Contract Free: Moto G And Republic Wireless Review

by Seth Colaner — Friday, June 06, 2014, 11:20 AM EDT

Page 6:
Graphics & Gaming Performance

GFXBench has been one of our standard graphics performance benchmarks for a while. Recently, the company updated its software to version 3.0. With this new version, the old tests are no longer available to run for comparison. Still, we were able to round up a handful of phones to give you a feel for how the Moto G stacks up.

GFXBench and 3DMark Ice Storm

Android Gaming Benchmarks

Again, the Moto G couldn’t (and wasn’t expected to) keep up in the GFX tests, falling far behind in the Fill test. However, it’s worth noting that it was at least competitive on the T Rex test.

3DMark Ice Storm

Cutting-Edge 3D Rendering and Mobile Graphics Benchmark

We've come to place a lot of stock in how Futuremark's latest mobile 3D gaming benchmark, 3DMark Ice Storm. The test scores device performance in a number of areas, from pure polygon and shader processing to physics calculations. Futuremark is also very good about policing benchmark results in their database, looking for manufacturers trying to gain an edge by "optimizing" for the benchmark and changing the overall workload.

3DMark Ice Storm does a nice job of showing where the Moto G stands, and it’s actually encouraging. While finishing at the back of the pack, note where it stands in comparison to the two packs of devices. There’s definitely an elite grouping comprised of the HTC One (M8), Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy S5, Nexus 5, and NVIDIA SHIELD, but there’s a big drop to the middle pack populated by excellent devices including the Nexus 7, HTC One Max, and HTC One (2013).

That middle pack trails the lead pack by about the same margin that the Moto G trails the middle pack. It’s a good indication of where its performance lies.