Samsung Galaxy S24 will allegedly switch back to Exynos in Europe

Ben Schoon | Aug 31 2023 - 10:05 am PT

Samsung’s Exynos chips have, for a while, led to issues with Galaxy phones from overheating to performance quirks and more. That’s why the decision to go for Qualcomm Snapdragon chips globally on the Galaxy S23 series was praised, but rumor has it, Exynos could return for Galaxy S24.

For the Galaxy S23, S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung opted for using a special version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 on all models. This was the first time Samsung had opted to use Qualcomm chips globally, as years past have always split the lineup between using Snapdragon in regions such as the US and Korea, but Exynos chips in Europe and many other regions.

The use of Exynos has often led to issues for customers. Overheating, absolutely bizarre software bugs, poor battery life, and more have afflicted the chips. In 2020 it even led to a customer petition to try and get Samsung to stop using the chips entirely.

But, despite the history (and the ongoing issues the Exynos-based brings to Google’s Tensor chips), it seems Samsung might go back to Exynos next year.

According to the reliable leaker Ice Universe, Samsung will equip the Galaxy S24 series with the Exynos 2400 chip rather than a next-gen Snapdragon. Ice says the change will at least apply in Europe, where Exynos chips were used in the past.

While this may seem like a big downgrade, it might be fine.

For one, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is rumored to be considerably more expensive than its predecessor, to the point where some OEMs are rumored to be using older chips instead of upgrading. Beyond that, Samsung’s chip processes have been improving, with the company’s 4nm process reportedly now on par with TSMC’s and the 3nm node perhaps even surpassing it. If that is true, it would mean that Exynos 2400 would be a considerably better chip than say, the 2200, which Samsung largely ended up ignoring.

The Galaxy S24 series, due out early next year, is also expected to bring battery and display improvements.