Galaxy S22 might go all out on Snapdragon 898

For years, Samsung has always been a two-processor house. It split its flagship series between Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors and its own Exynos silicon. The latter, however, has become quite controversial in the past years, and it seems that the drama might reach its peak in a few months. According to the latest rumor, the premier Galaxy S22 series will all be powered by the Snapdragon 898, with barely or no room for the much-awaited Exynos 2200.

The split between Snapdragon and Exynos chips in different markets has always been a controversial one for users, but it has come to a head in the past few years. The performance discrepancy between processors of the same generation, often in favor of Qualcomm, has caused many users to wish they could acquire models from different countries. Conversely, Samsung's own execs and employees have been embarrassed when the company's mobile business didn't go with its own Exynos processors for Galaxy S phones sold on its own turf.

Rather than getting better with the Exynos 2200, things might actually take a turn for the worse. Echoing rumors a few months back, LetsGoDigital's source now claims that all Galaxy S22 models will use the upcoming Snapdragon 898 (or 895) instead of the equivalent Exynos. That includes not only the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ but even the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

If this comes to pass, users in all markets might have reason to rejoice, but it will come at Samsung's expense. The Exynos 2200 has largely been hyped by rumors, especially considering the AMD graphics tech that is expected to level up the chip's performance, especially in gaming. Benchmarks haven't been conclusive but seem to at least be on par with leaked figures for the Snapdragon 898 instead of being slower or weaker.

Of course, there's still a chance that Samsung will make available Exynos 2220 Galaxy S22 models in some markets, particularly in South Korea. Given the untested performance of Samsung's next-gen chip, it might be a safer bet to do limited runs of those models first. The global semiconductor situation also makes taking such big risks less feasible, so it might actually be in Samsung's best interests to go all Qualcomm, at least for next year.