About DeadTier
A benchmark that runs in the browser on any phone, tablet, laptop or desktop, and shows only what it measured.
What it is for
The pitch is one sentence: the shop says this device is top tier - test it and see. It runs on a demo unit on a counter, on a phone you are about to buy second-hand, on the laptop you already own. Nothing is installed, no account is made, and a full run takes about a minute.
What it measures
- Processor. One worker per core, each running a loop of arithmetic for 3 passes of 5 seconds. The median pass is the score, and how far the passes differed is printed next to it.
- Rendering. Twenty thousand moving sprites drawn on a canvas over the same 3 passes, with every frame timed individually - which is what makes the 1% low and the hitch count possible, and what separates smooth from merely fast.
- Display. The screen's refresh rate, read from how often the browser is able to paint.
- Core structure. Each worker reports its own throughput, so the spread between the fastest and the slowest is kept. A wide spread is strong evidence of a chip with big and little cores - something the score by itself cannot show.
What it refuses to show
A browser cannot read a processor's temperature, cannot locate heat on a chip, and cannot measure battery drain over a run this short. Earlier versions of this project displayed all three - simulated, with randomness added so they looked measured. They were deleted, not replaced. The rule since has been never display a number the app did not measure, and every figure on the results screen carries a caption saying how it was produced, so it can be checked rather than believed.
The one estimate, and where it says so
The tier - Flagship, High-End, Mid-Range, Entry-Level, Budget, DEAD TIER - places a result against what a strong device of the same type scores. Until 30 devices of a type have been tested here, that reference is an estimate, anchored on one real measured phone, and the results screen says so directly beneath the dial along with the count so far. From 30 on, the tier comes from where a device actually falls among the ones tested here, and the same line says that instead.
What it stores
Your results stay in your own browser. When a run finishes, a copy of the measurements - carrying nothing that identifies you or your device - is sent here to build that reference, once per device ever. Opening /?contribute=off runs the test without adding anything. The privacy page lists every field, written from the code that sends it.
How it is paid for
DeadTier is free to use, and Google AdSense ads are how it is meant to pay for itself. The ads are chosen and labelled by Google, and they have no bearing on any result - the measurements are made on your device, in your browser, before anything is sent anywhere. The privacy page explains Google's cookies and how to opt out of personalised ads.
Who runs it, and why
DeadTier is built and run by an independent developer in Malaysia, with no affiliation to any device maker or retailer.
It exists because phone makers describe nearly every model as the best of the best, and a buyer has no quick way to check. DeadTier puts the device to the test instead: the same test on any phone, tablet, laptop or desktop, and a score that comes from what the device actually did - never from its name, its brand or its marketing. Questions, corrections, and reports of a device that read wrongly are read at deadtiermail@gmail.com.
The guides on this site are written to be read; none of them is generated from a result. The terms of use set out what a result does and does not promise.