Main Difference – Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 vs Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890
The main difference between Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890 is that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 is filled with many features while Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890 uses big.LITTLE design and Samsung Coherent Interconnect to increase the performance and efficiency of the SoC. Both these SoC will be responsible for powering the next generation of smartphones that are to be released next year. These SoC’s will be helpful in giving us a brief idea of what to expect with such devices. Let us take a closer look at the SoC’s and analyses which one is the better chip.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Review – Features and Specifications
If we are to take the mobile industry as a whole, the snapdragon processors can be considered the dominant system on chip (SoC) among its rival, powering smartphones, tablets, and even smart watches. This SoC will be the next generation system on chip which will power many of the smart devices that are to be unveiled in 2016.
The predecessor of Snapdragon 820, the snapdragon 810, had many issues like overheating and efficiency problem after it was released. As a result, Samsung started manufacturing its own processor while brands like LG went back to the Snapdragon 808. The rerelease of the same Snapdragon 810, with improvements, was able to solve this issue.
Performance and Efficiency
When compared with the Snapdragon 810, the Snapdragon 820, according to Samsung, is said to be 30% efficient which prolongs the life of the battery and reduces the wastage of power. The one thing that can be expected from the new processor is that it will not suffer from overheating issues like the Snapdragon 810.
Technology
The technology used to build the Snapdragon 820 is the 14 nm FinFET technology. This technology enables the chip to run cooler and faster than the Snapdragon 810.
Security
The SoC comes with a Smart Protect app which detects malware with the use of machine learning without using the traditional method of checking for malware from its database. This app will also be able to not only detect but also to recognize how dangerous it is. But this feature can be added on to the device only by the manufacturer.
Even if the finger is covered by contaminants like dirt, the fingerprint will be recognized by the scanner. Another feature that has been introduced with this edition is, the fingerprint can be read through glass and metal. These are the materials that are being extensively used in manufacturing smart mobile devices. So the next time we buy a smartphone we may not see the power button operating a fingerprint scanner. The fingerprint scanner now has the option of being placed under the display which will give room for a larger display on the phone, or under the metal back.
Low-light Photography
With the help of the hexagon 680 DSP being placed inside the chip, it is able to reduce the noise and brighten up the image when snapping in low light conditions. This will improve the picture quality of the image and increase clarity and sharpness. This same feature also helps videography in a low light situation. The processor is capable of such enhancements, but this all still depends on the sensor, camera, and applications that will support this feature.
Photo Categorization
Qualcomm has also developed an application called Scene detect which uses machine learning to categorize such an image according to the content that has been captured. This is done inside the chip and does not need to move to the cloud in order to be categorized. This is much similar to what happens in google photos, but this happens inside the chip itself.
Graphical Processing Unit
The virtual world will see an improvement, thanks to the Adreno 530 GPU used in Qualcomm Snapdragon 820. The virtual world will seem more realistic, due to the improvement that have been made in the graphics department.
3D Sound
The new SoC will also be able to support 3D sound. This coupled with virtual reality headset will provide the user with a great experience in gaming.
4K Display
The Snapdragon 820 processor will also be able to support 4K on the display
Quick Charge 3.0
The Quick charge 3.0 will be able to power up the phone to 80 % charge in less than 30 minutes. The battery life will also see an improvement thanks to the more efficient processor.
Wireless Connectivity
Qualcomm has an LTE modem which has been integrated with the chipset capable of supporting download speeds of 600 Mbps and upload speeds of 150 Mbps. Speeds have been further enhanced thanks to 802.11 ad, 802.11 AC and MIMO standards.
Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890 Review – Features and Specifications
The Samsung Exynos 8890 was released recently as the next generation SoC, which will power its next flagship devices. It will be the successor of the Exynos 7420 which powered the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5, the Samsung flagships of 2015.
Architecture
The new Exynos 8890 comes with 8 cores. The big.LITTLE design has been used to create two clusters which comprise of four cores in a single cluster. The little cluster is comprised of four Cortex A53 cores whereas the big cluster comes with a custom made architecture that has been developed by Samsung. The new cores in this cluster are known as Exynos M1, although the M1 is different, it is very much similar to the architecture of the ARM architecture. The difference is mainly in the change in the execution pipeline of the processor.
Performance and Efficiency
According to Samsung, the performance of the processor is 30% higher, and the power efficiency of the processor is 10% better than the Exynos 7420.
Samsung Coherent Interconnect
Samsung has designed its own cache coherent interconnect which has been aimed to improve the architecture of the SoC. To do this, the ARM’s CCI IP has been removed, and the Samsung Coherent Interconnect has been designed.
Graphical Processing Unit
The GPU, which powers the SoC, is the ARM Mali T880MP12. This has 6 more cores, totaling to 12 when compared with the Exynos 7420. The core ALU has also seen an improvement by 50% as well as an increase in the computational power. This enables the SoC to support 4K in an effective manner with the help of the improved GPU setup.
Modem
The new Exynos 8890 comes with a build in modem. The modem is able to support LTE category 12 which enables downloads speeds of 600Mbps and upload speeds of 150Mbps.
Difference Between Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 vs Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890
Graphical Processing Unit
The notable feature of the Exynos 8 octa 8890 SoC is that it comes with 12 cores which can be expected to provide superior graphics on the device and faster response.
Digital Signal Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 comes with a Hexagon 680 Digital signal Processor.
Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890 does not come with this feature.
The Digital signal processor bypasses the CPU to perform tasks faster with less CPU power.
CPU
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 uses Kyro CPU.
Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890 uses the big.LITTLE design where custom cores, as well as standard cores for multi-processing.
Connectivity
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 comes with LTE-U, 802.11ad, MU-MIMO, line of sight Wi-Fi and Smart Wi-Fi calling connectivity features.
Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890 provides connectivity via LTE category 12.
Quick Charge 3.0
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, using Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage, is powered by Quick Charge 3.0 for faster charging.
Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890 has not unveiled any quick charge feature yet.
Camera Features
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 comes with visual processing; Snapdragon scene detects low light vision.
Samsung Exynos 8 octa 8890 does not come with such features.
