What DeadTier is

DeadTier is a free test that runs in your web browser and measures how fast a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop really is. There is nothing to install and no account to make, so it works on the device you own, on a second-hand phone you are thinking of buying, or on a demo unit in a shop. A full run takes about a minute.

How to use it

1. Open this page on the device you want to test.
2. Check that the big button names the right kind of device - "Test my phone", "Test my laptop" and so on. If it does not, tap the right one under it. The verdict depends on it.
3. For a fair result, unplug the charger and close other apps first.
4. Press the button and leave the device alone until it finishes. Touching the screen or switching to another tab during the test lowers the result.

What the test measures

• Processor. Every core works through the same maths loop at the same time, for three rounds of five seconds, and the middle round is the one that counts.
• Smoothness. Twenty thousand moving shapes are drawn while every frame is timed, giving the average frame rate and the 1% low - the slowest frames, which is where lag shows.
• Screen. How many times a second the display is actually refreshing.
• Speed under load. A chart shows whether the device holds its speed through the test or slows down as it goes.

How the test works goes through each step in detail.

What your result means

You get a score out of 100 on one scale for every kind of device, where 100 means matching a strong current desktop - so a phone and a laptop can be compared directly, and a phone is expected to score lower. You also get a tier for its type: Flagship, High-End, Mid-Range, Entry-Level, Budget or DEAD TIER. Until 30 devices of a type have been tested here, the tier is an estimate, and the results screen says so. What the score means explains it in full.

What it does not measure

A browser cannot read a processor's temperature or measure battery drain over a short test, and it cannot benchmark a graphics chip the way an installed app can, so DeadTier shows none of those. Every number on the results screen is measured on the device running the test, and each one carries a caption saying how. Browser benchmarks vs app benchmarks explains where the line is.

Guides

• What does the score actually mean?
• How does the test work?
• How to get an accurate result
• Why is my new phone slower than my old one?
• What makes a device throttle?
• Is my phone throttling?
• What is 1% low FPS?
• Why does the same device score differently?
• How to test a phone in a shop
• What GPU does my phone have?
• How to speed up an old laptop or PC
• Phone vs laptop vs desktop performance
• Browser vs app benchmarks

Short answers to common questions are in the FAQ.