The Sony Xperia Z3 Compact sports a MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 chipset with a quad-core 2.5GHz Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 330 graphics. Apart from the 2GB of RAM (down from 3GB), it's the exact same configuration you'll find on the Sony Xperia Z3, so we're expecting flagship-grade performance. The latest Android 4.4.4 KitKat build should also provide optimizations to the web browser.
First off, we'll be testing the CPU and overall benchmarks. Geekbench 3 tests the processor in a variety of usage scenarios, and although the Z3 Compact doesn't top the charts, it ranks alongside the current top flagships. Basemark OS 2 also tracks processor performance and even provides individual scores for single-core and multi-core processing. Basemark 2's overall score also factors in graphics performance, which is why it's higher.
GeekBench 3
Higher is better
HTC One (E8) 3229
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 3214
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 3011
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 2968
Sony Xperia Z2 2856
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 2856
OnePlus One 2663
HTC One mini 2 1526
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 1123
LG G2 mini 1123
Basemark OS II
Higher is better
OnePlus One 1196
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 1167
HTC One (E8) 1146
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 1082
Sony Xperia Z2 1080
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 915
HTC One mini 2 517
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 419
Basemark OS II (single-core)
Higher is better
HTC One (E8) 2579
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 2579
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 2415
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 2282
Sony Xperia Z2 2253
OnePlus One 2213
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 1353
HTC One mini 2 1304
Basemark OS II (multi-core)
Higher is better
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 15096
OnePlus One 10234
HTC One (E8) 10219
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 10063
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 10063
Sony Xperia Z2 10044
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 5283
HTC One mini 2 5182
Moving on to graphics performance, again we find the 720p display does the Z3 Compact a fair share of favors. The great onscreen numbers shown from the Adreno 330 GPU are brought down to earth in the offscreen tests, where the 1080p resolution evens out with the flagship competition. Basemark X also runs at its native 720p resolution, which is why we see such high numbers
GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 31.3
OnePlus One 28.3
HTC One (E8) 28
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 27.8
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 27.4
Sony Xperia Z2 27.2
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 22
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 6.7
HTC One mini 2 5.8
LG G2 mini 5.8
GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)
Higher is better
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 48.4
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 41.3
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 34
OnePlus One 30
HTC One (E8) 29.9
Sony Xperia Z2 28.7
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 28.1
LG G2 mini 14.9
HTC One mini 2 11
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 9.3
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 13.4
HTC One (E8) 12.3
OnePlus One 12.1
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 11.8
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 11.8
Sony Xperia Z2 11.7
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 9
HTC One mini 2 1.7
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 25.4
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 25.3
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 17
OnePlus One 12.9
HTC One (E8) 12.9
Sony Xperia Z2 12.2
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 11.7
HTC One mini 2 3.8
Finally, we come to JavaScript and HTML 5 performance where we have Mozilla's Kraken 1.1 and Rightware's BrowserMark 2.1. JavaScript performance seems comes in at around the middle of the pack, but the HTML5-intensive Browsermark test was where the Z3 Compact really shined.
Kraken 1.1
Lower is better
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 4911
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 6043
HTC One (E8) 6460
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 6480
OnePlus One 7008
Sony Xperia Z2 7041
HTC One mini 2 15684
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 15885
BrowserMark 2.1
Higher is better
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact 1500
Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801) 1398
Samsung Galaxy Alpha 1364
HTC One (E8) 1362
OnePlus One 1339
Sony Xperia Z2 1224
HTC One mini 2 945
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini 861
The Z3 Compact's flagship pedigree really stands out in these performance benchmarks. Not only is the Z3 Compact able to run with the big boys in every aspect, what's even more notable is how much better it is than other compact flagships. The likes of the HTC One mini 2, Samsung Galaxy S5 mini, and LG G2 mini are clearly a step behind the Xperia Z3 Compact, and should be considered as being in a separate category.
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