Alcatel Idol X+ review: 8-ball game

Synthetic benchmarks

The Alcatel Idol X+ is powered by an octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A7 Mediatek MT6592 chipset - the first device we've reviewed capable of running on eight cores simultaneously. Unlike previous octa-core configurations that ran one set of quad-core chips or another, the Idol X+ is able to throttle any number of cores to work depending on your needs.

When it comes to graphics, you get a Mali-450MP4 GPU clocked at 700 MHz, alongside 2GB of RAM. We're very eager to see how Mediatek's chip stacks up to current flagship competition, not to mention how the robust Mali GPU fares in our graphics benchmarks.

We get things started with a couple of processor-only benchmarks, where the 2.0 GHz processor surprisingly underperforms when it comes to the single-core BenchmarkPi test. Linpack also shows a surprisingly low result despite bringing multiple cores into the mix, but that could be attributed to a dated algorithm, as Geekbench 3 puts it right among the top devices.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• LG G Flex
  99
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  99
• LG G2
  99
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  104
• Sony Xperia Z1
  115
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  115
• HTC One (M8)
  121
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  128
• HTC One Max
  131
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  132
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  132
• LG G Pro 2
  141
• LG Nexus 5
  146
• HTC One
  151
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  166
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  183
• Alcatel Idol X+
  211

Linpack

Higher is better

• LG G Flex
  1102
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  1081
• LG G2
  1054
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1034
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  1010
• Sony Xperia Z1
  1004
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  992
• HTC One (M8)
  992
• LG G Pro 2
  818
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  791
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  788
• LG Optimus G Pro
  743
• HTC One
  646
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  413
• LG Nexus 5
  393
• Alcatel Idol X+
  391

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S5
  3011
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2968
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2937
• Alcatel Idol X+
  2842
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2670
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2638
• LG G Pro 2
  2585
• Apple iPhone 5s
  2561
• LG Nexus 5
  2453
• HTC One (M8)
  2367
• LG G Flex
  2254
• LG G2
  2243
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  2172
• HTC One
  1972
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1869

Quadrant and AnTuTu are compound benchmarks which take into account RAM and GPU performance, also give the Idol X+ a commendable score, although not up to par with the latest Snapdragon 801-toting flagships.

Quadrant

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S5
  25044
• HTC One (M8)
  25035
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  21618
• LG G Flex
  20521
• Alcatel Idol X+
  20420
• Sony Xperia Z1
  20388
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  20052
• LG G Pro 2
  20010
• LG G2
  19815
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  18177
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  12446
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  12376
• LG Optimus G Pro
  12105
• HTC One
  11746
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  11404
• LG Nexus 5
  8844
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  7153

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  37009
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  36018
• LG G Flex
  35831
• LG G2
  35444
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34527
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  32162
• Alcatel Idol X+
  31717
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  31109
• Sony Xperia Z1
  30850
• LG G Pro 2
  29603
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  29185
• Samsung Galaxy S4
  27613
• HTC One
  26389
• LG Nexus 5
  25097

Our graphics benchmarks were a mixed bag. The GFXBench tests - both off-screen and on-screen variants - reflected some very poor performance, while Epic Citadel ran incredibly well, giving the Adreno graphics chips in the top rated competitors like the Galaxy S5 a real run for their money.

GFX Benchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  28.4
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  27.8
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.3
• LG Nexus 5
  23
• Sony Xperia Z1
  23
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  23
• Apple iPhone 5s
  23
• LG G Pro 2
  22.9
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  22
• LG G Flex
  22
• LG G2
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  15
• Alcatel Idol X+
  10.9
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  6.4

GFX Benchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p on-screen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  37
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34
• LG G Flex
  33
• HTC One (M8)
  30.1
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  28.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.7
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  25
• LG G Pro 2
  24.1
• LG Nexus 5
  24
• LG G2
  23.1
• Alcatel Idol X+
  10.6

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  59
• LG G Flex
  56
• Sony Xperia Z
  55.6
• Sony Xperia Z1
  54.8
• LG G Pro 2
  54.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  54
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  53.7
• Alcatel Idol X+
  53.5
• LG Nexus 5
  49.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  49
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  37.2
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  32

Web browsing is an integral part to any smartphone experience, and the Idol X+ posts respectable, if not remarkable, results in both of our browser benchmarks. The quality of the display provides for a pleasant browsing experience that somewhat makes up for the mediocre scores reflected here.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy S5
  379
• Apple iPhone 5s
  403
• LG G Pro 2
  536
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  568
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  587
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  750
• HTC One (M8)
  780
• LG Nexus 5
  827
• Sony Xperia Z1
  845
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  855
• LG G2
  908
• Alcatel Idol X+
  931
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1046
• HTC One
  1174

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  3549
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  3529
• HTC One (M8)
  3213
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3172
• LG G Pro 2
  3048
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3041
• LG Nexus 5
  2745
• LG G2
  2718
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2600
• Alcatel Idol X+
  2534
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  2438
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2419
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2398
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  2314
• HTC One
  2262

It's hard to get a bead on overall benchmark performance because the individual benchmarks varied so much. It could be that many benchmarks were not optimized to take into account "true" octa-core results, or the processor itself was adjusting its core usage during certain benchmarks.

Extraneous results aside, the Idol X+ falls respectably into a segment that's towards the top of the pack, but a step behind the cutting-edge Snapdragon 801 flagships.