With all of the comparisons of the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III specs floating around, you've probably seen a lot of Android fans boasting Samsung's device has better hardware specs.
Even Samsung is running a full-page newspaper ad that breaks it all down.
But in reality, the spec sheets don't mean much if the device can't perform. That's why we have benchmark tests that show how hardware performs under a variety of conditions. The folks at Geekbench were able to put the iPhone 5's new A6 processor through the test, and it performed extremely well, even better than Samsung's Galaxy S III. We came across Geekbench's test on MacRumors.
For reference, a benchmark score is a number assigned to a device based on how it performs overall under tests. The higher the score is, the better.
In the coming days, you'll probably hear a lot about "quad-core" and "dual-core" processors. Ignore that. All that matters is how the devices perform in real-world conditions.
Here's a nifty chart, that shows how the iPhone 5 benchmark score compares to the Galaxy S III and other top-of-the-line Android phones.
Note: The Galaxy S III processor tested here is the quad-core version. The U.S. version of the Galaxy S III has a slower processor.
Note 2: These are average benchmark scores. Individual scores will differ a bit with each test.
