Samsung Galaxy A7 review: Alpha leader

Samsung Galaxy A7 performance

The Samsung Galaxy A7 comes with either a Snapdragon 615 chipset or an Exynos 5430. Both feature octa-core big.LITTLE processors, 4x Cortex-A15 and 4x Cortex-A7, but the Exynos uses higher clock speeds - 1.8GHz and 1.3GHz versus 1.5GHz and 1GHz.

This is partly due to a manufacturing advantage, Samsung's 5430 chipset is built on 20nm while Qualcomm's 615 is on a 28nm process.

The GPUs are also different, an Adreno 405 for the Snapdragon and Mali-T628 MP6 for the Exynos. Both versions come with 2GB of RAM and currently run Android 4.4.4 KitKat.

We only have the Snapdragon 615 version to test, but the Samsung Galaxy Alpha uses the Exynos 5430 chipset and ran KitKat when we tested it.

Geekbench 3 shows a small difference in performance between the Alpha and the Galaxy A7, which hovers close to the Galaxy Note 3. Basemark OS 2.0 proves more sensitive and the difference between A7 and Alpha is quite noticeable. The Galaxy Note 4 is definitely ahead of the Galaxy A7.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  3394
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  3214
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (S800)
  2937
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  2884
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  2880
• OnePlus One
  2663
• HTC Desire 820
  2586
• LG G3
  2370
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  1460

Basemark OS 2.0 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  6165
• LG G3
  5396
• OnePlus One
  5108
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  4254
• HTC Desire 820
  2546
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  2480
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  1861

Basemark OS 2.0 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  21237
• OnePlus One
  19625
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  18386
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  16640
• LG G3
  16485
• HTC Desire 820
  10275
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  7492

Full system performance measured by AnTuTu 5 and Basemark OS II 2.0 show the Galaxy A7 has a small advantage over the HTC Desire 820 (another Snapdragon 615 device), but lags behind the flagship Galaxy Note 4.

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  51905
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  49273
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (S800)
  42211
• LG G3
  42038
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  31436
• HTC Desire 820
  27070
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  21581

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  1267
• OnePlus One
  1230
• LG G3
  1189
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  1054
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  813
• HTC Desire 820
  728
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  569

GPU tests reveal what should be pretty clear - Adreno 405 is not cut out for high-end gaming on a 1080p screen. Here the Mali-T628 GPU performs twice as good. Look at the 1080p offscreen tests as the Galaxy Alpha has a 720p screen, while the Galaxy A7 renders at 1080p natively.

On the up side, the performance is noticeably improved compared to the Galaxy A5.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  44.6
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  40
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  31.3
• OnePlus One
  28.3
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (S800)
  26.3
• LG G3
  26
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  15
• HTC Desire 820
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  5.3

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  18.6
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  18
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  13.4
• OnePlus One
  12.1
• LG G3
  11
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (S800)
  9.9
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  5.8
• HTC Desire 820
  5.7
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  1.8

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  48.4
• OnePlus One
  30
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (S800)
  26.7
• HTC Desire 820
  26
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  26
• LG G3
  20
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  9.6

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  25.3
• OnePlus One
  12.9
• HTC Desire 820
  12
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  11
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (S800)
  10
• LG G3
  7.7
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  5.8
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.9

Basemark X also the Adreno 405 in the Galaxy A7 isn't a gamer's dream. We don't have an Exynos-powered A7 right now, but a peek at scores published by Rightware (maker of the Basemark tests) shows a significant advantage for the Galaxy A7 with Exynos 5430 in graphics.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  20043
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  18297
• OnePlus One
  13129
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  11065
• LG G3
  10580
• HTC Desire 820
  4859
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  4802
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  1897

Moving on to web browsing tests, JavaScript performance is not spectacular. We used the Internet app, which is customized by Samsung, often with a very fast JS engine. Not this time it seems.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  4650
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  4911
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  5181
• OnePlus One
  7008
• LG G3
  7632
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  12266
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  13083
• HTC Desire 820
  13568

Still, for general browsing the web is generally smooth and fast, BrowserMark 2.1 puts the Galaxy A7 above a good number of powerful flagships though it's not an equal to the Galaxy Note 4.

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  3389
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  2232
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  1655
• LG G3
  1453
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  1364
• OnePlus One
  1339
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  1171
• HTC Desire 820
  991

For processor intensive apps either version of the Samsung Galaxy A7 will do fine, however for gaming we'd look for the Exynos model. The web browsing experience is solid. In all three scenarios Galaxy Note 4 performance is out of reach.