The Decline of Exynos Performance

For several years, Samsung has released both Exynos and Snapdragon versions of its flagship smartphones. In fact, the Galaxy S7 featured an Exynos chip that outperformed the Snapdragon variant in practical use. However, since then, it seems that Samsung's Exynos developers have lost momentum, while Qualcomm has accelerated its advancements.

The performance gap became evident with the introduction of the Galaxy S8, where the two chipsets were nearly on par. However, the Snapdragon chips began to pull ahead with the S9 release in 2018, a trend that has continued. Initially, this disparity was a minor annoyance, but by the time the S10 series launched, consumers began to feel the impact more significantly.

Those outside the U.S. felt particularly shortchanged, paying premium prices for what many perceived to be subpar processors. By the time the S20 and Note 20 were released, the performance gap had widened dramatically, prompting over 48,000 individuals to sign a petition urging Samsung to cease using Exynos chips in high-end devices.

The Limitations of In-House Chips

The performance issues became noticeable starting with the S9, but by the S20 lineup, users faced serious problems such as overheating, leading to thermal throttling and significantly reduced battery life. Additionally, Samsung's chips demonstrated inferior RAM management, which was somewhat mitigated by the high RAM capacities (8-12GB) in their premium devices.

Samsung aimed to rectify these shortcomings with the S21 series, introducing the Exynos 2100 chip, which, while improved, still couldn't compete with the Snapdragon 888. This year's Snapdragon chip stands out as one of the fastest on the market, second only to Apple’s A14 Bionic. Despite the enhancements, the differences in battery life, speed, and thermal performance indicate that Samsung shouldn't charge the same for both chip variants.

The first video titled "The Exynos Isn't The Problem" discusses the broader context of Exynos chips, addressing misconceptions and the technical aspects of Samsung's in-house processors.

Will Users Notice the Difference?

For casual users who primarily browse social media, the differences might go unnoticed, aside from slightly reduced battery life. However, for more intensive users, particularly gamers, the Exynos devices tend to overheat, which negatively impacts performance.

Galaxy S10 users may notice a disparity in camera quality, a problem that has since been addressed in later models through software updates. Despite these improvements, the petition against Exynos continues to gather signatures, suggesting that many users are aware of the performance differences and are voicing their concerns.

Why Samsung Continues to Use Exynos

You might wonder why Samsung sticks with these less effective chipsets despite the clear superiority of Snapdragon options. The primary reason is likely cost efficiency. Manufacturing their own processors is generally more economical than sourcing chips externally.

However, the question remains: Why aren't Exynos variants cheaper? In certain cases, they are; Samsung produces 4G models of their flagship phones, which is no longer possible with modern high-end Snapdragon options. Yet, there are no substantial price advantages for consumers with Exynos-equipped devices.

While Samsung’s in-house production could potentially lower costs, especially for 5G chips, the lack of a price difference for consumers raises questions about the justification for the continued use of Exynos in high-end devices. It appears the primary motive may be profit maximization, as Samsung sells what many perceive as inferior products at premium prices.