Samsung Exynos 2100 5G vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G

Samsung Exynos 2100 5G

The Samsung Exynos 2100 5G is a high end SoC with 8 cores in three clusters (1x Exynos X1 2.9 GHz/ 3x Cortex-A78 2.8 GHz/ 4x A55 2.2 GHz) and a integrated ARM Mali-G78MP14 GPU (+40% faster versus Mali-G77MP11). Integrates a 5 G modem with up to 7.35 Gbps (5G NR Sub-6Hz, 5G NR mmWave, LTE Cat.24 DL / Cat.22 UL). The chip supports single cameras with up to 200 MP or dual-cameras with 32 MP each, UFS v3.1 stsorage and LPDDR5 memory. Videos can be decoded up to 8K60 in 10-bit HEVC or 30fps in VP9/AV1. Encoding is supported in 8K30 HEVC and VP9. For AI calculations the Exynos 2100 integrates a triple core NPU and DSP. The chip is manufactured in 5LPE at Samsung.

The processor performance in our tests with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is slightly below the Snapdragon 888 (numbers from the Qualcomm own test device) but clearly higher than the old Snapdragon 865+. Compared to Apple, the single thread performance is similar to the old Apple A12. Multi-thread-performance is better and between the A13 and current A14 CPU. All in all, the Exynos 2100 should be the second fastest SoC for Android devices and only slightly behind the Snapdragon 888 in CPU performance. Therefore, all demanding applications should run easily on the 2100.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform is a high-end SoC for smartphones that was introduced in late 2020 and manufactured in 5 nm at Samsung. Integrates one “Prime Core” based on a ARM Cortex-X1 architecture clocked at up to 2.84 GHz. Three more performance cores are based on the A78 but clock up to 2.42 GHz. Furthermore, four energy saving cores are integrated that are based on the ARM Cortex-A55 architecture and clock at up to 1.8 GHz. In addition to the processor cores, the SoC integrates a WiFi 6e modem, a Hexagon 780 DSP (up to 26 TOPS of AI performance) and a Spectra 580 ISP. The integrated memory controller now supports faster LPDDR5 memory with up to 3,200 MHz. 5G is now included in the chip with the Snapdragon X60 modem.

The performance of the processor cores should be around 15% better than the old Snapdragon 865+. The integrated Adreon 660 GPU should make a bigger jump by 35% (most likely compared to the SD 865).

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ (Plus) 5G Mobile Platform is a high-end SoC for smartphones that was introduced in mid 2021 and manufactured in 5 nm at Samsung. 

Integrates one “Prime Core” based on a ARM Cortex-X1 architecture clocked at up to 3 GHz. Three more performance cores are based on the A78 but clock up to 2.42 GHz. Furthermore, four energy saving cores are integrated that are based on the ARM Cortex-A55 architecture and clock at up to 1.8 GHz. In addition to the processor cores, the SoC integrates a WiFi 6e modem, a Hexagon 780 DSP (up to 26 TOPS of AI performance) and a Spectra 580 ISP. The integrated memory controller now supports faster LPDDR5 memory with up to 3,200 MHz. 5G is now included in the chip with the Snapdragon X60 modem.

Compared to the older Snapdragon 888, the 888+ offers a slightly higher clocked prime core (+160 MHz) and a 23% faster Hexagon 790 DSP. Therefore, it is now the fastest Android SoC (at the time of announcement), but still slightly slower (CPU and GPU) than the Apple A14 and A15 Bionic SoCs.