LG G Pro 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 3: Royal duel

Synthetic benchmarks

Under the hoods of both beasts lives a quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset with four Krait cores. They run at identical clocks, too - 2.3GHz. The Samsung Galaxy Note has an alternative version with Samsung's own Exynos 5 OCta 5420 chipset. In this comparison, we're focusing on the Snapdragon 800 version, though.

In addition to the same CPU horsepower, the G Pro 2 and Note 3 share the same GPU as well - the Adreno 330. There's also 3GB of RAM in both units. Yet again, this leaves the software side to decide which one is better between the two - Samsung's TouchWiz UI or LG's Optimus UI.

Both the LG G Pro 2 and the Galaxy Note 3 run Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box, while the ships with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. There's an official update available for the Note 3, which bumps it to Android 4.4.2 KitKat. This is the version our test unit runs.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  99
• LG G Pro 2
  141

In the multi-thread Linpack test, the LG G Pro 2 isn't the best performer we've seen, but still among the top achievers. However, the Galaxy Note 3 manages to sneak through and score considerably more.

Linpack

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  1081
• LG G Pro 2
  818

The same story repeats in the GeekBench 3 test, where despite the decent result of the LG G Pro 2, the Note 3 takes the win.

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2937
• LG G Pro 2
  2585

In Quadrant, both phones score similar results, making them equally matched. In AnTuTu 4, however, Note 3 scores almost 2000 points more.

Quadrant

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  20052
• LG G Pro 2
  20010

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  31109
• LG G Pro 2
  29603

Now let's move on to the GPU testing. We ran GFX Benchmark T-Rex (GFX 2.7, OpenGL 2.0 test) and Manhattan (GFX 3.0, OpenGL 3.0 test) in both 1080p off-screen and on-screen, which is also the native screen resolution for the current crop of Android flagships. The G Pro 2 matched the Snapdragon 800 competition on this test, but again the Note 3 proved its might here as well.

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

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.3
• LG G Pro 2
  22.9

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

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.7
• LG G Pro 2
  24.1

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  9.9
• LG G Pro 2
  8.7

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p on-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  10
• LG G Pro 2
  9.2

The march of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 goes forward in the 3DMark graphic test, too.

3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  19134
• LG G Pro 2
  16728

The last component of the GPU benchmark tests is Epic Citadel. The LG G Pro 2 did scored a mere 0.1 FPS more than the Galaxy Note 3 as both have the same Adreno 330 GPU.

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

• LG G Pro 2
  54.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  54

Both the Note 3 and the G Pro 2 have demonstrated top performance so far, but what happens when it comes to web benchmarks? The JavaScript performance of both phones is on par with the other Snapdragon 800-powered smartphones. The overall browsing performance (BrowserMark 2) is top notch too, beating the majority of smartphones we've tested so far.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• LG G Pro 2
  535.5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  587

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

• LG G Pro 2
  3048
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3041

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The Note 3 sat on top of nearly every benchmark we threw at the phablet duo. While this makes it a winner on paper, in reality both the G Pro 2 and Note 3 are equally stellar performers, which won't leave you hanging whatever you throw at them be it heavy office apps or the latest state-of-the-art graphics-intensive game.