Samsung Galaxy S8 Active review

Synthetic benchmarks

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active packs the same internal hardware as the proper Galaxy S8 and S8+ models in the US. The Active is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 CPU. This is an octa-core CPU made up of two 4-core Kryo clusters. One is 4x2.35 GHz and the second cluster is 4x1.9 GHz. is paired with an Adreno 540 GPU and 4GB of RAM.

Let us address the elephant on the page. The iPhone 8's new A11 Bionic is really, flipping fast. In fact, some might even argue that it's too much horsepower for a smartphone that should rather be focusing on efficiency. On the other hand, it's the fastest smartphone in the world right now, obliterating the competition - so call it a selling point, if you wish.

Starting off with the single-core tests, the S8 Active scored a bit less than the other competitors. In fact, you'll generally see this trend in this performance section. It feels like the S8 Active was slightly under-clocked since it isn't able to dissipate heat as quickly as a fully glass and metal smartphone. The added poly-carbonate and layers of protection act as a jacket and keeps in more heat than it should.

Anyway, in the single-core test, the S8 Active did okay compared to other Snapdragon 835-powered devices. All three Samsung devices with a Snapdragon 835 CPU scored toward the bottom in this test.

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 8
  4234
• Apple iPhone 8 Plus
  4232
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  1991
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  1987
• ZTE nubia Z17
  1966
• OnePlus 5
  1932
• Nokia 8
  1925
• HTC U11
  1919
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  1915
• LG V30 (non-final)
  1904
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  1879
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  1862
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  1832

In the multi-core test, The Galaxy S8 Active scored last among all Snapdragon 835 smartphones, just a few points within the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S8+. This is the third Snapdragon 835-powered Samsung device we're reviewing, and they are pretty much performing about the same.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 8
  10214
• Apple iPhone 8 Plus
  10037
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  6784
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  6656
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  6629
• ZTE nubia Z17
  6622
• OnePlus 5
  6604
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  6590
• Nokia 8
  6568
• HTC U11
  6393
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  6314
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  6301

Antutu 6 is next up and, of course, the iPhone 8 is no stranger to the top of the charts. Following Apple are two very well-optimized Android devices: the OnePlus 5 and the Moto Z2 Force. An interesting trend here can be seen at the bottom of the chart, where Samsung's SD 835 models rank from fastest to slowest: Note8, Galaxy S8+, and then Galaxy S8 Active at the very bottom. Let's keep moving.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 8
  202645
• Apple iPhone 8 Plus
  188766
• OnePlus 5
  180331
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  178674
• ZTE nubia Z17
  178629
• HTC U11
  177343
• Nokia 8
  175872
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  175153
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  174435
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  172425
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  168133
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  162790

Notice how the iPhone 8's super-fast A11 Bionic chip is not in as relatively far ahead as we saw in the previous benchmarks. This goes to show you that benchmarking apps compare phones the same way. The Moto Z2 Force and OnePlus 5 have been neck and neck for the past few benchmarks as well, tying with the iPhone 8, in fact. Exynos chipped devices did about the same or inferior to the Active, how the tables have turned with Basemark OS 2.0.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 8
  3934
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  3609
• OnePlus 5
  3601
• Apple iPhone 8 Plus
  3601
• Nokia 8
  3503
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  3424
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  3390
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  3376
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  3333
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  3319
• ZTE nubia Z17
  3281
• HTC U11
  2970

Basemark X is all about graphics. The iPhone didn't make this chart, but the Exynos powered Galaxy S8 topped it. The Active ranked around the middle among these devices.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S8
  42370
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  40890
• OnePlus 5
  38844
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  38615
• HTC U11
  38399
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  37903
• Nokia 8
  37593
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  37211
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  34951
• ZTE nubia Z17
  33513

Basemark ES 3.1 is based on OpenGL 3.1 and the Galaxy S8 Active scored toward the bottom of the score chart. The iPhones are at the top here, followed by the Exynos-powered Galaxy Note8. When it comes to the well-optimized Moto Z2 Force and OnePlus 5, these guys were beat by other Snapdragon 835 performers.

Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 8
  1690
• Apple iPhone 8 Plus
  1644
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  1268
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  1189
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  875
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  867
• Nokia 8
  855
• HTC U11
  836
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  817
• OnePlus 5
  796
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  756
• ZTE nubia Z17
  619

GFXBench takes graphics performance and is able to compare them on a more level playing field thanks to its offscreen tests, which render at a standardized 1080p resolution. While the Active did well with the 3.0 test, the 3.1 test involved a bit more stuttering at 23 fps. Tying the Active with the Galaxy S8+ for last place. The Nokia 8 did the best with 32 fps.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 8
  85
• Apple iPhone 8 Plus
  85
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  63
• ZTE nubia Z17
  63
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  61
• OnePlus 5
  60
• HTC U11
  60
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  59
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  57
• Nokia 8
  57
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  51
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  50

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 8
  60
• Apple iPhone 8 Plus
  59
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  56
• OnePlus 5
  56
• ZTE nubia Z17
  56
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  42
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  40
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  37
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  36
• HTC U11
  35
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  34
• Nokia 8
  33

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Nokia 8
  32
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  25
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  25
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  25
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  25
• ZTE nubia Z17
  25
• OnePlus 5
  24
• HTC U11
  24
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  23
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  23

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• ZTE nubia Z17
  25
• OnePlus 5
  24
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  13
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  13
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  13
• HTC U11
  13
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  12
• Samsung Galaxy S8 Active
  12
• Nokia 8
  12

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active performed just as well as the Galaxy S8+ in benchmark test. The phone generally got warm while using it in a covered warehouse in the Florida heat. If you plan on using this phone while working on-site in a high-heat environment or out in the sun, know that it will likely get warm.

The good news is that the phone can actually dissipate heat particularly well. The right edge of the phone warms up pretty uniformly thanks to (presumably) some well-situated heat pipes, pulling heat away from the CPU. That large front glass also aids in cooling the phone down.

Let's move on to telephony, and Samsung's suite of apps.