Ok, so this is not the first time that OnePlus gets embroiled in a controversy where they allegedly have “cheated” to bring out high benchmark numbers. The testers over at XDA have called them out before, for padding benchmark results of the OnePlus 3T. Now XDA is back with sterner allegations, that the OnePlus 5’s padding on benchmarks is even more blatant than before. The CEO’s response is this, “We don’t even know how to overclock.”
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau, in an interview with news site IndianExpress.com, responded to the allegations that the Chinese company cheated again on benchmarks. “We only try to tap the full potential of the CPU. We don’t even know how to overclock.” XDA has alleged that OnePlus is using software code to reduce thermal throttling, which in layman’s language is – allowing the processor to go beyond heat limitations when a benchmark app is being used. According to Lau in the same interview, “If there is heating the performance of the CPU will not reach the maximum.” This lines up with their initial statement that they are allowing the device to show its “true performance potential”, just like in daily use.
So how do we respond to this? Firstly, we really can’t take Lau’s novel statement that “they don’t know how to overclock” seriously. Any engineer worth his salt – and any software engineer for mobile devices for that matter – will and should know how to manipulate and control a processor’s clock speed. So that comment about not knowing how to overclock is pure rubbish and probably is just marketing hyperbole from OnePlus’s CEO.
There is actually potential in what they have said in their defense, because this has been their defense even from the OnePlus 3T fiasco – that they allowed the processor to run at higher speeds for apps that required such performance, like games for example. It was just a bit improper for them to target benchmark apps in the same code. Allowing the device to perform harder than usual – beyond the normal heat throttling – for certain apps is acceptable as long as it doesn’t put the user’s safety at risk. That said, there is always a big risk that industry testers like the people at XDA will cry foul because this is borderline improper when used to target specific benchmark apps.
Watch this space for more of the updates on this issue. We have a feeling that the banter between XDA and OnePlus is not done yet.
SOURCE: Indian Express
