Exynos vs Snapdragon will likely be a nightmare for the Galaxy S25

We’re nonetheless many months away from the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S25 sequence, however I’m already beginning to suppose that it may very well be probably the most contentious smartphone launches in current reminiscence. Whereas we’ve seen the odd rumor already, it’s the announcement of the newest Arm CPUs and GPUs that has actually piqued my early curiosity within the upcoming fashions. My suspicion, or maybe even concern, is that these elements might result in a hotly contested Exynos vs Snapdragon debate, maybe probably the most ever.

For those who’re unfamiliar with the saga, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 sequence makes use of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 within the Extremely and its different two telephones within the US, China, and another markets. World prospects shopping for the S24 or S24 Plus obtain the Exynos 2400. An analogous world vs US break up has been the established order for a few years.

Whereas Samsung does its finest to make sure function parity between all of its fashions, there are inevitable efficiency, battery life, and networking variations between its telephones, owing to their completely different chipsets. The lately introduced Arm CPU cores look set to make the Exynos 2500 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 far more drastically completely different; let me clarify why.

Qualcomm has used Cortex CPU core designs from Arm since 2017’s Snapdragon 835. Earlier than that, it developed its {custom} Krait cores primarily based on Arm’s structure and is returning to an analogous formulation with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 following its acquisition of Nuvia in 2021. The chip is rumored to incorporate six Phoenix L and two Phoenix M cores derived from the Oryon structure contained in the Snapdragon X Elite platform for Arm-based PCs.

Samsung has additionally been utilizing Arm’s Cortex CPUs for Exynos, and whereas the chips don’t at all times match the precise topology, the 2 have shared very comparable efficiency factors and options over current years. So far as we all know, Samsung is just not growing a {custom} CPU for cellular, and so will virtually actually use the brand new Arm Cortex-X925, A725, and A520 in some configuration for the Exynos 2500, which might energy the Galaxy S25. Efficiency between Exynos and Snapdragon fashions may very well be about to diverge huge time. However that’s simply the beginning of a probably chasmic divide.

Clearly, any platform derived from a PC-class CPU will likely be highly effective, however equally, there’s a danger it could be power-hungry. Early rumors (that are admittedly a bit doubtful) level to next-gen telephones having bigger batteries, though that’s not essentially attributable to increased energy consumption. From what we all know to this point, it doesn’t appear to be there’s a tiny Phoenix CPU core, which could be very completely different from what we’re used to within the Android chipset area. Provided that, usually, Exynos has higher battery life than Snapdragon, we may very well be some important discrepancies in battery life and/or capability. Notably if Arm’s newest CPU platform is as much as 30% extra energy environment friendly, as claimed.

After all, we don’t know precisely what efficiency level Phoenix will attain. Roughly eyeballing Arm’s claimed 35% increase technology increase with the Cortex-X925 suggests the core may catch as much as and marginally overtake the single-core grunt of the Apple A16 Professional (the present market chief). That’s a stable achieve however received’t lead the trade as soon as rivals announce their newest chips. Nonetheless, the A16 Professional is an attention-grabbing comparability level although, as Apple’s SoCs deal with huge core efficiency and don’t use little cores both.

If, and it’s nonetheless a giant if, Qualcomm’s Phoenix cores push past Apple, it could create a extra noticeable efficiency hole between entries within the Galaxy S25 sequence (and different Android telephones). Conversely, if the chip is simply too power-hungry, the 8 Gen 4 may wrestle to match the sustained efficiency of Exynos, which might be a significant reversal of current traits.

Prices are additionally anticipated to shoot up. Rumors level to a probably “important” worth improve for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, probably owing to a mixture of custom-core growth prices, a pricier 3nm TSMC manufacturing node, and/or just charging a better worth for top-tier efficiency. Customers are already feeling the squeeze, however it’s unclear if Samsung will skew its pricing barely extra in Snapdragon and Exynos areas to accommodate the completely different prices or if a flatter pricing technique will depart world prospects paying much more for probably much less.

Samsung might take a web page from Apple’s playbook to bypass the difficulty — its rival has shipped older however nonetheless very succesful silicon in its lower-priced iPhones for a number of years now. Samsung might think about a worldwide Exynos rollout for the baseline Galaxy S25 to maintain prices down, which is arguably higher than Apple’s technique because the Exynos 2500 will nonetheless be new. Samsung has already laid the foundations for such an strategy with the Snapdragon-only setup within the Galaxy S24 Extremely. The disadvantage is that this might widen the technological hole between its normal, Plus, and Extremely fashions, however maybe that’s truthful sufficient.

It’s not simply worth and uncooked efficiency metrics that matter relating to Arm Cortex vs Oryon/Phoenix. As a result of age of its growth cycle, Qualcomm’s {custom} CPU relies on the older Armv8 structure, whereas 2024’s Cortex merchandise are constructed on Armv9.2 — full with the newer options that entails. That is essential as a result of 2021’s Armv9 launched a number of key enhancements, together with Scalable Vector Extension (SVE2) and Reminiscence Tagging Extension (MTE).

SVE2 directions are a significant enhancement for machine studying efficiency and different DSP workloads that run instantly on the CPU. Throughout its current CPU bulletins, Arm famous that round 70% of AI-focused apps run on the CPU slightly than a devoted neural processor. As such, the corporate claims stable double-digit ML good points for its newest X925 CPU core. There are many variables, however it’s attainable that ML workloads may run worse on the 8 Gen 4’s CPU in comparison with the X925, making software growth far more reliant on the SoC’s neural processor and Qualcomm’s in-house APIs. This clearly isn’t good for third-party merchandise or efficiency parity with Exynos.

MTE, alternatively, is a giant deal for safety. It helps builders establish reminiscence bugs and keep away from reminiscence exploits like Spectre and Meltdown (keep in mind them?). Now, Qualcomm’s Oryon cores are apparently primarily based on Armv8.7, and MTE was launched in v8.5, so in principle, Qualcomm’s PC chips are safe right here. Nevertheless, whether or not this holds true with Phoenix stays to be seen. I think about it should, however that will be a key level of debate if it doesn’t. Granted, since Google launched assist for MTE in Android 13, solely the Google Pixel 8 and vivo X100 sequence use it, however assist will develop within the coming years.

One totally new safety function in Armv9 is the Confidential Compute Structure and Realms, designed to containerize apps and their information securely with minimal overhead. This isn’t a core Android function but, however it’s the subsequent step in Linux safety (and past) and may very well be a boon for digital environments. In any occasion, extra units are anticipated to assist these essential security measures sooner or later. Qualcomm ought to have parity if it’s to be thought of on the leading edge.

After all, this doesn’t contact on the standard variations between Exynos and Snapdragon. There’s already a niche in graphics efficiency that might develop additional relying on Samsung’s alternative of GPU companions (rumored to be AMD nonetheless), and Exynos’ modem stack continues to be a bit extra questionable.

AI, at the moment an enormous differentiating issue, is maybe probably the most susceptible to handset discrepancy, particularly if Galaxy AI more and more makes use of on-device processing sooner or later. Samsung is rumored (once more very shakily) to be courting Google’s TPU know-how from Tensor, maybe in a bid to shut the efficiency and API hole on Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU suite. Both manner, that is an equally key area to look at.

Clearly, I don’t have a crystal ball and wouldn’t need to speculate too closely on precisely what the Exynos 2500 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will appear to be. That mentioned, there are clear indicators that among the greatest adjustments are coming to the SoC trade in years, they usually’re prone to depart Samsung with some powerful selections to make in regards to the Galaxy S25.

Will the sequence be compelled to hobble its finest capabilities even additional to keep up function parity throughout the lineup? Will chipsets be restricted to particular fashions, as there’s an more and more good case for an Exynos-only base Galaxy S25 if Snapdragon costs shoot up? Would possibly Samsung go Snapdragon-only throughout the entire vary this time? It’s all to be seen.

Moreover, the adjustments coming with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, notably its CPU’s AI and safety capabilities and energy consumption, can have repercussions throughout the Android ecosystem. After which there’s the value; Qualcomm expects at the very least “some price improve” over 8 Gen 3, which certainly means these ultra-premium Android smartphones (and even among the extra inexpensive ones) may very well be much more costly subsequent yr.  I, for one, will likely be watching the top of 2024 with extra-keen curiosity.