The best version possible of the best chipset
Since a while, we have been hearing that Samsung will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipet worldwide in its Galaxy S23 line. This was good news for reasons which we’ll discuss below. Now, it seems that the company may go further and equip these phones an even more powerful version of the chipset.
This is according to @UniverseIce (opens in new tab), a leaker with a solid track-record who has done some digging to find various evidence to support his claim.
They first posted a screenshot (opens in new tab), from a benchmark for Samsung Galaxy S23. It showed a clock speed up to 3.36GHz, which is faster than the 3.2GHz speeds that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 usually offers. They then claimed (opens in new tab), that there are multiple model numbers for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
They claimed that they had “confirmed”, that the Samsung Galaxy S23 would use a high-frequency version (exclusive to Samsung) of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
They claim that this chip will be used for the European version Samsung Galaxy S23 Line. It’s unclear if the supercharged chipset will also be used elsewhere in the world.
However, in Europe the Galaxy S23 and its siblings may be the most powerful Android phones – although we would take this claim with a grain of salt for the moment.
Analyse: Making the best chipset even better
If the Samsung Galaxy S23 series has exclusive access to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 version, it is unlikely that any other Android phone in 2023 will be able match these handsets. The top Snapdragon chipset for a given year is usually the best available for Android phones. There’s no indication that 2023 will be any different.
It’s good to know that Samsung will be selling Snapdragon chipsets worldwide, instead of shipping phones with Exynos chipsets only in certain regions, as it has done in the past. And if it uses a better version, that’s even better news.
It is hoped that the better version will be available worldwide, but it would be appropriate if it was limited to Europe, since Europe has historically been one of those regions that have been plagued by inferior Exynos chipsets.
This will be bad news for all other manufacturers launching new phones by 2023. Samsung is the most popular Android handset maker and its devices are permanent fixtures on our top phones rankings. A superior chipset could help extend Samsung’s lead.
