Galaxy S9
Samsung announced its “ninth” flagship in February last year, and the model was available in two versions at once. By tradition, the devices are distinguished by a chip inside the case: the manufacturer does not change itself and released the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 +, which have different hardware from country to country. The Snapdragon 845 variant is for the United States, China and Japan, while the Exynos 8910 goes to other regions. Which device should I prefer?
What is the difference between the Galaxy S9 + on Snapdragon and Exynos
Both chips are made using the 10-nm second-generation process technology and have a similar structure, but differ in cores and graphics subsystem. Exynos 9810 is an eight-core: the configuration includes four Samsung’s own high-performance processor cores that can operate at frequencies up to 2.9 GHz, as well as four energy-efficient Cortex-A55 cores with a frequency of up to 1.9 GHz.
For graphics performance meets the GPU Mali-G72 MP18. You can also note support for LPDDR4X memory, UFC 2.1 flash memory, screens up to 4K UHD and cameras up to 24 megapixels.
With the Snapdragon 845, the situation is different. The processor module in the Snapdragon 845 chipset is represented by two Qualcomm Kryo 385 computing units, 4 cores per block. The Kryo 385 Gold cluster operates at a frequency of up to 2.8 GHz and is used in demanding tasks. It has an advanced Cortex-A75 architecture, the fastest among ARM solutions. Graphics processing onboard the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 is handled by the Adreno 630 GPU. It is a development of the Adreno 530 and 540 used in past generations of chipsets.
That is, in fact, the chips are very similar (even the technological process is one), the difference is only in the type of cores and graphics.
Both versions work with LPDDR4x memory and support dual main cameras.
You can find out which version of the Galaxy S9 + is more powerful by using processor performance tests. So, for example, SamMobile published its independent test not so long ago. In most races, Qualcomm’s flagship came out victorious. Reporters noted that the performance of the Snapdragon 845 came close to the results of the latest generation Apple A10.
Android Authority reporters also presented their study. According to them, the Galaxy S9 + version based on the Snapdragon 845 processor is much faster than the one with the Exynos 9810 chip. According to the results of the SpeedTest G benchmark, the device based on the “stone” from Qualcomm won the lead in 17 seconds by the leader in each of the three tests: CPU, GPU and mixed. This is a serious gap, which demonstrates the clear superiority of the technologies used.
Surprisingly, the Exynos 9810 is the result of the work of Samsung itself and, despite the fact that it is produced using the 10-nanometer process technology, almost like the industry’s top solutions, it demonstrates far from the best side. At least in direct comparison with the brainchild of Qualcomm.
What is better Exynos 9810?
In fact, this chip has advantages. Many primarily pay attention to its autonomy. In this sense, Exynos processors have always shown themselves only from the very best side, providing Samsung flagship devices with longer battery life than Qualcomm solutions. And you are unlikely to notice performance degradation if you choose the Galaxy S9 + on the Exynos 9810. Of course, there are differences in the benchmarks, but they are not so significant as to feel them in everyday use. In addition, the model on the Exynos 9810 can be bought several thousand rubles cheaper.
In general, comparing the performance of mobile chips makes more sense in the budget segment. Since only if, for example, you had 7 frames / second and it became 4, then the difference will be enormous. And in top-end smartphones, it makes no difference whether you have 87 frames per second or 94 in the game. For everyday tasks, the amount of RAM and the speed of the built-in flash drive are of great importance, since they will limit the speed of downloading applications and switching between them, not a processor. And the size of RAM in the S9 + is the same for both the American and Russian versions.
Nevertheless, in life, there are often cases when users, before losing consciousness, prove which processor should be in Samsung’s flagships. As a rule, neither side can convince the second of its innocence, and the argument ends in the spirit of eternal reasoning on the topic “iPhone or Android”.
However, among the arguments of the supporters of Snapdragon is really great gaming performance. Some users even manage to buy a smartphone on Exynos, then sell it and buy an option on Snapdragon. They clearly argue their position with the frame rate. However, many of them do not even deny that the difference boils down to the ratio given above.
Another category of users who praise Snapdragon in our comments is those who use “photo processing apps”. They claim that in such applications, the dragon works really better, even despite the small difference in performance, confirmed by tests.
As usual, there is no truth in this matter, and the objective indicators are not so different to think about them to the user who does not care how many frames will be in PUBG. Such users will simply get a slightly more economical or slightly more productive smartphone. Just a little bit. This is how to choose between cars with a power of 208 or 215 horsepower and a proportional difference in fuel consumption.
In general, the Samsung Galaxy S9 + has many advantages over a large share of modern smartphones. Despite the fact that it was released about a year ago, it is still relevant and will work for more than one year. Among the main advantages of this smartphone can be noted premium design, chic screen, loud sound and an excellent camera. Where without it? .. She removes not just worse than many modern devices but even makes some of them nervously look for a lighter to smoke on the sidelines. All this makes it very interesting, especially against the background of the price that has fallen over the year.
If you want to have the most powerful smartphone possible, you should pay attention to the Galaxy S9 + with the Snapdragon 845. But this hardly makes sense: pay more, but you might not notice the difference. Moreover, now is the time to buy the Galaxy S9 +, after the release of the new flagship Samsung, the price for the previous generation has fallen sharply. For example, in the Smart Price Galaxy S9 + you can buy at a price of 24,000 rubles. This is a great offer for those who do not want to pay 50,000 – 60,000 rubles, in fact for advertising but want to get a device with a guarantee.