Samsung announced it has a new Exynos mobile processor – the Exynos 7 Octa 7870 – to offer to the mid-range phone segment. Based on advanced 14-nanometer (nm) FinFET technology, the new Exynos 7 Octa 7870 chips is slated for mass production in Q1, 2016 and could feature in new budget phones from Samsung due out in second half of 2016.
Samsung sources further stated the new Exynos 7870 SoC comprises of octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.6GHz. The chip also comes integrated with an LTE Cat.6 2CA modem compatible with FDD-TDD (Frequency Division Duplex and Time Division Duplex) joint carrier aggregation technology that supports up to 300Mbps downlink speeds. The Exynos 7870 is also compatible with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNS).
That is not all as the new chip will also be able to support several other advanced features that so far was in the realm of high-end phones only. These include support for 1920 x 1200 resolution WUXGA displays, 1080p video playback at 60fps along with front and rear cameras of up to 16-megapixel resolution. The resolution gets halved to 8 megapixels for dual camera setups.
Samsung further stated the new chip will be 30 percent more power efficient compared to 28nm based SoCs without compromising on performance.
Samsung’s move also puts it in direct competition with Qualcomm that had launched three new advanced chips just last week. The new Qualcomm SoCs also support advanced features and are targeted at the same mid-range phone segment that Samsung has set its eyes on with its new Exynos 7870.
Special mention must be made of the Snapdragon 625 that too is based on 14nm FinFET tech and could pose the biggest threat to Samsung. Further, Snapdragon 625 with its eight ARM Cortex-A53 processors boasts of enough oomph to support up to 13 and 24-megapixel front and rear cameras, 4K video playback as well as upload speeds of up to 150Mbps at 4G+ speeds.
That is not all for there also is the Snapdragon 435 that too supports 300Mbps downlink at 4G+ speeds and can pose a stiff challenge to the Exynos 7870.
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S7 is likely to be powered by the Exynos 8 Octa 8890 that too is based on a 14nm manufacturing process. The chip was announced last November and is currently being mass produced.
Samsung’s other competitor, chip maker TMSC currently relies on 16nm manufacturing process. However, both Samsung and TMSC are exploring options to further upgrade to the 10nm process for even more efficient chips.
