Samsung Galaxy S5 review: Fab Five

Synthetic benchmarks

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset (MSM8974AC). Some clarification is due since not all 801 chipsets are created equal. The MSM8974 is the base Snapdragon 800 chipset, while MSM8974AB overclocks the GPU and gets the Snapdragon 801 badge.

The MSM8974AC goes a step further and clocks the CPU higher too. Also worth pointing out, on the KitKat software, Samsung has removed the benchmark detection and overclocking, so if the Galaxy S5 doesn't trounce the Galaxy Note 3 it's because it's showing real performance.

Surprisingly, Benchmark Pi isn't showing much difference between the Galaxy S4 and S5. We'll chalk this off to the benchmark being old as Linpack and Geekbench 3 show a definite improvement. Geekbench in particular puts the Galaxy S5 on top, while Linpack places it within a percent of Snapdragon 800 devices (some of which may have been engaged in benchmark-specific overclocking).

Update: We re-ran some benchmarks after the Galaxy S5 was updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop. You can find more details here.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• LG G Flex
  99
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  99
• LG G2
  99
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  104
• Sony Xperia Z1
  115
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  115
• HTC One (M8)
  121
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  128
• HTC One Max
  131
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  132
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  132
• LG G Pro 2
  141
• LG Nexus 5
  146
• HTC One
  151
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  166
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  183

Linpack

Higher is better

• LG G Flex
  1102
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  1081
• LG G2
  1054
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1034
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  1010
• Sony Xperia Z1
  1004
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  992
• HTC One (M8)
  992
• LG G Pro 2
  818
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  791
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  788
• LG Optimus G Pro
  743
• HTC One
  646
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  413
• LG Nexus 5
  393

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S5 (Lollipop)
  3120
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  3011
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2968
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2937
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2670
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2638
• LG G Pro 2
  2585
• Apple iPhone 5s
  2561
• LG Nexus 5
  2453
• HTC One (M8)
  2367
• LG G Flex
  2254
• LG G2
  2243
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  2172
• HTC One
  1972
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1869

We also traditionally put the reviewed phones through the Basemark OS II. Rightware distributes anti-cheat versions of their popular Basemark OS II (for general performance) and Basemark X (for 3D performance) tests. We've run both version and we found Samsung Galaxy S5 scores equally, which means the company isn't using any tricks to boost the benchmarks' overall performance.

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• Oppo Find 7
  1212
• OnePlus One
  1196
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  1151
• Samsung Galaxy S5 (Lollipop)
  1147
• HTC One (M8)
  1126
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  1082
• Sony Xperia Z2
  1080
• Oppo Find 7a
  1057

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better

• Oppo Find 7
  2606
• Oppo Find 7a
  2580
• Samsung Galaxy S5 (Lollipop)
  2510
• HTC One (M8)
  2428
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  2415
• Sony Xperia Z2
  2253
• OnePlus One
  2213
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  2137

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Oppo Find 7
  10391
• Oppo Find 7a
  10256
• OnePlus One
  10234
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  10063
• Sony Xperia Z2
  10044
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  9937
• HTC One (M8)
  9860
• Samsung Galaxy S5 (Lollipop)
  9646

Compound benchmarks - Quadrant and AnTuTu 4 - show more confidence in Galaxy S5. Quadrant gives Samsung's new flagship a huge advantage over the S800 competition, and virtually on par with the HTC One (M8).

Quadrant

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S5
  25044
• HTC One (M8)
  25035
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  21618
• LG G Flex
  20521
• Sony Xperia Z1
  20388
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  20052
• LG G Pro 2
  20010
• LG G2
  19815
• 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 S4 mini
  7153

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  37009
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  36018
• LG G Flex
  35831
• LG G2
  35444
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34527
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  32162
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  31109
• Sony Xperia Z1
  30850
• LG G Pro 2
  29603
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  29185
• Samsung Galaxy S4
  27613
• HTC One
  26389
• LG Nexus 5
  25097

When it comes to offscreen benchmarks, the High clock speed of the new Adreno 330 easily pushes it on top, but screen resolution has to be taken into account.

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

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  28.4
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  27.8
• Samsung Galaxy S5 (Lollipop)
  27
• 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 Note 3 Neo
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  6.4

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S5 (Lollipop)
  12
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  11.8
• HTC One (M8)
  11.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  9.9
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  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

Lower resolution phones (720p or so) like the Xperia Z1 Compact and iPhone 5s climb on top, but as far as 1080p devices go, the Galaxy S5 is only matched by the HTC One (M8) on the GFXBench suite. Epic Citadel places it a bit lower though it's within a couple of percent.

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
• HTC One (M8)
  30.1
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  28.1
• Samsung Galaxy S5 (Lollipop)
  28
• 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

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p on-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S5 (Lollipop)
  12
• HTC One (M8)
  11.9
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  11.7
• 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

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  59
• 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
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  53.7
• LG Nexus 5
  49.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  49
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  37.2
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  32

Samsung tweaked the stock Android browser, which clearly shows in the web benchmarks. The Samsung Galaxy S5 trades blows with the Apple iPhone 5s. Apple's iDevices have long set the standard in web performance, but screen resolution plays a role in BrowserMark 2 as the Galaxy S5 renders pages at over twice the resolution.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy S5
  379
• Apple iPhone 5s
  403
• LG G Pro 2
  535.5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  567.9
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  587
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  750
• HTC One (M8)
  780
• LG Nexus 5
  827
• Sony Xperia Z1
  845
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  855
• LG G2
  908
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1046
• HTC One
  1174

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  3549
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  3529
• HTC One (M8)
  3213
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3172
• LG G Pro 2
  3048
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3041
• LG Nexus 5
  2745
• LG G2
  2718
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2600
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  2438
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2419
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2398
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  2314
• HTC One
  2262

So, is the new chipset worth it over the Galaxy S4 chipset? The Galaxy S5 is indeed faster than its predecessor in all relevant areas. Gaming performance is the headlining change here - the new phone offers significant advantages over the old one, which will enable more advanced games.

Overall performance has received a boost too, but you might not notice it in general usage where most apps are lightweight and fairly passive (say, a messenger). Still, if you have two heavier apps, the Galaxy S5 will run them side by side with Multi Window without breaking a sweat.