3DMark Android Edition is a graphics benchmarking application for Android phones and tablets. It runs predefined rendering scenes, measures graphics performance, and compares the results with other runs and devices. Short benchmarks measure a brief demanding workload, while repeated stress tests show how performance changes under continued load.
Selecting and running a benchmark
3DMark's My tests screen recommends a workload suited to the device and offers other compatible tests. Users can download or remove each workload individually; removing a scene keeps its saved scores. Tests depend on different graphics capabilities, and an older, less demanding workload may reveal little about a powerful phone.
Where offered, users select a test variant or graphics API before running it. Completed runs are saved in My results, where result cards display the main score, applicable subscores and performance charts.
Graphics workloads and test modes in 3DMark Android Edition
The main benchmarks differ in the scene they render and the graphics work they measure:
- Wild Life renders a predefined 1440p scene using Vulkan on Android. Its one-minute benchmark produces an average rendering frame rate and an overall score derived from that measurement. A higher score means a higher average frame rate in the same workload.
- Wild Life Extreme raises the rendering resolution to 4K and adds more demanding geometry, particles and effects. The graphics processor therefore handles a heavier workload than in ordinary Wild Life. Compare Extreme results with other Extreme results; their scores are not interchangeable with Wild Life scores.
- Steel Nomad Light measures non-ray-traced graphics performance on powerful phones and tablets. Its 1440p workload uses reduced geometry and effects compared with the heavier Steel Nomad test.
- Solar Bay measures ray-traced graphics on compatible hardware using Vulkan ray query on Android. Its 1440p scene contains three sections with progressively heavier ray-tracing work. The result includes an overall score and each section's average frame rate, showing how rendering performance responds as the ray-tracing load increases.
Wild Life, Wild Life Extreme and Solar Bay provide both short benchmarks and repeated stress tests:
| Mode | Workload duration | Main result | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short benchmark | One minute | Overall score and applicable frame-rate results | Graphics performance during a brief demanding workload |
| Stress test | Twenty minutes of repeated scenes | Performance curve across the run; Solar Bay also reports twenty individually scored loops | Changes in performance under sustained graphics load |
Solar Bay calculates each stress-loop score using its ordinary benchmark method, so the chart exposes changes across repeated runs of the same scene. Monitoring cards show minimum and maximum recorded values and their change during a run. Users can select preset combinations such as Battery and FPS or create a custom chart view.
Unlimited mode renders offscreen with fixed steps between frames, removing vertical synchronization and display scaling from the measurement. Wild Life offers it for both the short benchmark and stress test, while Wild Life Extreme offers it for the short benchmark only. Selecting this mode helps compare graphics chips with fewer display-related influences.
Interpreting saved results and device comparisons
The same-model result chart places an individual score within the distribution of scores submitted for that device model. Peaks identify the ranges where results are most common: a narrow distribution shows more consistent results, while a wide distribution shows greater variation between runs. Heat, multitasking and operating-system differences can contribute to the spread, making the distribution useful alongside a single best score.
The Compare screen organizes rankings by benchmark. Users can search model names, sort by name or score, and apply available platform, device-category, graphics-API and operating-system filters. Selecting up to five models produces a comparison of their average scores, with related hardware details and applicable test subscores.
Keep the selected workload and mode consistent when comparing scores because different benchmarks use different scales. Cross-platform comparisons are available for corresponding workloads, with graphics APIs and software forming part of the measured system. A model average describes its collected results; the same-model distribution provides the context for examining a particular phone's run.
3DMark Android Edition is free for noncommercial use. Commercial and press use require the appropriate separate license.
