The Great Guide to Devices

Greetings to all,

It's been a while since I did anything remotely resembling an article, so I'm somewhat nervous to be starting something with the scope I have in mind. First some background to the how, why and what. I've been a technology journalist for two years now, testing several smartphones in the process. We test these phones using various benchmarks and I always like to add my personal benchmarking tool: Football Manager. It's remarkable how different devices cope with the EME, even when they're supposed to have similar SoC (system on a chip, the processor). I find it useful to take this performance into consideration when writing my reviews, as they show how a device will cope with heavy-duty apps and it will generally give me an idea of what to expect when multitasking, playing games, etc.

Since I've seen many people ask what kind of device they need to be able to play this game without limitations or annoyances, I thought it might be a good idea to share my knowledge and combine it with this forum's. The idea was born: a comprehensive guide on as many devices as possible. 

Since I'm quite busy writing lots of different things, including a personal blog, I decided to keep it simple: a template that people can fill in, while adding a few comments and thoughts on the performance of their device. If enough people fill these out, we will get an accurate overview on the best devices to play FMM on, while eliminating as much of the personal bias as possible (bias because not everyone has access to multiple devices to compare performance).

If everyone here chips in, we'll be done in no time. I'll try to keep this OP in shape (updating every couple of days when there are new entries), but feel free to remind me if I space out for a couple of days. I'll start this thread off with some top devices: the OnePlus 3 and the new Huawei Mate 9. The template can be found at the bottom, if you're not sure of your phone's specs, GSMArena has a comprehensive database where you can check.

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Device Name: One Plus One

SoC: Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 - Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
GPU:  Adreno 330
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): 6/10
EME game speed: 9/10
Time it takes for a full game: Depends on what happens in the game
EME loading a game/processing tactics: 7/10 (2-4 seconds)
Battery drain: horrendous - dead in 2 hours or so
General comments: Booting the app takes some time however once it's loaded it's absolutely fine. 

OnePlus 3 (recorded times to follow)

SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, Quad-core (2x2.15 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6 GHz Kryo)
GPU: Adreno 530
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): 9/10
EME game speed: 8/10
Time it takes for a full game:
EME loading a game/processing tactics: 8/10
Battery drain: Very heavy (0% after approximately 2-3 hours)
General comments: While the game runs very smooth, I can't shake the feeling that the visuals of the engine (the view of the pitch) is worse than last year's game. Visuals are shaky, the flashing text almost never comes out, leading me to think that the Adreno 530 can't quite keep up with demand. Game has to be played at 'very fast' to get the actions really going.

Huawei Mate 9

Coming soon

iPad Mini 2 (recorded times to follow)

SoC: Apple A7 Dual-core 1.3 GHz Cyclone (ARM v8-based)
GPU: PowerVR G6430 (quad-core graphics)
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): 10/10
EME game speed: 10/10
Time it takes for a full game:
EME loading a game/processing tactics: 10/10
Battery drain: Light (0% after approximately 6-7 hours)
General comments: The prototype of how the game should be played. Unfortunately, the screen is too big for my taste, making it difficult to play with my thumbs. Putting it down and using index fingers works, but that's not usually the way I do it.

 

Template:

Device Name

SoC: 
GPU: 
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): x/10
EME game speed: x/10
Time it takes for a full game: ->I suggest starting the second you push the 'yes' button that takes you to the game, right up until you press 'continue' to take you back out of the match.
EME loading a game/processing tactics: x/10
Battery drain: 
General comments: 

 

Closing notes

I hope as many people as possible join in, so we can share our experiences and help people get the best device possible and their money's worth. Feel free to suggest other parameters as well!

Edited November 22, 2016 by Jens

[billy2shots]

Hi Jens, a really good idea but something like this only works if the same person reviews everything doesn't it?
My 9/10 for something could be your 5/10 so there is no way to get an accurate comparison between the devices.

Or am I missing something?

[Jens]

3 minutes ago, billy2shots said:

Hi Jens, a really good idea but something like this only works if the same person reviews everything doesn't it?
My 9/10 for something could be your 5/10 so there is no way to get an accurate comparison between the devices.

Or am I missing something?

Yes, which is why I'm hoping enough people will fill out a template, so we get multiple reviews of the same device. That way we can distill an average number.

EDIT: two would be enough to start, for instance. And even if we only get one/device, I still believe it's valuable to know someone's thoughts with the device you're interested in buying.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Jens

[Ben Allingham]

Hey Jens,

Really like this idea! Just to follow on from what Billy has said, it might be useful to include the times of your match engine speed tests. That way people can compare their results to what you consider a 10/10, 8/10 etc.

[Jens]

4 minutes ago, Ben Allingham said:

Hey Jens,

Really like this idea! Just to follow on from what Billy has said, it might be useful to include the times of your match engine speed tests. That way people can compare their results to what you consider a 10/10, 8/10 etc.

Good call. Builts in an automatic comparison

[Rumtickler]

Device Name: One Plus One

SoC: Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 - Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
GPU:  Adreno 330
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): 6/10

Note: Booting the app takes some time however once it's loaded it's absolutely fine. 

EME game speed: 9/10
Time it takes for a full game: Depends on what happens in the game >.>
EME loading a game/processing tactics: 7/10 (2-4 seconds)
Battery drain: horrendous - dead in 2 hours or so
General comments: 

 

[Jens]

11 minutes ago, Rumtickler said:

Device Name: One Plus One

SoC: Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 - Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
GPU:  Adreno 330
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): 6/10

Note: Booting the app takes some time however once it's loaded it's absolutely fine. 

EME game speed: 9/10
Time it takes for a full game: Depends on what happens in the game >.>
EME loading a game/processing tactics: 7/10 (2-4 seconds)
Battery drain: horrendous - dead in 2 hours or so
General comments: 

 

This is a good one, have one at home myself so we can compare

[Rossma]

1 hour ago, Ben Allingham said:

Hey Jens,

Really like this idea! Just to follow on from what Billy has said, it might be useful to include the times of your match engine speed tests. That way people can compare their results to what you consider a 10/10, 8/10 etc.

This is a great idea for all the test parameters as speed seems to be the issue (loading the game, playing a match although this could become subjective depending on how you play (think defining that for the test you just hit play and leave even if you are normally an in game tweaker etc)  , sits with stopwatch in hand while playing the game 

[DaBla27]

HI Jens,

You probably already have this in mind but once (hopefully) you have a high number of templates completed it would be good if you could summarise the findings into one post so that it made it easier for people to view.  If you're already going to do that then apologies.

I will complete a template later for my iPad 4th Gen.

[Lochheart]

On an iPhone 6S, I have around 4/5h before shut down.

[Rossma]

 

Device Name: iphone 6 plus 64GB

SoC: Apple A8
GPU: M8 Motion co-processor
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): Time to Load Game 7.22secs 
EME game speed: Depends on what happens in the game/how user plays (see below for test)
Time it takes for a full game: 1min 54 seconds  Game Settings (Key & Fast , no substitutions or in game tweaks made)
EME loading a game/processing tactics : 2.56secs
Battery drain: 9/10hrs before shut down.
General comments: 

[Jens]

5 minutes ago, Rossma said:

 

Device Name: iphone 6 plus 64GB

SoC: Apple A8
GPU: M8 Motion co-processor
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): Time to Load Game 7.22secs 
EME game speed: Depends on what happens in the game/how user plays (see below for test)
Time it takes for a full game: 1min 54 seconds  Game Settings (Key & Fast , no substitutions or in game tweaks made)
EME loading a game/processing tactics : 2.56secs
Battery drain: 9/10hrs before shut down.
General comments: 

Wow, that's pretty good. And I thought the Hawei Mate 9 was going to be a reference model

[DaBla27]

Apple iPad 4th Gen

SoC: Apple A6X 1.4 GHz dual core Apple Swift
GPU:  Quad-core PowerVR SGX554MP4
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): 8/10
EME game speed: 8/10
Time it takes for a full game: As others have stated, it depends on the what happens in the match and if people watch extended or key highlights etc.  Personally, I just watch the commentary.  A normal game for me would be to watch it on Very Fast and make subs around the 60/65 minute mark.  In that situation, a game would take around 60 secs or less.
EME loading a game/processing tactics: 8/10
Battery drain: I would say from 100% to 0% would take anywhere between 2-3 hours.
General comments: EME runs a lot quicker on FMM17 than it did on 16.  I have no issues with the speed of it at all.  It is a 4th Gen iPad so battery life obviously isn't great now the device is around 4 years old but being honest all I use it for now is playing FMM and some very light browsing.  At the moment I take it into work to charge up during the day for game time at night.

[Jens]

47 minutes ago, Rossma said:

 

Device Name: iphone 6 plus 64GB

SoC: Apple A8
GPU: M8 Motion co-processor
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): Time to Load Game 7.22secs 
EME game speed: Depends on what happens in the game/how user plays (see below for test)
Time it takes for a full game: 1min 54 seconds  Game Settings (Key & Fast , no substitutions or in game tweaks made)
EME loading a game/processing tactics : 2.56secs
Battery drain: 9/10hrs before shut down.
General comments: 

 

20 hours ago, Rumtickler said:

Device Name: One Plus One

SoC: Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 - Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
GPU:  Adreno 330
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): 6/10

Note: Booting the app takes some time however once it's loaded it's absolutely fine. 

EME game speed: 9/10
Time it takes for a full game: Depends on what happens in the game >.>
EME loading a game/processing tactics: 7/10 (2-4 seconds)
Battery drain: horrendous - dead in 2 hours or so
General comments: 

 

I'd say: do three or four runs through random games and calculate the average time (key events, very fast, no subs or anything). This is not exact science, but trying to offer a general overview.

[Rossma]

Device Name : ipad 2nd Generation (wi-fi 16GB)

SoC: Apple A5  Dual-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A9
GPU:  PowerVR SGX543MP2
General loading speed (continuing the game, starting a new game,...): Time to Load 17.4secs
OME game speed:  Depends on what happens in the game/how user plays (see below for test)
Time it takes for a full game: -> 1min 20secs (game settings very fast , commentary only , no subs or tweaks)
OME loading a game/processing tactics: 16 secs
Battery drain: 9/10 hours ( i have my wi/fi disabled to conserve the battery as only play FMM on it )
General comments: will only play OME