Samsung Galaxy Alpha review: Galaxy reboot

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha comes with either a Exynos 5 Octa chipset or a Snapdragon 801. It's the first to get the Exynos 5 Octa 5430 and it's the one we're testing. If we get hold of the S801 version we'll add that into the charts too.

The chipset features a big.LITTLE processor with four Cortex-A15 cores and four Cortex-A7 cores clocked at 1.8GHz and 1.3GHz respectively. All eight can run simultaneously so we can expect great multi-core performance.

The chipset also packs a hexa-core Mali-T628 MP6 GPU, the latest currently available Mali design. Processor and RAM share 2GB of RAM.

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box. Note that Samsung disables the ART runtime in its TouchWiz software, that's the faster optional runtime that debuted with KitKat and will be made default in Android L. An increasing number of apps is becoming compatible with ART.

With technical specifications out of the way, let's pit the Galaxy Alpha against flagships and high-profile minis. Of the minis only the Xperia Z1 Compact has a chance of competing here, the others are powered by mid-range Snapdragon 400 chipsets.

We start off with the Basemark suite of cheat detection software. We're pleased to report that Samsung hasn't gone back to benchmark shenanigans. The Basemark tests are good for comparing performance, too.

Basemark OS II leans on the CPU and puts the Galaxy Alpha within spitting distance of the LG G3. The breakdown shows great single-core performance and unmatched multi-core performance (all 8 cores working at once does make a difference).

Basemark OS II

Higher is better is better

• Oppo Find 7
  1212
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  1082
• Sony Xperia Z2
  1080
• LG G3
  945
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  915
• HTC One mini 2
  517
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  419

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better is better

• Oppo Find 7
  2606
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  2579
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  2415
• Sony Xperia Z2
  2253
• LG G3
  1787
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  1353
• HTC One mini 2
  1304

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  15096
• Oppo Find 7
  10391
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  10063
• Sony Xperia Z2
  10044
• LG G3
  8337
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  5283
• HTC One mini 2
  5182

The multi-core score from Geekbench 3 confirms the finding that the Alpha tops Snapdragon 801-based phones in multi-core performance.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  3214
• Oppo Find 7
  3178
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  3011
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2968
• Sony Xperia Z2
  2856
• LG G3
  2687
• HTC One mini 2
  1526
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  1123
• LG G2 mini
  1123

The total Basemark OS score is a bit low, considering the CPU scores. AnTuTu 4 shows a lot more love for the Galaxy Alpha and places it second behind the Oppo Find 7 but ahead of the Galaxy S5 and other flagships.

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better is better

• Oppo Find 7
  38484
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  38119
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  36018
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34527
• Sony Xperia Z2
  33182
• LG G3
  30482
• HTC One mini 2
  17883
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  17753
• LG G2 mini
  17362

We've seen the hexa-core Mali-T628 perform in the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Tab S but when it comes to phones it easily tops the Adreno 320 and Adreno 330 devices in GFX Benchmark, both on-screen and off-screen.

For the on-screen tests do keep in mind that the Galaxy Alpha is rendering at only 720p - the LG G3 is working with four times the number of pixels and even the 1080p phones have to push more than twice the pixels the Alpha does.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  48.4
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34
• Sony Xperia Z2
  28.7
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  28.1
• LG G3
  20.6
• Oppo Find 7
  19.9
• LG G2 mini
  14.9
• HTC One mini 2
  11
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  9.3

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  25.3
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  17
• Sony Xperia Z2
  12.2
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  11.7
• LG G3
  7.4
• Oppo Find 7
  6.7
• HTC One mini 2
  3.8

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  31.3
• Oppo Find 7
  28
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  27.8
• LG G3
  27.6
• Sony Xperia Z2
  27.2
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  6.7
• LG G2 mini
  5.8
• HTC One mini 2
  5.8

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  13.4
• LG G3
  11.9
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  11.8
• Sony Xperia Z2
  11.7
• Oppo Find 7
  11.1
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  9
• HTC One mini 2
  1.7

Moving on to web browsing, Samsung has once again created a highly-tuned JavaScript engine and the Galaxy Alpha tops the Snapdragon phones in Kraken 1.1.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  4911
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  6043
• Oppo Find 7
  6363
• Sony Xperia Z2
  7041
• LG G3
  7610
• HTC One mini 2
  15684
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  15885

The complete browsing experience as measured by BrowserMark 2.1 is a few notches below the top, which is surprising considering the resolution difference plays a role here, too. Note that we used the Samsung-modified stock browser for these tests and not Chrome.

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better is better

• Oppo Find 7
  1452
• Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)
  1398
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  1364
• LG G3
  1254
• Sony Xperia Z2
  1224
• HTC One mini 2
  945
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  861

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha shows proper flagship performance, even chart-topping performance in certain tasks. The Exynos 5 Octa 5430 chipset finally brings Samsung's homebrewed solutions back to champion shape after falling behind Snapdragon 600/800 last year.

One thing we should note is that the chipset can run hot while doing tests (they all do) and the heat is easily transferred to the external metal frame. Metal is a lot more conductive than plastic, which means you feel the heat from the chipset a lot more while holding the device than you do with plastic bodies.