Samsung’s in-house processors, the Exynos, power its flagship smartphones globally. The Exynos 9810, used in the Galaxy S9 and Note 9 are not sluggish, but increased competition from Huawei’s HiSilicon, Apple, and Qualcomm have called on Samsung to step up to the plate. To cater the needs, Samsung has finally announced its next-gen processors, the Exynos 9820.
Here’s a quick comparison between Exynos 9810 and 9820.
| Specifications | Exynos 9820 | Exynos 9810 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 2x Custom CPU (4th gen) + 2x Cortex-A75 + 4x Cortex-A55 | 4x Custom CPU (3rd gen) + 4x Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | ARM Mali G76 MP12 | ARM Mali G72 MP18 |
| NPU | Yes (integrated) | No |
| Process | 8nm LPP FinFET | 10nm LPP FinFET (2nd gen) |
| Storage | UFS 3.0, UFS 2.1 | UFS 2.1 |
| Modem | LTE-A Cat.20 8CA (2Gbps download) / Cat.20 3CA (316Mbps upload) | LTE Cat.18 6CA (1.2Gbps download) / Cat.18 2CA (200Mbps upload) |
| Display | WQUXGA (3840×2400), 4K UHD (4096×2160) | WQUXGA (3840×2400), 4K UHD (4096×2160) |
| Camera | 22MP rear, 22MP front, 16MP+16MP dual | 24MP rear, 24MP front, 16MP+16MP dual |
| Memory | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Video recording | [email protected], [email protected], encoding/decoding w/ 10-bit HEVC(H.265), H.264, VP9 | [email protected], encoding/decoding w/ 10-bit HEVC(H.265), H.264, VP9 |
Neural Processing Unit in Exynos 9820
One of the critical features of the Exynos 9820 is a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU). An NPU allows AI based tasks over 7 times faster than the Exynos 9810, according to Samsung. Samsung wants to compete with the likes of Huawei Mate 20 Series which uses dual NPUs for its video features. To make the Galaxy S10 and the Note 10, Samsung has added NPU support.
The Exynos 9820 features Samsung’s own 4th gen CPU cores. Instead of a quad-core cluster with 4 Cortex-A55 cores, the Exynos 9820 instead goes for a tri-cluster setup. This setup includes a custom dual-core big cluster together with 2 Cortex-A75 cores and 4 Cortex-A55 cores. The new chip helps to improve performance and power efficiency. Also, the new chips are fabricated on the 8nm LPP FinFET process instead of 7nm like Apple’s A12 Bionic and the Kirin 980. It is still better than the 10nm fabricated Exynos 9810 regarding overall performance.
Other features of the Exynos 8920 include 8K recording at 30 frames-per-second (and improved 4K recording at 150 frames-per-second), improved security capabilities, an advanced ISP with support for up to 5 camera sensors, an improved LTE-Advanced Cat.20 modem (not 5G NR capable), and the high performing ARM Mali G76 GPU for better gaming performance.
The Exynos 9820 is expected to ship with the upcoming Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy Note 10. It’s also expected to power Samsung’s upcoming foldable smartphone, which is rumored to be launched in March.
