3 reasons why a Snapdragon-only Galaxy S23 is a great move

A loopy rumor out of Korea emerged in Might, alleging that Samsung would skip high-end Exynos processor launches in 2023 and 2024. It’s fairly the declare, as it might imply Samsung’s Galaxy S23 and S24 would completely use Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon.

Veteran analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has since partially echoed this declare, asserting that the Galaxy S23 is probably going to make use of Snapdragon energy solely. That might be a significant flip of occasions for Samsung, which has used a dual-sourcing strategy for its Galaxy S flagships for years. However there are a number of explanation why this might be a superb factor.

Cause 1: One Galaxy flagship to rule all of them

Maybe a very powerful argument in favor of a Snapdragon-only Galaxy S23 sequence is that it might give shoppers one model, no matter the place they purchased the system.

Customers in Europe, the Center East, India, and Africa have historically acquired the Exynos variant — though solely Europe received an Exynos Galaxy S22 this yr. This has been a significant downer in years when the Exynos chipset was inferior, which means that buyers in these areas had been getting a much less highly effective telephone for the same worth, if not larger.

Even when the Exynos variant was comparable when it comes to sheer energy, Samsung’s chipsets nonetheless lagged behind in different areas, resembling gaming help. We noticed a transparent instance of this when Diablo Immortal was launched, as the sport had extreme points on Exynos fashions, ostensibly attributable to an absence of developer help. This isn’t essentially Samsung’s fault, however Qualcomm silicon is normally a precedence for a lot of builders. Points like these are uncommon and rapidly fastened in the event that they happen on a Snapdragon chip.

We’ve additionally seen minor variations between Exynos and Snapdragon variations in terms of picture and video high quality. DXOMark experiences that the Exynos Galaxy S22 Extremely was edged out by the Snapdragon variant in most situations, bar video high quality and low-light telephoto picture high quality.

So switching solely to Snapdragon silicon for the Galaxy S23 sequence ought to imply customers in conventional Exynos areas would lastly be getting the identical telephone for his or her cash. And there doesn’t seem to be a greater time to make this resolution than now.

Cause 2: This might be a one-sided battle in 2023

There’s motive to suspect {that a} Qualcomm and Exynos showdown in 2023 would lead to a large defeat for Samsung’s silicon.

Nevertheless, Qualcomm is switching again to Taiwan’s TSMC to fabricate the most recent Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 — the mid-year refresh of the usual Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. If Qualcomm’s claims are to be believed, this might be its most spectacular mid-cycle improve but with 30% effectivity beneficial properties over the usual 8 Gen 1 and a ~10% enhance to CPU and GPU clock pace. The effectivity declare is especially spectacular because the firm doesn’t normally emphasize it with mid-year chips. These beneficial properties are largely borne out in the actual world, too, because the ROG Cellphone 6 Professional delivered higher benchmark outcomes than Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 telephones more often than not.

All of this implies that TSMC gives superior manufacturing capabilities in comparison with Samsung’s foundry. Moreover, numerous rumors point out that Qualcomm is sticking with TSMC for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which might put it forward for one more yr.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo echoed related sentiments a number of days in the past, claiming that Samsung won’t undertake the Exynos 2300 for the Galaxy S23 as a result of it may possibly’t compete with the next-generation Snapdragon SoC. He asserted that the Exynos chipset could be made on a Samsung 4nm course of whereas the Snapdragon chip could be made on TSMC’s 4nm course of.

However might this merely be a case of Qualcomm making a greater chipset, fairly than an indication of 1 foundry’s manufacturing supremacy over one other? Nicely, we do have yet another piece of proof.

The Galaxy S20 sequence is broadly acknowledged to have been a low level for the Exynos line, because the Snapdragon 865 handily beat the Exynos 990 in benchmarks (notably GPU exams). Curiously — or not — the Qualcomm chipset was manufactured by TSMC again then, whereas the Exynos 990 was made by Samsung.

This isn’t essentially a smoking gun, nevertheless it appears like Samsung’s Exynos line could be in for a equally big drubbing if we received each Exynos and Snapdragon Galaxy S23 telephones subsequent yr.

Cause 3: No extra worrying about function parity

By going for a Snapdragon-only Galaxy S23 line-up, Samsung wouldn’t want to fret about function parity. We’ve seen it occur a number of instances over time when Samsung has to ditch a cool function provided on one variant as a result of the opposite variant doesn’t help the identical functionality.

One distinguished instance was the Galaxy S8 sequence formally lacking out on 4K/60fps recording as a result of the Snapdragon 835 lacked it. Equally, the Galaxy S10 sequence missed out on 8K recording although the Exynos 990 supported it, because the Snapdragon 865 didn’t provide it. The Galaxy S22 sequence additionally appears to overlook 8K HDR performance as a result of the Exynos 2200 doesn’t help it.

Samsung wouldn’t want to fret about function parity if there was just one model to start with. And this additionally opens the door for the Galaxy maker to take full benefit of Snapdragon capabilities, resembling 8K HDR recording.

Why skipping Exynos might be trigger for concern

Regardless of the numerous potential upsides to a Snapdragon-only Galaxy S23 sequence, there are nonetheless a number of potential downsides to such a transfer.

Maybe essentially the most urgent concern is the continuing world chip scarcity. It looks as if the worst could be over for now, however the resolution to go along with one chipset implies that Samsung gained’t have any flexibility if Qualcomm or TSMC run into manufacturing points. Worst-case state of affairs? Samsung won’t be capable of convey the Galaxy S23 sequence to some markets or these areas might obtain restricted inventory.

One other potential concern for a Snapdragon-only future is that Samsung may see worth strain from Qualcomm. The Snapdragon maker might theoretically cost high greenback for these chips, placing strain on Samsung to take care of its revenue margins by growing the price of the Galaxy S23 vary.

Extra Samsung protection: Right here’s why Exynos versus Snapdragon is a giant deal

There’s additionally the chance that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 seems to be a significant disappointment, leaving followers with no different mannequin in the event that they nonetheless need to follow the Galaxy S23 vary. Then once more, smartphone makers are inclined to get their arms on chips method forward of time, giving them some wiggle room to modify to an alternate processor if want be. A transparent precedent for this was the Galaxy S6 vary: Rumors circulated previous to launch that Samsung had dropped the Snapdragon 810 for the Exynos 7420 attributable to overheating points with the Snapdragon silicon.

A Snapdragon-only Galaxy S23 sequence might additionally cease Samsung from implementing some superior {hardware} options if the Snapdragon chip doesn’t help it. We already talked about Exynos chips sometimes supporting some video high quality choices earlier than the equal Snapdragon SoC provided them. However we’ve additionally seen Exynos silicon help options like AV1 decoding and hardware-based ray tracing earlier than Snapdragon processors. Fortuitously, it looks as if the previous is a lock for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

The advantages probably outweigh the downsides

Regardless of these issues relating to a Snapdragon-only Galaxy S23 vary, there are clearly quite a few potential upsides to the scenario.

For one, shoppers in Europe might lastly get a telephone with the identical efficiency as fashions in different areas. This may additionally imply the identical help for gaming and digicam high quality throughout all variants, in addition to the identical feature-set with out artificially holding one variant again.

Both method, it definitely looks as if 2023 might be a really attention-grabbing yr for followers of Samsung smartphones. However right here’s hoping that the rumors are true and Samsung is certainly engaged on one thing almighty for 2025.