I recently compared the OneTouch Idol 3 against the ZenFone 2 and the two phones compared very similarly. In fact, they compared so similarly that the major difference between the two centered around performance. So in this video, I thought it might be beneficial for you guys to see the benchmarks of not only the OneTouch Idol 3 or the ZenFone 2 but the OnePlus One as well since these phones are the three most popular budget smartphones in the market costing between $200-$300 off-contract. I will also be putting them through a real world performance test which I will explain more later on.

So the first benchmark application I ran was GeekBench 3 and I made sure there were no running applications in the background so that this comparison remains as fair as possible. GeekBench 3 tested the processor with a scoring system that separates single-core and multi-core performance. So I know a lot of you guys don’t like when I read out the scores out loud but some of you might be listening to just the audio so bear with me here. The ASUS ZenFone 2 received a single-core score of 918 and a 2935 multi-core score. The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 received a single-core score of 656 with a multi-core score of 2439. And the OnePlus One received a single-core score of 970 and a 3093 multi-core score. So the ZenFone 2 and the OnePlus One are neck to neck, basically identical; while the OneTouch Idol 3 is definitely lacking a little bit especially in the single-core performance.

The next benchmark that I ran was AnTuTu, which tests the memory performance, the CPU performance and the graphics performance. So a little bit of everything on this app and it spits out one single score that ranks it among other devices that scored similarly. The ZenFone 2 scored 48,884, right above the Galaxy Note 4 which is pretty impressive. The Idol 3 scored 32,180, putting it right above the HTC One and below the LG G3. And then the OnePlus One received a score of 46,744 putting it right above the HTC One M8. So in this benchmark, the ZenFone 2 beats the OnePlus One while the Idol 3 didn’t score very well comparatively.

The last benchmark is 3DMark, which tests primarily the graphics. It’s the world’s most popular benchmark that does test the CPU. But I like to run it because it does a really good job testing the GPU. I ran the Ice Storm test that was recommended for each device—the ZenFone 2 and OnePlus running the Ice Storm Unlimited test, while the Idol 3 ran the Ice Storm Extreme test. The ZenFone 2 features the PowerVR G6430 GPU and the Intel Atom Z3580 quad-core processor with 4GB of RAM and it received a score of 20,405. The Idol 3 features the Adreno 405 GPU and a Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor with 2GB of RAM and it received a score of 5,508. And the OnePlus One features an Adreno 330 GPU, a Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor with 3GB of RAM and it received a score of 19,583. So it’s safe to say the performance of the ZenFone 2 and OnePlus One are almost identical, at least in terms of benchmarks, while the Idol 3 most definitely isn’t and is generally several hundred, or in this benchmark, several thousand points behind.

So now it’s time for the real world performance tests. I kind of adapted the PhoneBuff style of running through a series of applications and timing them using the built-in timer. It’s a genius way of testing the speed and let’s be honest, it’s just plain old fun. So basically, I started the timer and then opened up a series of applications. I opened up Google Play Music, YouTube, Google +, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, the Gallery app of each smartphone, the Play Store app, and then I opened up the Dialer app, the stock Messenger app, and the app drawer. I then opened up Chrome and navigated to PhoneDog.com and waited for that to fully load until the bar stopped of course. And proceeded to open up the Camera app. And then after I went through all of those apps, I stopped the timer to see how long it took.

So I just want to say that this comparison was really fun and it’s a bit unusual because all these devices have different processors, different graphics cards and even varying levels of RAM: 2, 3, and 4GB. So with that said, the ASUS ZenFone 2 finished up first in about 55 seconds. The OnePlus One finished up in about 1:02 seconds. And the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 finished at 1:27 seconds.

Keep in mind that these tests might be off a little bit by a few points or a few seconds and will vary slightly each time you run through each test. But the ASUS ZenFone 2 and the OnePlus One are certainly the two performance champs. They’re essentially tied although the ZenFone 2 does appear to be a hair faster thanks to (I would assume) the 4GB of RAM. I hope this video helps you decide which smartphone might be best for you. Let me know which smartphone is best for you in the comments below.