Samsung Galaxy Core LTE review: Fast at the core

Synthetic benchmarks

The Samsung Galaxy Core LTE packs a dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU with a maximum frequency of 1.2GHz. There's 1GB of RAM in addition to the Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU. That hardware has been around for a while now, so we don't expect to be wowed by its performance.

Starting with the BenchmarkPi test, the Galaxy Core manages to score a tad better than the Galaxy S III mini. So far, the Galaxy Core LTE is off to a decent start.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  166
• Sony Xperia Z
  264
• HTC Butterfly
  266
• Oppo Find 5
  267
• HTC One X+
  280
• LG Optimus G
  285
• HTC One mini
  293
• Samsung Galaxy Express
  346
• Sony Xperia M
  400
• Samsung Galaxy Grand
  408
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  409
• Sony Xperia L
  435
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  466
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  499
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  519
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  525
• Sony Xperia go
  543
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  554
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  578
• HTC Desire X
  639
• Sony Xperia E dual
  800
• Samsung Galaxy Young
  831

Linpack

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S4
  788
• HTC One
  646
• Sony Xperia Z
  630
• HTC Butterfly
  624
• LG Optimus G
  608
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  413
• Sony Xperia SP
  348
• HTC One mini
  320
• Nexus 4
  213
• Sony Xperia L
  191
• HTC One X+
  177
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  175
• Sony Xperia M
  168
• HTC One X
  160
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  141
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  113
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  108
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  85
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  75
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  68

Geekbench 3 factors in memory performance Here the Galaxy Core LTE managed to beat the Galaxy Ace 3, which is one of its main rivals, but fell behind the original Galaxy Core.

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2937
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2670
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2638
• Apple iPhone 5s
  2561
• LG Nexus 5
  2453
• LG G2
  2243
• HTC One
  1972
• HTC One Max
  1899
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1869
• LG Optimus G
  1623
• Meizu MX3
  1579
• Huawei Ascend P6
  1315
• LG Nexus 4
  1288
• HTC Butterfly
  1257
• Oppo R819
  1047
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  1041
• HTC One mini
  887
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  647
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  564

Quadrant is a compound benchmarks, which takes into account not only CPU performance, but also memory and GPU. The Core LTE wasn't too shabby and did just as well as Sony's mid-range Xperia M and Xperia L. It also beat the original Galaxy Core result.

Quadrant

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  7153
• HTC One mini
  6048
• Sony Xperia V
  5816
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  5053
• Samsung Galaxy Express
  4998
• Sony Xperia L
  4279
• Sony Xperia M
  4147
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  4147
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  3935
• Samsung Galaxy Grand
  3914
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  3240
• Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
  3152

And in Antutu, another compound benchmark, the modest chipset was able to shoot the Galaxy Core LTE ahead of the HTC One mini, which was a pleasant surprise.

AnTuTu

Higher is better

• HTC One
  22678
• Sony Xperia Z
  20794
• Oppo Find 5
  15167
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  14518
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  13109
• HTC Butterfly
  12631
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  11616
• HTC One mini
  11434
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  11203
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  10448
• Sony Xperia M
  9902
• Sony Xperia L
  9746
• Nokia Lumia 620
  9140
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  7408
• Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
  6650

Time to put the Galaxy Core LTE PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU to a test. We ran the GFXBench T-Rex in 1080p offscreen mode. The meager 2.6fps is markedly unimpressive, but chances are it will never have to face 1080p screens in real life.

GFXBenchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1
  23.0
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  23.0
• LG G2
  22.0
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  17.1
• Apple iPad 4
  16.8
• HTC Butterfly S
  16.0
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  16.0
• Google Nexus 10
  13.9
• LG Optimus G
  13.9
• Sony Xperia Z
  13.5
• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
  13.0
• Sony Xperia ZL
  12.8
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  6.4
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
  6.3
• HTC One mini
  5.6
• Motorola Moto G
  5.6
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  4.9
• HTC Desire 700 dual sim
  3.2
• Sony Xperia C
  2.8
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  2.6
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  1.8

For a more accurate representation of the Galxy Core LTE real-life graphics prowess we stepped back to NenaMark 2. It managed to score 53.1fps in the on-screen test placing itself right below the HTC Desire 700 and beating all of its brethren such as the Galaxy Ace 3 and the Galaxy Grand Neo.

NenaMark 2

Higher is better

• HTC Desire 700 dual sim
  56.0
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  53.1
• Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
  47.3
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  47.3
• Sony Xperia E dual
  27.7
• Samsung Galaxy Fame
  26.9
• HTC Sensation XE
  23.0
• Sony Xperia J
  19.6
• LG Optimus L7
  19.3
• Sony Xperia miro
  15.9
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  15.4
• HTC Explorer
  15.1
• Samsung Galaxy Y Duos
  13.2
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  12.9
• Samsung Galaxy Ace
  12.0

Finally, we move on to the web browsing benchmarks, where the we test the Samsung Galaxy Core LTE JavaScript and HTML5 performance. The Core LTE performed on par with most of the droids in its class.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  403
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  587
• LG Nexus 5
  827
• Sony Xperia Z1
  845
• LG G2
  908
• HTC One
  1174
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  1337
• HTC One mini
  1375
• LG Nexus 4
  1379
• HTC Butterfly
  1397
• Oppo R819
  1423
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  1460
• Samsung Galaxy Grand
  1470
• Samsung Galaxy Express
  1654
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  1680
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  1691
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus
  1863
• Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
  1901
• HTC Desire X
  2259

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  2314
• HTC One
  2262
• Sony Xperia V
  1957
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  1902
• Sony Xperia L
  1809
• Sony Xperia M
  1642
• Nokia Lumia 620
  1469
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  1469
• Samsung Galaxy Grand
  1252
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  1174
• Samsung Galaxy Express
  1154
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  1100
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  1079
• Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
  1036
• Sony Xperia E
  992
• Samsung Galaxy Young
  908

Vellamo

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia SP
  2497
• HTC One
  2382
• Sony Xperia Z
  2189
• Samsung Galaxy S4
  2060
• HTC Butterfly
  1866
• Sony Xperia M
  1800
• Sony Xperia L
  1640
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  1572
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  1478
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  1409
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  1366
• Nexus 4
  1310
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  1291
• Samsung Galaxy Fame
  1234
• Samsung Galaxy Young
  1072
• Sony Xperia E dual
  1065

The Samsung Galaxy Core LTE may pack an outdated dual-core CPU, but it managed to punch above its weight in many of the tests here. It doesn't set any benchmarks on fire, of course, but it's not a disastrous performer either. And while the entry-level competitors that have moved to quad-core chipsets by MediaTek can comfortably outperform it, they can't match the 4G connectivity which is probably the reason you are checking the Galaxy Core LTE in the first place.