happen if that tablet is running on really heavily-customized UI or high resolution display. This is what exactly happens on Samsung GALAXY Note 3.

So despite being powered by high-end Snapdragon 800 processor and Adreno 330 GPU, Samsung GALAXY note 3 surprisingly doesn’t perform that great when playing GTA San Andreas in full graphics.

Weirdly, the other device with the same hardware package: Snapdragon 800 and Adreno 330 GPU, which is Google Nexus 5 (first-gen), amazingly performs really great when deployed with GTA San Andreas even in full highest graphics. The game runs smoothly without any meaningful lag.

The reason why Google Nexus 5 is so much better than Samsung GALAXY Note 3 when playing GTA San Andreas in full graphics is because this Google’s tablet is running on stock Android UI

Meanwhile, Samsung GALAXY Note 3 comes pre-installed with Samsung’s own TouchWiz UI, which as you know, is really heavy in terms of features and visual interface. So that’s the reason why this note tablet performs pretty laggy when playing GTA San Andreas in full graphics.

This actually also happens to my previous smartphone, Xiaomi Redmi 1S. So a few years ago, I bought this phone mainly because I see that this device is powered by Snapdragon 400 processor and Adreno 305 GPU in it.

And I also knew perfectly that Moto G, which also came with Snapdragon 400 processor and Adreno 305 GPU, has been proven to be great for playing games, as I’ve seen on many video reviews on YouTube.

But apparently, I was wrong. Xiaomi Redmi 1S was a really weak performer for playing games. And the reason why this happens is actually similar with Samsung GALAXY Note 3.

So just like Samsung’s note phablet, Xiaomi Redmi 1S is also running on a heavily-customized UI called MIUI.

And for your information, MIUI is one of Android UIs that has been widely known to be really heavy in terms of features and visual interface, just like Samsung with its TouchWiz UI.

And this contradicts with Moto G that is running on stock Android UI without any customizations from the manufacturers, or in this case Motorola. So no wonder if this device flies when deployed with even the most graphically-demanding games like Asphalt 8: Airborne or Modern Combat 4.

On the other hand, despite using the same exact Snapdragon 400 processor and Adreno 305 under its hood, Xiaomi Redmi 1S apparently is not as great as Moto G in handling games.

By looking at these 2 cases (Samsung GALAXY Note 3 and Xiaomi Redmi 1S), we can see that the gaming performance of any tablet or smartphone will always depend on some certain factors, like display resolution, software/UI, RAM (memory) and some other things, not only the GPU and CPU.

However, for the new-gen devices that just got launched in the market, I think most of them are great for playing games, even the ones that are affordable.

And that’s because I’ve seen it myself through my own phablet, Alcatel Flash Plus, which is extremely powerful for playing games, despite being a budget smartphone that costs only $180. But that’s not so surprising given that this device is packing Mali T760 MP2 GPU, which is a beast for gaming.

Bottom line, everytime you want to buy a smartphone or tablet, especially if you are a gamer, I strongly recommend you to look at its entire spec sheet before making the final decision.

4. By reading reviews of the tablet on the web

Okay, this may sound so cliche and pretty standard to hear, but I think the best method to know and measure the gaming performance of a tablet/smartphone is by reading the reviews around the net.

I know that not many reviewers on tech websites around the net are really detailed when it comes to the gaming performances of the tablets they are reviewing, especially compared to reviewers on YouTube.

But there are actually some of them that really conduct the actual reviews of the gaming performances of the tablets. And their reviews are pretty great, even with every little detail like the FPS (frame rate per second) when the game is running, the graphics setting and some benchmark tests.

So the point is, if you want to get more thorough reviews especially about the gaming performance of a tablet you’re looking forward to buy, it’s best to read the reviews on some tech websites around the web.

5. By measuring the gaming performance ourselves

I think the last and the best method to know whether a tablet is good for gaming or not is by measuring the gaming performance by yourself. And you can do that by installing some heavy 3D games that are considered as the latest and the most graphically demanding titles on the market today.

But of course, in order to be able to do this, you must firstly have the actual device on your hands.

The good news is, as mentioned above, almost all the latest-gen smartphones in the market today, even the affordable ones, are mostly great and powerful for playing games.

So even if you buy a smartphone or tablet that costs only $150, like Alcatel Flash Plus or Flash Plus 2, it’s still going to be powerful to play even the heaviest games on the market.

But of course, before making the final decision to buy the right gaming tablet for you, you must firstly do the research, from watching video reviews on YouTube > reading reviews on tech websites > and gathering information about the GPU and CPU that are powering the device.

Conclusion

Well, those are my 5 tips to measure the gaming performance of tablets I’ve reviewed on this website. Hopefully, by reading all of my tips above, you can be little bit careful before buying a new tablet or smartphone in the near future.

I know that you’re probably not really into gaming that much just like I am. But I believe it’s very important for you to find the device that is reliable especially to do the graphics-related tasks like gaming or watching high-resolution videos.

Besides, most of the latest-gen tablets and smartphones today, even the affordable ones, are still really powerful for gaming.

To name a few, there are Nvidia Shield Tablet that costs only $199, HP Slate7 Extreme, Xiaomi Mi Pad and many more.

So you don’t have to squeeze a lot of cash in your bank account just to get the right tablet that you can count on to play heavy games.

Anyway, how about you? Do you have any other method that you usually do when trying to measure the gaming performance of a tablet or smartphone? Or maybe you also happen to do the same methods I’m using above to find out about the gaming performance of a tablet?

If so, don’t hesitate to share you opinion on the comment section below. I would love to hear what you’re gonna say regarding this topic.

Best Regards,
Brian Johnson
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