It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that it took Samsung nearly 15 years to finally make an Android flagship that’s as fast and smooth as flagship devices should be. The Galaxy S23 series runs incredibly well, so much so that it could become a problem for Samsung going forward and its ability to match the expectations customers who own a Galaxy S23 will have developed by the time the next Samsung flagship comes out.
Samsung worked with Qualcomm to develop a custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset with higher clock speeds that’s exclusive to the Galaxy S23 series. It also helps that the chip was manufactured by TSMC instead of Samsung, and Samsung has no doubt also made many optimizations to the software to make sure the Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra perform as well as they do.
And finally, the best part here is that Samsung has exclusively used the Snapdragon chip for the Galaxy S23 lineup and ditched the Exynos line, so no matter where you buy a Galaxy S23, you’re getting the same level of performance and efficiency instead of being treated like a second class citizen.
Given how well Samsung has turned things around this year and how it has made a big deal about its partnership with Qualcomm, you would assume the Korean giant would continue to use Snapdragon chips exclusively next year as well. But if recent rumors are to be believed, Samsung could be switching back to an Exynos chip for the Galaxy S24 in some markets, and frankly, I think such a move would be pretty stupid.
Samsung’s Exynos chips have fallen short of expectations too often
For those wondering why, is an explanation really necessary? We’ve seen how Samsung’s Exynos line has fallen behind the competition in recent years, and even the company’s attempts to get back in the game were met with disappointment, with the Galaxy S22’s Exynos 2300 processor failing to impress anyone despite all the hype around its AMD GPU.
Some might say that the average customer doesn’t care what chip is powering their phone, and they would be right. But if most people can’t tell the difference, I would rather Samsung keep using Snapdragon chips for its flagships in the future, or for a year or two more at the very least. The Galaxy S23 line has given us a glimpse of what Samsung can achieve when it sets out to offer the best user expereience to everyone, and bringing back the Exynos chip in just one year would not just be stupid, but cruel.
I’m not saying Samsung should ditch Exynos chips for good. But it needs to first make sure the next flagship Exynos chip can actually offer the same quality as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips without using customers as guinea pigs. Whether that means Samsung first uses the next chip in a cheaper device instead of the main Galaxy S flagship lineup is something I will leave for Samsung to decide.
I just want the best possible package if I’m going to spend upwards of $1000 for a phone, but recent history indicates Samsung’s semiconductor development team is simply not up to the task, and I and many other fans are not willing to give it any more chances to prove us wrong.
