Quad-core shootout: Four of a kind

Synthetic benchmarks (continued)

GPU benchmarks

The Mali-400MP GPU used in the Exynos chipset has proven itself quite capable and it can add another victory to its name - the Samsung Galaxy S III conquers three out of the four tests.

It outperformed its GeForce-powered rivals by a wide margin and even managed to beat the Meizu MX 4-core in NenaMark 2, despite the shared chipset and the pixel count disadvantage (NenaMark is rendered at native resolution).

GLBenchmark 2.1 levels the playing field (that means that the graphics are rendered at 720p resolution, regardless of the real screen resolution) and gives the Meizu MX 4-core a solid second place, though AnTuTu puts it last.

Then there's the HTC One X, which beats the MX 4-core in NenaMark (again, despite the resolution disadvantage) and comes in first place in AnTuTu. GLBenchmark 2.1 scores remained virtually unchanged after the update and put the One X in third place - behind the MX 4-core by a pretty wide margin.

The other Tegra 3-powered phone, the LG Optimus 4X HD, is consistently coming last, with only AnTuTu putting it in third position. Considering it's working with the same chipset and screen resolution, HTC has done the better job of optimizing their software.

NenaMark 2

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S III
  58.8
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  56.6
• Meizu MX 4-core
  54.1
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  52.3

GLBenchmark 2.1 Pro (offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S III
  127
• Meizu MX 4-core
  123
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  91
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  76

GLBenchmark 2.1 Egypt (offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S III
  103
• Meizu MX 4-core
  80
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  64
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  61

AnTuTu - GPU

Higher is better

• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  1554
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  1545
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1520
• Meizu MX 4-core
  1456

Web browsing benchmarks

When it comes to web browsing, the Samsung Galaxy S III has it. It came out first in SunSpider and BrowserMark, was the only phone that distinguished itself in HTML5Test (the other three posted identical results). The Galaxy S III was the slowest in FishIE Tank but not by much compared to the other 720p phones and not far behind the lower-res Meizu.

The Meizu MX 4-core comes in second with SunSpider and BrowserMark results practically identical to those of the S III, the fastest FishIE Tank result (again, the lower resolution helps), but it also got the lowest Vellamo score. And (while not strictly a performance benchmark), the smaller screen also affects the browsing experience from the MX 4-core.

Pre-update HTC One X wasn't very impressive, but after it got to Andoroid 4.0.4, its performance came good enough for third place. It closed the gap in SunSpider and BrowserMark and came first place in Vellamo. It was also the fastest of the 720p phones in FishIE Tank.

The LG Optimus 4X HD is close behind with a slightly better BrowserMark result than the One X and very similar SunSpider and FishIE Tank scores, but it's behind by quite a bit in Vellamo.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy S III
  1304
• Meizu MX 4-core
  1312
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1446
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  1468

BrowserMark

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S III
  158953
• Meizu MX 4-core
  158404
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  147582
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  140270

Vellamo

Higher is better

• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  2078
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  1890
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1568
• Meizu MX 4-core
  1468

FishIE Tank

Higher is better

• Meizu MX 4-core
  60
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  57
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  55
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  54

HTML5 Test

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S III
  399
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  380
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  380
• Meizu MX 4-core
  380

Summary

The Samsung Galaxy S III leaves something to be desired in terms of CPU performance - it has more power than almost any other smartphone on the market, but it has to blush when it admits the Meizu MX 4-core beat it using its own chipset. However, it scored pretty definitive wins in 3D gaming and web browsing.

The Meizu MX 4-core shows that the newcomer can certainly play - and often beat - the big boys. It wasn't the fastest overall, but the Meizu team mush feel good for beating established competitors.

The HTC One X showed serious skill in the CPU benchmarks and very good performance in the web browser tests. The NVIDIA GPU may not have scored too well in GLBenchmark, but the One X still beat the Optimus there and showed good scores in NenaMark 2 and AnTuTu.

The LG Optimus 4X HD comes closet the Galaxy S III in CPU performance, but software keeps it down when it comes to GPU scores. It's pretty competitive against the One X in browsing, even here it doesn't have much of an advantage.