Samsung’s next major mobile chip is a mystery no longer. According to sources close to Korean media, the next processor in the electronics giant’s Exynos line is the 9810 and it is a veritable powerhouse.
Samsung will reportedly position the Exynos 9810 against Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship, the Snapdragon 835, Huawei’s Kirin 970 chip, and Apple’s A10 Fusion SoC. It’s manufactured on the same 10nm FinFET technology, which uses technology like a 3D transistor structure, triple-patterning, and bi-directional routing to deliver a 30 percent increase in area efficiency, 27 percent higher performance, and 40 percent lower power consumption.
The Exynos 9810 will have two sets of four cores for a total of eight: Four of Samsung’s power-efficient 2.5GHz Mongoose M2 cores (compared to the outgoing Exynos M1 CPU cores) and four of ARM’s 1.7GHz Cortex A53 cores. The former will kick in for intensive tasks, while the latter will handle background updates that require less power.
The chip interfaces with LPDDR4x, a speedy form of super-dense RAM that can support memory modules up to 8GB in size. It also supports the latest version of universal flash storage (UFS), a fast removable storage standard.
In terms of graphical power, the Exynos reportedly sports a Mali G71 clocked at 550MHz. It’s significantly more efficient than its predecessor and features 18 to 20 cores that support resolutions of up to 4K (4,096 x 2,160 pixels). As WCCFTech points out, that is incredibly competitive — ARM has made claims that the 16-core G71 graphics chip can match the performance of the average desktop GPUs.
Interestingly, industry sources tell PhoneArena there are actually two versions of the Exynos 9810, Exynos 9810V and Exynos 9810M. The ‘V’ variant packs an 18-core GPU, while the ‘M’ model sports a 20-core graphics chip.
But neither is a slouch when it comes to network connectivity. The Exynos 9810 comes paired with a Cat.16 modem that supports speeds up to 1 Gbps, a feature that will reportedly come at the cost of support for a wide range of networks.
The Exynos 9810’s exact specifications may not be a sure thing, but the wait won’t drag on much longer. Rumors suggest Samsung began mass production last October, and in a recent invitation, the company teased a mysterious “Cloud 9” Exynos chip with the subtitle “coming soon.”
The Exynos 9810 is expected to power select international variants of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S8.
