Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 review: Double vision

Synthetic benchmarks and performance

The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 is running on the Snapdragon 400 mid-range chipset. It offers four Cortex-A7 CPU cores, Adreno 305 graphics and 1.5GB of RAM. We've already seen the S400 in action on the Motorola Moto G and it delivered indeed a snappy performance. The Galaxy Grand 2 features 1.5GB RAM, which should help it deal with the higher resolution screen. We already saw Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz running great on the Galaxy Grand 2, so now we'll be testing the smartphone's raw performance.

The Cortex-A7 processor cores clocked at 1.2GHz delivers a decent mid-range performance very close to their Cortex-A9 counterparts, with the added benefit of lower power consumption.

Our first test is all about single-core performance, where the Grand 2 scored similar results to most of the Cortex-A7-powered competitors such as the Moto G and Xperia C.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• LG G Flex
  99
• 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 Express
  346
• Sony Xperia C
  374
• Motorola Moto G
  392
• Sony Xperia M
  400
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  409
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  413
• Sony Xperia L
  435
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  499
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  519
• Sony Xperia go
  543
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  554
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  578
• HTC Desire X
  639
• Sony Xperia E dual
  800
• Samsung Galaxy Young
  831

Next up, we put all four cores to the test in the multi-core version of the Linpack benchmark. The Galaxy Grand 2 matched the S400-powered Moto G, but fell behind most of the quad-core devices we've tested so far.

Linpack

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1
  1004
• Samsung Galaxy S4
  788
• HTC One
  646
• Sony Xperia Z
  630
• HTC Butterfly
  624
• LG Optimus G
  608
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  413
• Sony Xperia SP
  348
• HTC One mini
  320
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  274
• Motorola Moto G
  259
• Nexus 4
  213.5
• Sony Xperia L
  191
• HTC One X+
  177
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  175
• Sony Xperia M
  168.3
• HTC One X
  160
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  141
• Sony Xperia C
  132.3
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  107.7
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  85
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  68

We also run the GeekBench 3 CPU benchmark. The Galaxy Grand 2 once again matched the score of quad-core Cortex-A7 running Moto G, Xperia C and Oppo R819.

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2937
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2670
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2638
• Apple iPhone 5s
  2561
• LG Nexus 5
  2453
• LG G2
  2243
• HTC One
  1972
• HTC One Max
  1899
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1869
• LG Optimus G
  1623
• Meizu MX3
  1579
• Huawei Ascend P6
  1315
• LG Nexus 4
  1288
• HTC Butterfly
  1257
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  1159
• Motorola Moto G
  1120
• Sony Xperia C
  1079
• Oppo R819
  1047
• HTC One mini
  887
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  564

AnTuTu 4 gauges the overall device performance instead of just the CPU and the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 managed to output half the scores of the top Snapdragon 800 chips. The Quadrant test does the same as AnTuTu, but the Galaxy Grand 2 produced uninspiring score, though matching the Moto G completely.

AnTuTu

Higher is better

• LG G Flex
  35831
• LG G2
  35444
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  32162
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  31109
• LG Nexus 5
  25097
• HTC One
  22678
• Sony Xperia Z
  20794
• Motorola Moto G
  17214
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  17106
• Oppo Find 5
  15167
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  14518
• Sony Xperia C
  13948
• HTC Butterfly
  12631
• HTC One mini
  11434
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  11203
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  10448
• Sony Xperia M
  9902
• Sony Xperia L
  9746
• Nokia Lumia 620
  9140
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  7408
• Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
  6650

Quadrant

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1
  20388
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  20052
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  18177
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  12446
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  12376
• LG Optimus G Pro
  12105
• HTC One
  11746
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  11404
• LG Nexus 5
  8844
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  8588
• Motorola Moto G
  8508
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  7153
• HTC One mini
  6048
• Sony Xperia V
  5816
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  5053
• Samsung Galaxy Express
  4998
• Sony Xperia C
  4941
• Sony Xperia L
  4279
• Sony Xperia M
  4147
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  3240
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  3152

It's time to test the Adreno 305 graphic processing unit. We ran both GFX Benchmark tests in off-screen mode, testing raw GPU power. The Galaxy Grand 2 was a match for the Moto G, while its Adreno 305 did better than the PowerVR SGX544 GPU found over the Xperia C's MT6589.

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

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.3
• LG Nexus 5
  23
• Sony Xperia Z1
  23
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  23
• Apple iPhone 5s
  23
• LG G Pro 2
  22.9
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  22
• LG G Flex
  22
• LG G2
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  16
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  15
• HTC One max
  14
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  6.4
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  5.8
• HTC One mini
  5.6
• Motorola Moto G
  5.6
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  4.9
• Sony Xperia C
  2.8

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  9.9
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  9
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  8.9
• LG G Pro 2
  8.7
• LG Nexus 5
  8.5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3.7
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  1.9

Then we've run them again, this time onscreen. The Galaxy Grand 2 did better here thanks to its HD resolution halving the scores of the Adreno 330 GPU inside the Snapdragon 800 chipsets.

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

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  37
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34
• LG G Flex
  33
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.7
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  25
• LG G Pro 2
  24.1
• LG Nexus 5
  24
• LG G2
  23.1
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  10.6

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p on-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  10
• LG G Pro 2
  9.2
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  4.7
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  4.0

We also ran Epic Citadel benchmark on the Ultra High Quality setting. Here the Galaxy Grand 2 showed even though its GPU may be struggling to handle 1080p resolution, the Adreno 305 graphic chip offers nicely playable framerates on the HD resolution display. And a strong case can be made that this is what actually counts.

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

• LG G Flex
  56
• Sony Xperia Z
  55.6
• Sony Xperia Z1
  54.8
• LG G Pro 2
  54.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  54
• Asus Padfone 2
  53.4
• LG Nexus 5
  49.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  49
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  43.5
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  37.2
• Motorola Moto G
  34
• Huawei Ascend Mate
  33.2
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  32
• HTC Butterfly
  29.6

The JavaScript performance of the Galaxy Grand 2's default web browser is quite decent, matching the Snapdragon S4 quad-core gang.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  403
• LG G Pro 2
  535.5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  567.9
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  587
• Apple iPhone 5
  694
• Apple iPhone 5c
  704
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  750
• LG Nexus 5
  827
• Sony Xperia Z1
  845
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  855
• LG G2
  908
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1011
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1046
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  1063.3
• HTC One
  1174
• Motorola Moto G
  1308
• Sony Xperia C
  1319
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  1337
• HTC One mini
  1375
• LG Nexus 4
  1379
• HTC Butterfly
  1397
• Oppo R819
  1423

The combined BrowserMark 2 benchmark results were great, very close to the S600 gang and similar to the Motorola Moto G.

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  3549
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3172
• LG G Pro 2
  3048
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3041
• Apple iPhone 5
  2825
• Apple iPhone 5c
  2799
• Oppo N1
  2769
• LG Nexus 5
  2745
• LG G2
  2718
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2600
• Motorola Moto G
  2562
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  2438
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  2432
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2419
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2398
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  2314
• HTC One
  2262
• HTC One mini
  2164
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1801
• HTC Butterfly
  1475
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  1469
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  1247
• Samsung Galaxy Express
  1154
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  714

Finally, the Galaxy Grand 2 placed near the middle of the chart in the Vellamo browser benchmark.

Vellamo

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2996
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2944
• LG G2
  2908
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2904
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2853
• Sony Xperia SP
  2497
• HTC One
  2382
• HTC One mini
  2252
• Sony Xperia Z
  2189
• Samsung Galaxy S4
  2060
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  2019
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  1989
• Motorola Moto G
  1928
• HTC Butterfly
  1866
• Sony Xperia M
  1800
• Sony Xperia L
  1640
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  1572
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1568
• LG Optimus G
  1522
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  1409
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  1366
• Nexus 4
  1310
• Samsung Galaxy Fame
  1234
• Samsung Galaxy Young
  1072
• Sony Xperia E dual
  1065

The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 might not be the benchmark beast geeks would dream about, but it's not underpowered by any means. The quad-core Snapdragon 400 is powerful enough to provide fast, fluid and lag-free performance on the HD resolution and will handle well every app and game out there. And in this price range, this is more than enough.