CPU Performance
Our performance comparisons will focus on five current flagship smartphones; four running Android and the iPhone 6.
| Galaxy Note 4 | iPhone 6 | Droid Turbo | Nexus 6 | OnePlus One | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SoC | Exynos 5433 | Apple A8 | Snapdragon 805 | Snapdragon 805 | Snapdragon 801 |
| CPU Cores | Quad-core A57 1.9 GHz Quad-core A53 1.3 GHz |
Dual Cyclone 1.4 GHz | Quad-core Krait 450 2.7 GHz | Quad-core Krait 450 2.7 GHz | Quad-core Krait 400 2.5 GHz |
| GPU Cores | Mali-T760 | PowerVR GX6450 | Adreno 420 | Adreno 420 | Adreno 330 |
| RAM | 3GB LPDDR3 | 1GB LPDDR3 | 3GB LPDDR3 | 3GB LPDDR3 | 3GB LPDDR3 |
| Screen | 2560x1440 Super AMOLED 5.7-in (515 ppi) | 1334x750 IPS LCD 4.7-in (326 ppi) | 2560x1440 Super AMOLED 5.2-in (565 ppi) | 2560x1440 AMOLED 5.96-in (493 ppi) | 1920x1080 LTPS LCD 5.5-in (401 ppi) |
| Storage | 32GB eMMC MicroSD Slot (up to 128GB) |
16/64/128 GB eMMC | 32/64 GB eMMC MicroSD Slot |
32/64 GB eMMC | 16/64 GB eMMC |
| Camera | 16MP Rear 2MP Front |
8MP Rear 1.2MP Front |
21MP Front 2MP Rear |
13MP Front 2MP Front |
13MP 5MP Front |
| Battery | 12.4 Whr 3220 mAh |
6.9 Whr 1810mAh |
14.8 Whr 3900 mAh |
12.2 Whr 3220 mAh |
11.8 Whr 3100 mAh |
| Network | Ericsson M7450 LTE (Cat 4) | Qualcomm MDM9x25 Gobi | Qualcomm LTE Cat 4 |
Qualcomm MDM9x25 UE Category 4 LTE | Qualcomm MDM9x25 UE Category 4 LTE |
| Connectivity | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz) Bluetooth 4.1 USB 2.0 |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz) Bluetooth 4.0 USB 2.0 |
802.11a/b/g/n (2.4/5 GHz) Bluetooth 4.0 USB 2.0 |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz) Bluetooth 4.1 USB 2.0 |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz) Bluetooth 4.1 USB 2.0 |
| OS | Android 4.4.4 | iOS 8.1.3 | Android 4.4.4 | Android 5.0.1 | Android 4.4.4 |
Geekbench 3 is Primate Labs' cross-platform processor benchmark, with a new scoring system that separates single-core and multi-core performance, and new workloads that simulate real-world scenarios. Geekbench 3 makes it easier than ever to find out if your computer is up to speed. Every test in Geekbench 3 is multi-core aware. This allows Geekbench to show you the true potential of your system. Whether you're running Geekbench on a dual-core phone or a 32-core server, Geekbench is able to measure the performance of all the cores in your system.
Geekbench acts much like a traditional synthetic processor benchmark would, giving us an idea of the peak performance that the CPU offers in both integer and floating point math.
Geekbench starts out giving the performance advantage to the Exynos 5433 processor in the unlocked Galaxy Note 4. Single threaded performance is only slightly behind the iPhone 6 though the multi-threaded results are a large jump over the next fastest option, the Google Nexus 6. This is the only smartphone in our testing that uses the big.LITTLE 8-core CPU design, for now.
Floating point performance looks similar though the Cyclone cores of the Apple A8 have a bigger single threaded advantage over anything else we have in-house. Multi-threaded performance is also closer but the Exynos 5433 is still the best available option for a smartphone.
Octane 2.0 is a modern benchmark that measures a JavaScript engine’s performance by running a suite of tests representative of today’s complex and demanding web applications. Octane‘s goal is to measure the performance of JavaScript code found in large, real-world web applications, running on modern mobile and desktop browsers.
The updated Octane 2.0 benchmark includes four new tests to measure new aspects of JavaScript performance, among which: garbage collection / compiler latency and asm.js-style JavaScript performance.
Our testing with Google Octane was done exclusively on the latest version of the Chrome browser on Android, and Safari on iOS.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is the fastest Android phone in our testing using Chrome for this test.
Kraken is a JavaScript performance benchmark created by Mozilla that measures the speed of several different test cases extracted from real-world applications and libraries. The test cases include:
- An implementation of the A* search algorithm
- Audio processing using Corban Brook's DSP.js library
- Image filtering routines, including code from Jacob Seidelin's Pixastic library.
- JSON parsing, including data from Tinderboxpushlog
- Cryptographic routines from the Stanford JavaScript Crypto Library
Our testing with Mozilla Kraken was done exclusively on the latest version of the Chrome browser on Android and Safari on iOS.
Mozilla's JavaScript browser test is a bit older and the Exynos 5433 from Samsung has trouble keeping up with the iPhone 6 as well as the two Snapdragon 805 phones.
This is SunSpider, a JavaScript benchmark. This benchmark tests the core JavaScript language only, not the DOM or other browser APIs. It is designed to compare different versions of the same browser, and different browsers to each other.
This test mostly avoids microbenchmarks, and tries to focus on the kinds of actual problems developers solve with JavaScript today, and the problems they may want to tackle in the future as the language gets faster. This includes tests to generate a tagcloud from JSON input, a 3D raytracer, cryptography tests, code decompression, and many more examples. There are a few microbenchmarkish things, but they mostly represent real performance problems that developers have encountered.
This test is balanced between different areas of the language and different types of code. It's not all math, all string processing, or all timing simple loops. In addition to having tests in many categories, the individual tests were balanced to take similar amounts of time on currently shipping versions of popular browsers.
One of the challenges of benchmarking is knowing how much noise you have in your measurements. This benchmark runs each test multiple times and determines an error range (technically, a 95% confidence interval). In addition, in comparison mode it tells you if you have enough data to determine if the difference is statistically significant.
Our testing with SunSpider was done exclusively on the latest version of the Chrome browser on Android, and Safari on iOS.
Similar results in SunSpider - the Exynos 5433 is only able to outperform the OnePlus One using the Snapdragon 801 processor.
Vellamo 3.1 is designed to be an accurate, easy-to-use suite of system-level benchmarks for devices based on Android 4.0 forward. In Vellamo we want to enable performance enthusiasts to really understand their system, and how it compares to other systems, and our mission has just begun.
Vellamo began as a mobile web benchmarking tool that today has expanded to include three primary Chapters. The Browser Chapter evaluates mobile web browser performance, the Multicore Chapter measures the synergy of multiple CPU cores, and the Metal Chapter measures the single core CPU subsystem performance of mobile processors.
This test is Android-only, so the Apple results will be ignored.
Another browser test shows that the Exynos 5433, with the glory of 8-cores, isn't enough to overtake the Snapdragon 805.
Obviously where this SoC excels is in the multi-threaded testing, where the 4+4 design Samsung has chosen to implement can thrive.
The Metal test measures raw single threaded performance and the Exynos 5433 SoC is able to maintain a performance lead over the three other tested Android phones.
WebXPRT 2013 uses scenarios created to mirror the tasks you do every day to compare the performance of almost any Web-enabled device. It contains four HTML5- and JavaScript-based workloads: Photo Effects, Face Detect, Stocks Dashboard, and Offline Notes.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 finds itself in the middle of the pack, resulting in an overall score that is just behind the Motorola Droid Turbo and the iPhone 6. The Note 4 scores are photo effects and face detection show an impressive performance victory as it was able to outpace the Nexus 6 and the iPhone 6.
Brought to you by the independent industry association, EEMBC (www.eembc.org) – developing industry-standard benchmarks since 1997.
- Allows device vendors to assess performance, drive competitive analysis, and accomplish stability testing
- Empowers end-users to validate and compare capabilities of their phones or tablets
- Compare your benchmark results with other uploaded results at our website - www.eembc.org/andebenchpro.php
- Automated statistical analysis for minimum, median, and maximum values
Focuses on the key metrics that reflect the most common usage models of Android devices
- Hardware tests exercise CPU, GPU, memory, and storage
- Platform tests target common application services including GUI rendering, XML parsing, image operations, cryptography
The Galaxy Note 4 takes over our last CPU benchmark with a win, especially in the CoreMark test that focuses on synthetic peak performance capability. Memory bandwidth also measures high, matching that of the Nexus 6 and significantly faster than the Droid Turbo.
Nice review.
On the first
Nice review.
On the first page there is a mistake: for specs 3GB or RAM instead of 32GB of RAM.
Thanks.
Just predicting the
Thanks.
Just predicting the future. 🙂
What phone has 32GB of RAM
What phone has 32GB of RAM LOL
What phone has 32GB of RAM
What phone has 32GB of RAM LOL
What phone has 32GB of RAM
What phone has 32GB of RAM LOL
I’ve had the Note4 since it
I’ve had the Note4 since it was released and it has become my main device. I rarely use my laptop/desktop and never use my tablet anymore. My day is from 6am to 11pm and it lasts the whole day on a charge as well.
That’s a pretty good
That's a pretty good endorsement. Do you use the split screen stuff at all? What has your experience been like?
I usually keep the split
I usually keep the split screen off because it is super easy to do accidentally. When I do use the split screen I’ll usually have web/email on one side and reddit/twitter on the other, depending if I’m working or wasting time.
I had the Note 2 before this, so the size I am used to, but the ability to draw/take notes is phenomenal even compared to the Note 2.
In the evenings the feature I use the most is the TV controls. I’ve also got a Gear 2 and between them I can control my kid’s TV time never needing a remote.
I have the HTC one max that
I have the HTC one max that is a 5.9″ screen phone and I can never go back to a smaller screen not to mention having that large battery (4500mAh with the power flip case).
I use my Lumia 1520 (6 inch)
I use my Lumia 1520 (6 inch) as a phone and tablet. I have been also paying attenuation to the Note line, including the Note 4. Thanks for the review.
I’m really liking this device
I’m really liking this device as a Camera that makes phone calls and a productivity tool. Its suprising to me that I can use it to surf the Web so efficiently that I find myself relying on the Note 4 rather than my desktop!
I use the split often to drag and drop content from say a webpage to a Gmail note using the Stylus. The Pen writing feature is great, very fast & accurate /w a bit of practice!
Recommended!
Did you forget to switch of
Did you forget to switch of Power Saving mode on the device?
The GPU performance should be way better that is being shown here.
Maybe thermal limits or something, those Midgard Mali GPU’s (Especially the 7 series) should perform exceptionally well on 20nm.
Good review.
After reading
Good review.
After reading this review, I may consider getting this phone when I am eligible with my carrier. It is either this or the new HTC One M9, which isn’t as big as the Note 4.
My only experience with a Samsung Phone is the S4, which is my work phone. The screen is very prone to scratching through normal use. I had it for a week before I got a screen protector and it already had a bunch of scratches on it compared to my personal phone, the HTC One M8.
Also,
You say the front
Also,
You say the front facing camera is 3.7MP but in the spec list you show it is a 2MP…
Which is it?
Hearing the expression ‘hate
Hearing the expression ‘hate on’ in the video was… disturbing.
I get that you go for a more casual tone in the videos when compared to written reviews, but that might be a step too far.
(No subject)
It should be noted that the
It should be noted that the iPhone 6 does not have the best phone camera. This title belongs to the Lumia 930, which is in a different league. Just check out Paul Thurrott’s site (Thurrott.com) for a review.
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