LG G3 vs. HTC One (M8): Duel duo

Performance

While both phones use Snapdragon 801 chipsets, Qualcomm's model numbers show the chipsets aren't the same. The MSM8975AC of the LG G3 features a higher clockspeed for its four Krait (2.5GHz), compared to the MSM8974AB (2.3GHz).

The LG G3 also packs up to 3GB of RAM compared to 2GB for the HTC One (M8). We say "up to" because the 32GB version has 3GB of RAM, while the more affordable 16GB version has 2GB, putting it on equal ground with the HTC One (M8).

Note that the QHD screen of the G3 has 78% more pixels than the 1080p screen of the One (M8), which will put more strain on the GPU but also tax the RAM (which is shared between the CPU and GPU).

The South Korean version we tested is the 3GB/32GB one, while the international version is the 2GB/16GB.

Let's check how both phones do on the popular BaseMark OS II test. The LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l) tops the chart and surprisingly, the international version performs much better than the South Korean one one with 3GB RAM.

When it comes to single-core performance, the HTC One (M8) is better, while the LG G3 win at the multi-core test.

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  1151
• HTC One (M8)
  1126
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  945

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  2428
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  2137
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  1787

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better

• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  9937
• HTC One (M8)
  9860
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  8337

Now let's see how both phones place in GeekBench 3. The LG G3 is close to other flagships in the pack, while the HTC One (M8) lags a bit behind (as can be expected with its lower CPU clockrate).

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Oppo Find 7a
  3093
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  3011
• Sony Xperia Z2
  2856
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  2687
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  2563
• HTC One (M8)
  2367

AnTuTu tests the whole system and I found a bigger difference, placing the two flagships at the top and bottom, but with the One (M8) winning this round. This may well be due to the graphics part of the test.

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  37009
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  36018
• Oppo Find 7a
  33344
• Sony Xperia Z2
  33182
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  32780
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  30482

Offscreen performance is within a frame, showing that the Adreno 330's in both chipsets are practically equal.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  28.4
• Oppo Find 7a
  28.4
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  27.8
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  27.6
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  27.2
• Sony Xperia Z2
  27.2

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  11.9
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  11.8
• Sony Xperia Z2
  11.7
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  11.4
• Oppo Find 7a
  11.4
• HTC One (M8)
  11.1

In on-screen performance, the LG G3 takes about a 33% hit compared to offscreen results. That's not bad, as we said the difference in pixel count is more than twice that. Still, games may have to resort to rendering at 1080p internally and upscaling as the Adreno 330 generation really wasn't meant for QHD resolutions.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  30.1
• Oppo Find 7a
  28.8
• Sony Xperia Z2
  28.7
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  28.1
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  20.6
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  20.5

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z2
  12.2
• HTC One (M8)
  11.9
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  11.7
• Oppo Find 7a
  11.4
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  7.4
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  7.2

To confirm that, we switched to Epic Citadel (set to Ultra high quality and 100% rendering resolution) and here the HTC One (M8) hit the 60fps software-imposed framerate limit, while the LG G3 managed only about 43fps on average. That's certainly playable, but for fast-paced action games a fluid framerate is more important than resolution.

Epic Citadel (Ultra)

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  59
• Oppo Find 7a
  57.7
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  53.7
• Sony Xperia Z2
  52.6
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  43.2
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  42.9

In competition with Samsung, LG modify the internals of the stock Android browser to speed up its JavaScript engine, other companies do this as well. Not HTC though, the One (M8)'s Kraken 1.1 score reveal a comparatively sluggish performance, while the LG G3 comes within striking distance of the other flagships.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  6043
• Oppo Find 7a
  6660
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  6987
• Sony Xperia Z2
  7041
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  7610
• HTC One (M8)
  10296

The BrowserMark 2.1 score is similarly in favor of the G3. Note that this test renders HTML5 pages and the extra resolution on the LG slows it down so the gap is narrower but still there.

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  1474
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  1398
• Oppo Find 7a
  1327
• LG G3 32GB (3GB RAM, KR)
  1254
• Sony Xperia Z2
  1224
• HTC One (M8)
  1069

We run several consecutive tests to make sure we get reliable results. With Epic Citadel in particular we noticed that the LG G3 performance started degrading even after the first run - 43fps is the highest we got but after just four runs it dropped to 27fps. The HTC One (M8) meanwhile held steady.

This is a heat issue - the chipset gets throttled so that it doesn't overheat. We've run similar tests on the Samsung Galaxy S5 and performance started to degrade only after prolonged play. So this is something to keep in mind, the LG G3 performance is actually lower than the best-case scenario results shown above.

We were also surprised to see the 2GB Euro version of the LG G3 perform equally well and in some cases beat its 3GB sibling. We haven't tested the 3GB Euro version, but there's no reason it should perform differently than its South Korean twin.

Winner: HTC One (M8). The standard 1080p resolution was a boon for the One (M8) as it enabled noticeably higher framerates in games. The stock browser on the One (M8) could use some work though.

The LG G3 meanwhile showcased close to great performance, but this goes away once it started running into overheating issues.