IFA 2013: Samsung hands-ons

Synthetic benchmarks and performance

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the third device running on the Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 800 chipset we meet. It is powered by a quad-core 2.3GHz Krait 400 processor, an Adreno 330 graphics and has 3GB of RAM. It also packs a 1080p display, so we can easily compare the performance of the new chipset to the old generation processors.

The Krait 800 processor clocked at 2.3GHz is currently the fastest processor on the market. We start with a single-core test and we were treated to quite the result. The Note 3 had absolutely no problem topping our BenchmarkPi tests chart.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  98
• LG G2
  99
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  115
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  130
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  132
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  132
• HTC Butterfly S
  135
• LG Optimus G Pro
  147
• HTC One
  151
• 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 Note II
  305
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  330
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  350
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  359
• Nexus 4
  431

Next, we put all four cores to the test with the multi-core version of the Linpack benchmark. The Note 3 didn't disappoint again, easily beating the entire competition here.

Linpack

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  1091
• LG G2
  1054
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1034
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  818
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  791
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  788
• LG Optimus G Pro
  743
• HTC Butterfly S
  669
• HTC One
  646
• Sony Xperia Z
  630
• HTC Butterfly
  624
• LG Optimus G
  608
• Oppo Find 5
  593
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  413
• HTC One mini
  320
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  214.3
• Nexus 4
  213.5
• HTC One X+
  177.7
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  175.5
• HTC One X
  160.9
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  141.5

AnTuTu evaluates the overall device performance instead of just the CPU, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and its Snapdragon 800 chipset shine again though it couldn't beat the LG G2.

AnTuTu

Higher is better

• LG G2
  35444
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  32907
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  29185
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  26275
• HTC Butterfly S
  25357
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  24716
• HTC One
  22678
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  21363
• Sony Xperia Z
  20794
• LG Optimus G Pro
  20056
• HTC Butterfly
  19513
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  15547
• Oppo Find 5
  15167
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  14518
• HTC One mini
  11434

Time to test the Adreno 330 graphic processing unit. We ran both of the GLBenchmark tests in offscreen mode, testing raw GPU power. The Galaxy Note 3 easily outpaced all other phones we've tested so far.

GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  68
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  60
• LG G2
  54
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  43
• HTC Butterfly S
  42
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  41
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  41
• HTC One
  37
• Oppo Find 5
  32
• Google Nexus 4
  32
• Sony Xperia Z
  31
• Sony Xperia ZL
  31
• Sony Xperia SP
  31
• Apple iPhone 5
  30
• LG Optimus G Pro
  30
• LG Optimus G
  21
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
  17
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  17
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  17
• HTC One mini
  15
• HTC One X
  11

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

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  23
• LG G2
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  17.1
• Apple iPad 4
  16.8
• HTC Butterfly S
  16
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  16
• Google Nexus 10
  13.9
• LG Optimus G
  13.9
• Sony Xperia Z
  13.5
• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
  13
• Sony Xperia ZL
  12.8
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  6.4
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
  6.3
• HTC One mini
  5.6
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  4.9

By the way, the Adreno 330 GPU on the Galaxy Note 3 supports OpenGL ES 3.0, which was recently added to Android (with 4.3). Since the Galaxy Note 3 is already running on Android 4.3, it's reasonable to expect better performance over other Snapdragon 800-powered droids running on an older Android 4.2 version.

The JavaScript performance of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 browser is the best we've seen so far. Since SunSpider has recently released a new v1.0.1, we had to update the old scores.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  648
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  750
• LG G2
  908
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1046
• HTC One
  1174
• LG Optimus G
  1293
• HTC One mini
  1375
• LG Nexus 4
  1379
• HTC Butterfly
  1397
• Oppo R819
  1423
• Huawei Ascend P6
  3858

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is currently the fastest smartphone (phablets included) on the market right now. There's a noticeable performance lead over the Snapdragon 600 competitors and it even outperforms the Snapdragon 800 competitors by a whisker.

First impressions

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 turned out as good as we all hoped it would be - a worthy successor of a worldwide best-seller that improves on pretty much every aspect - design, display, camera, S-Pen functionality, and software features.

The Note devices are the phablet pioneers and whoever wants to compete in this niche, has to go against the Note's reputation and followers. Samsung has done an amazing job in protecting the Note lineup brand with yet another excellent yearly upgrade.

This year's Note goes FullHD, gets an amazing camera on board and upgraded S-pen functionality. It runs on the market's most powerful chipset to date and even records 4K videos. What many fans will appreciate is the new leather-like back that makes the Note 3 look like a very-expensive premium-crafted gadget.

The Galaxy Note 3 has definitely been worth the wait and we are already counting the days until a working unit lands in our office and we get the chance to explore it. It is, after all, a gadget that deserves everyone's attention.