Also different mindset in terms of UX. These are web spirited devices. Material design was like a CSS3.5 demo. Android 4.4 was still lean in terms of usage[1], Material is eye candy but has zero value on in-the-street interactions.

Also, how much of the performance grade is due to the reviewer ? I see people saying 'one need at least <2013> hardware ...' as if people couldn't do anything before. Coming from someone on a 2007 laptop .. I wonder how much social relativity plays here.

[1] When I boot an old 4.4 phone, I feel relieved to see simple centered gray/blue menus, even after a year of Lollypop 'training'.