While waiting for its launch, the Nothing phone (1) continues to be the subject of leaks. Its Nothing OS software would do well with benchmark applications.
We now know almost everything about the Nothing phone (1), but we still had to find out more about its NothingOS software. The journalist Dylan Rousselwell known for his contributions to 9To5Google where he analyzes the content of applications, was able to get his hands on valuable information around the first Nothing smartphone.
Beyond the multiple references to OnePlus, which could be expected given the proximity between the two brands, it is the behavior vis-à-vis the benchmarks that could be shocking.
The OS is named “Nothing OS (1)”… Which I think was pretty much expected.
And the version is set in the build prop: ro/.nothing.version.id (ignore the /)
— Dylan Roussel 🇺🇦 (@evowizz) July 11, 2022
A benchmark manager to improve results
In 2021, OnePlus had already been caught red-handed for benchmark manipulation. But, unlike OnePlus, whose manipulations affected well beyond benchmarks, Nothing’s software seems to be aimed particularly at these applications dedicated to performance testing. Dylan Roussel has indeed got his hands on a list of applications for a “Benchmark Manager” where we find the greatest successes in the sector: Antutu, Geekbench, Gfxbench, PCMark and all the others.
In other character strings, we can read in black and white as a comment that Nothing has provided specific parameters for the Antutu benchmark. The brand would modify the frequency of the CPU and GPU cores and would even have planned a “PowerModeBench boostwhich ends up saying a lot about the modifications.
That’s not all, other files are whitelisted or blacklisted for specific applications and certain uses. For example, a whitelist for 5G incorporates speedtest applications, perhaps to allow the modem to increase its performance if such an application is launched.
Nothing is not the first brand to be accused of manipulation. For several years, manufacturers have been caught in the bag, to the point of being banned by certain applications. We think of Huawei and Honor, Oppo or even OnePlus.
These days, even the newest fans of the smartphone world have heard of benchmarks. Comparing the scores of different smartphones is always something exhilarating, since it allows you to…
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