This article is outdated. We have already published a full review.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha performance

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is the first device with Exynos 5 Octa 5430 that we've tested. The chipset features a big.LITTLE processor with four Cortex-A15 cores and four Cortex-A7 cores clocked at 1.8GHz and 1.3GHz respectively. All eight can run simultaneously so we can expect great multi-core performance.

The chipset also packs a hexa-core Mali-T628 MP6 GPU, the latest currently available Mali design. Processor and RAM share 2GB of RAM.

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box. Note that Samsung disables the ART runtime in its TouchWiz software, that's the faster optional runtime that debuted with KitKat and will be made default in Android L. An increasing number of apps is becoming compatible with ART.

With technical specifications out of the way, let's pit the Galaxy Alpha against flagships and high-profile minis. Of the minis only the Xperia Z1 Compact has a chance of competing here, the others are powered by mid-range Snapdragon 400 chipsets.

We start off with the Basemark suite of cheat detection software. We're pleased to report that Samsung hasn't gone back to benchmark shenanigans. The Basemark tests are good for comparing performance, too.

Basemark OS II leans on the CPU and puts the Galaxy Alpha within spitting distance of the LG G3. The breakdown shows great single-core performance and unmatched multi-core performance (all 8 cores working at once does make a difference).

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

Oppo Find 7

1212

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

1082

Sony Xperia Z2

1080

LG G3

945

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

915

HTC One mini 2

517

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

419

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better

Oppo Find 7

2606

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

2579

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

2415

Sony Xperia Z2

2253

LG G3

1787

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

1353

HTC One mini 2

1304

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

15096

Oppo Find 7

10391

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

10063

Sony Xperia Z2

10044

LG G3

8337

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

5283

HTC One mini 2

5182

The multi-core score from Geekbench 3 confirms the finding that the Alpha tops Snapdragon 801-based phones in multi-core performance.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

3214

Oppo Find 7

3178

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

3011

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

2968

Sony Xperia Z2

2856

LG G3

2687

HTC One mini 2

1526

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

1123

LG G2 mini

1123

The total Basemark OS score is a bit low, considering the CPU scores. AnTuTu 4 shows a lot more love for the Galaxy Alpha and places it second behind the Oppo Find 7 but ahead of the Galaxy S5 and other flagships.

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

Oppo Find 7

38484

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

38119

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

36018

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

34527

Sony Xperia Z2

33182

LG G3

30482

HTC One mini 2

17883

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

17753

LG G2 mini

17362

We've seen the hexa-core Mali-T628 perform in the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Tab S but when it comes to phones it easily tops the Adreno 320 and Adreno 330 devices in GFX Benchmark, both on-screen and off-screen.

For the on-screen tests do keep in mind that the Galaxy Alpha is rendering at only 720p - the LG G3 is working with four times the number of pixels and even the 1080p phones have to push more than twice the pixels the Alpha does.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

48.4

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

34

Sony Xperia Z2

28.7

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

28.1

LG G3

20.6

Oppo Find 7

19.9

LG G2 mini

14.9

HTC One mini 2

11

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

9.3

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

25.3

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

17

Sony Xperia Z2

12.2

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

11.7

LG G3

7.4

Oppo Find 7

6.7

HTC One mini 2

3.8

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

31.3

Oppo Find 7

28

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

27.8

LG G3

27.6

Sony Xperia Z2

27.2

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

22

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

6.7

LG G2 mini

5.8

HTC One mini 2

5.8

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

13.4

LG G3

11.9

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

11.8

Sony Xperia Z2

11.7

Oppo Find 7

11.1

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

9

HTC One mini 2

1.7

Moving on to web browsing, Samsung has once again created a highly-tuned JavaScript engine and the Galaxy Alpha tops the Snapdragon phones in Kraken 1.1.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

4911

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

6043

Oppo Find 7

6363

Sony Xperia Z2

7041

LG G3

7610

HTC One mini 2

15684

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

15885

The complete browsing experience as measured by BrowserMark 2.1 is a few notches below the top, which is surprising considering the resolution difference plays a role here, too. Note that we used the Samsung-modified stock browser for these tests and not Chrome.

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

Oppo Find 7

1452

Galaxy S5 (Snapdragon 801)

1398

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

1364

LG G3

1254

Sony Xperia Z2

1224

HTC One mini 2

945

Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

861

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha shows proper flagship performance, even chart-topping performance in certain tasks. The Exynos 5 Octa 5430 chipset finally brings Samsung's homebrewed solutions back to champion shape after falling behind Snapdragon 600/800 last year.

One thing we should note is that the chipset can run hot while doing tests (they all do) and the heat is easily transferred to the external metal frame. Metal is a lot more conductive than plastic, which means you feel the heat from the chipset a lot more while holding the device than you do with plastic bodies.