The new LTE-A version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 was compared to its competitors in a series of benchmarks. The results show that the Snapdragon 800 version consumes the same or less power than the Exynos 5 Octa version and other competitors.

A Korean website tested the battery life of the new LTE-A version of the Samsung Galaxy S4, the first device powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor. Playwares put the Galaxy S4 LTE-A SHV-E330S, which launched last week and is a South Korea exclusive, through a web browsing test, a video playback test, and a 3D benchmark, in order to see how the Snapdragon 800 processor fares against competitors.

To standardize the test conditions, Playwares used a Konica Minolta Display Color Analyzer and set the displays of the devices to the same brightness. The phones were tested at both 100% brightness and at roughly 230 cd/m2 luminance.

In the WiFi test, the Snapdragon 800 Galaxy S4 variant scored about the same results as the Exynos 5 Octa variant – the Exynos lasted just 2 minutes longer at full brightness, while the S800 outlasted the Exynos by 1 minute at 230 cd/m2. Both versions scored poorly compared to other devices. Web browsing is generally the most demanding activity for devices equipped with AMOLED displays, due to the prevalence of power-sapping white backgrounds.

The two devices registered similar scores in the video playback test as well. In this test, both the Exynos and the Snapdragon version of the Galaxy S4 lasted longer than their competitors, except the Note 2, which took the first place with over an hour more.

Finally, Playwares ran the Battery Test program of the GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt HD benchmark suite. In this test, the Snapdragon 800 clearly outlasted the Exynos 5 Octa version – 3h:35m:24s over 2h:46m:37s, which translates to 25% more battery life. The Snapdragon 800-equipped Galaxy S4 LTE also did well when compared to devices powered by the Snapdragon 600 chip, like the Optimus G Pro or the Pantech Vega Iron.

We look forward to more comprehensive tests, as well as a test that compares the Galaxy S4 LTE-A with the Snapdragon 600 version of the Galaxy S4, predominant in most markets, including the US and Europe.

Still, it looks like Qualcomm kept its promise to deliver massively improved performance without increasing power consumption.

In addition to the Galaxy S4 LTE-A, the Snapdragon 800 SoC will also power the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, the LG G2, and the rumored HTC One Max, just to name a few upcoming devices.