Galaxy S10 Exynos, Snapdragon Variants Won't Be Created Equal

For whatever business and legal reasons, Samsung has long made two variants of its flagship devices. One was powered by its own Exynos processor while other markets got Qualcomm's equivalent Snapdragon chip. Other than that, those two variants are functionally equal, with Samsung sometimes even disabling features for the two versions to be on equal footing. Next year's Galaxy S10, however, might be a bit different because the difference between the two variants could go beyond just the processor and include even the logic board could be substantially different.

In truth, there might actually already be some functional discrepancies between Exynos and Snapdragon variants. Some benchmarks put Samsung's Exynos-powered Galaxy phones ahead in terms of CPU performance but Qualcomm's Adreno GPU is often hailed as the champ in graphics. Recently, it was discovered that Samsung limited its Exynos variants of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 to 4K 30 fps because the Snapdragon variants couldn't handle 4K 60 fps.

But according to ETnews, the Galaxy S10 might take it one step further. Sources say that the Exynos variant will use a Stacked SLP (Substrate like PCB) logic board, something that was rumored for the Galaxy S9 but didn't come to pass in the end. What this means, in practice, is that Samsung could significantly reduce the amount of space used by the logic board by stacking chip, leaving more space for the battery or other components.

The report implies that this will apply only to Exynos variants, leaving no mention of the Qualcomm ones. This could be a rather puzzling discrepancy if Samsung will attempt to make use of that extra space for features or specs that aren't going to be available for other models.

Of course, this tip could end up not happening. The Galaxy S10 is already expected to have quite a few new features, including a Fingerprint on Display (FoD) scanner. Samsung might also be working on an in-screen camera, a.k.a. Under Panel Sensor (UPS), but that might be earmarked for the Galaxy Note 10 later next year.