Samsung has unveiled theGalaxy S23 family of devicesand as expected, there’s the S23, S23+ and the top-of-the-lineGalaxy S23 Ultra. But the hardware powering these devices is different to the arrangement in previous years.
For many years, Samsung has split the hardware in the Galaxy S models, using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon hardware in some parts of the world and its own Exynos hardware in other areas. That’s lead to no end of controversy from fans who typically all want Snapdragon, but haven’t been able to get it in Europe or India, for example.
That’s changed with the Galaxy S23 line. The entire family of devices is now powered by Snapdragon hardware, so everyone will be getting the same device and there will be no need for comparisons or arguments about which version is the best.
More importantly, however,Qualcommand Samsung are leaning into this relationship. The result is that Samsung is getting custom Snapdragon hardware, with the new scheme attracting the name Snapdragon for Galaxy. This really seals the deal, not just unifying the Snapdragon experience globally, but giving Samsung a small power advantage over other devices running on Qualcomm hardware.
What does that mean for the Samsung Galaxy S23 family? The Kryo CPU is clocked to 3.36GHz rather than 3.2GHz in the regular hardware, leading Qualcomm to call it “the fastest Snapdragon ever”. That’s not the only advantage: Qualcomm also tells us that the Adreno GPU has “significantly improved in both performance and power efficiency” compared to the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
That might position the Galaxy S23 Ultra as a better gaming phone, but should also mean it performs just a little better than other devices running on the regular Snapdragon platform - which is most flagship smartphones.
“Our strong strategic partnership with Samsung is a result of our mutual commitment to innovation and delivering the world’s best smartphone experiences to consumers,” said Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm.
Previously, Snapdragon was only in 75 per cent of Galaxy S devices - so naturally this will do wonders for Qualcomm’s order books. But the question is whether other Snapdragon users will want their own special treatment?
That’s not unheard of. For example, theNothing phone (1)had a custom version of the Snapdragon 778G to allow wireless charging, but what happens when a company likeXiaomior Oppo starts making demands? Will this seem greater enthusiasm for custom hardware from Qualcomm, or will alternatives like MediaTek be looking to take advantage?
