The Samsung Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ Review
by Joshua Ho on October 2, 2015 8:00 AM ESTSystem Performance Cont'd
Now that we’ve covered some of the traditionally CPU-bound tests, we can start to look at tests that more strongly emphasize GPU performance. It’s worth noting here that while 3DMark is supposed to determine gaming and graphics performance, the overall score includes a CPU performance component in the form of a physics test that means it isn't much of a pure GPU test.
Overall, there's nothing really surprising about these results. The Exynos 7420 should continue to deliver great GPU performance for anyone interested in a high-end phablet or smartphone. There are some improvements in 3DMark in regards to graphics performance, but it's likely that we're just looking at newer drivers as the GPU doesn't heat up fast enough for throttling to be affecting these results.
NAND Performance
At this point, it’s probably not a surprise to know that NAND performance can have very real effects on user experience. If an OEM decides to skimp heavily on storage in order to drive the price down, it’s at least somewhat likely that the device will start to exhibit major IO pauses at some point in the device lifecycle. In order to test this, we rely on our standard storage tests which include Androbench with some custom settings to get more realistic test results along with StorageBench for iOS which is comparable to Androbench.
In the case of the Galaxy Note5 we’re still looking at a UFS storage solution similar to what was found in the Galaxy S6, but it looks like this is slightly newer as the storage is identified as a Toshiba THGLF2G8J4LBATDA chip rather than the Samsung variant that was found in the Galaxy S6. It’s unclear whether Samsung is now multi-sourcing UFS storage for their mobile devices or what distribution exists here.
Interestingly, the Note5 regresses a little bit in storage performance relative to the Galaxy S6, which is likely due to the shift to Toshiba's NAND. However, this difference is small enough that in everyday use it's unlikely that it will be noticed. Performance over time should be acceptable as well.
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neoraiden - Friday, October 2, 2015 - link
Samsung lost me the second they announced they weren't releasing the note 5 in Europe. I hope they get enough of a dent in their sales from annoyed customers that they release the note 6 here after. I have a feeling that's wishful thinking though.Lavkesh - Friday, October 2, 2015 - link
Excellent review as always Joshua never mind the brand wars in the comments. I was always an iOS user and thought Galaxy Note 5 is a good enough device to jump the ship for the terms of a contract. While I am reasonably happy with the device, I still think Software is Samsung's biggest issue.I also noticed an issue with the S-Pen sensitivity where it does not work at all at the bottom left and right corners of the device. This means that if I need to take a screenshot which goes right until the bottom right or left corner I cannot do it because the sensitivity simply vanishes. Also attaching a video to exactly show what the issue is. Can you check if your device also exhibits the same behaviour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN41nE1lWGI
Tech_guy - Friday, October 2, 2015 - link
Samsung relied too much on Exynos 7420 this year. The Note 5 is supposed to be a huge improvement and their better phone from the S6 which is already considered kinda old in the tech world. It's all the same tech just later in the year. Yawn. The iPhone 6s technology just obliterates this phone. Good luck Samsung, you're going to need itmercucu1111 - Friday, October 2, 2015 - link
Exynos 8890 is on ready dudeTech_guy - Monday, October 5, 2015 - link
Single core and most likely graphics performance won't match A9. I read a 45% increase in CPU performance that puts it under 2000 geekbench still.Arbie - Friday, October 2, 2015 - link
At first I was sad to see that neither of these included a microSD slot. That would be an awful omission on devices extremely well fitted to media consumption. That would rule them out of my consideration. But the photos made me wonder, so I looked further and found the slot mentioned in the middle of the review.Really... I know it is AT's sworn position that microSD is useless, irrelevant and obsolete... but how could you not even list it in the spec table? Just for those of us who continue to be deluded by our daily use of it. I never cease to wonder at the time and effort spent on describing case colors, and the blindness to important functional features.
Dobson123 - Saturday, October 3, 2015 - link
The S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+ und Note 5 DO NOT have a microSD slot.Arbie - Saturday, October 3, 2015 - link
Then these sentences are grammatically broken (wrong tense throughout): "The back cover is faux-leather plastic that peels off much like the Galaxy S2's back cover, with a removable battery and microSD slot. The display has the same buttons, but the bezel had a striped design for unknown reasons." As written this refers to the new devices, not the old ones!I won't even consider a device of this screen size without microSD. A read-only implementation would be fine (satisfying Android security needs).
Devo2007 - Sunday, October 4, 2015 - link
Those sentences shouldn't even be in this review. Definitely confusingDobson123 - Sunday, October 4, 2015 - link
They're about the Note 4.