Samsung Galaxy Note5 review: The 5blet

Performance

Samsung Galaxy Note5 packs an Exynos 7420 chipset developed in-house by Samsung with 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU, 2.1 GHz quad-core Cortex-A57 CPU, Mali-T760MP8 GPU, and 4GB of RAM. Save for the slight bump in RAM, the hardware setup is the same as in Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.

First up is the CPU-centric Geekbench 3 test. Rather unsurprisingly, the Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ performed right in line with the Samsung Galaxy S6 family.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  5246
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1.1)
  5242
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  5158
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  5124
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  5095
• HTC One M9
  3761
• LG G4 (final)
  3522
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  3402
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  2922

AnTuTu 5 painted the exact same picture. Both phablets posted scores in the 70,000 points range - just like their smaller siblings and better than any of their Snapdragon-equipped competitors.

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  70938
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  70053
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  69465
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  68324
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1.1)
  67553
• HTC One M9
  51427
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  49441
• LG G4 (final)
  48693
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  48361

Thanks to the increase in RAM memory, Samsung Galaxy Note5 and the Galaxy S6 edge+ posted eye-popping results in the compound Basemark OS II benchmark. Single-core and multi-core scores on the other hand, were in line with those of the Samsung Galaxy S6 lineup.

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  1852
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  1833
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  1826
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  1650
• HTC One M9
  1526
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  1410
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  1267

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  3585
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  3567
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  3489
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  3372
• HTC One M9
  2401
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  1853
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  1453

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  18653
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  18536
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  16856
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  16291
• HTC One M9
  10128
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  7002
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  6995

GFXBench puts the Mali-T760MP8 GPU found in both phablets to the test. Both handsets posted flagship-worthy results throughout.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  59
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1.1)
  57
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  56
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  56
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  50
• HTC One M9
  49
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  45
• LG G4 (final)
  34
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  30

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC One M9
  50
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  46
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  39
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1.1)
  37
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  37
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  30
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  29
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  25
• LG G4 (final)
  25

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  26
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  25
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1.1)
  25
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  25
• HTC One M9
  23
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  21
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  21
• LG G4 (final)
  15
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  13

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC One M9
  24
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  21
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1.1)
  15
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  15
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  12
• LG G4 (final)
  9.4

Basemark X tests the gaming chops of both smartphones. In line with our expectations, the Samsung Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ performed just like their more compact relatives from the Galaxy S6 lineup.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  27188
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  27046
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  26333
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  26281
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1.1)
  26125
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  20767
• HTC One M9
  19848
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  13414

The browser-centric benchmarks were performed with the pre-installed Samsung browser. The phablet duo posted chart-topping scores in both Mozilla Kraken 1.1 and BrowserMark 2.1.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  3702
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  3767
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  3975
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  3989
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1.1)
  4003
• LG G4 (final)
  4639
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  5057
• HTC One M9
  5500
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  9204

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  2702
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (5.1.1)
  2641
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  2591
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  2324
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
  2321
• LG G4 (final)
  1992
• Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML
  1853
• HTC One M9
  1681
• Sony Xperia Z3+ final
  1436

Samsung Galaxy Note5 is expectedly one of the most powerful smartphones available on the market today. The handset handled every task we threw at it without even a slight hint of breaking sweat.

Samsung surprised quite a few people by opting for the Exynos 7420 in the Note5 - previously, the Korean giant utilized exclusive chipsets for the product range. However, no one should knock the manufacturer for choosing this route - the 14nm 7420 is roughly a year ahead of its closest competitor in terms of performance, heat management, and power efficiency.