Exynos 2200, Dimensity 9000 and SD 8 Gen 1: Which is better?

Samsung has finally introduced the Exynos 2200. Of course, not all details were shared. However, we can now see more clearly how the new generation mobile processors provide advantages and disadvantages against each other. The flagship class currently has strong rivals on the Android front, such as Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Dimensity 9000. If you’re wondering which one is better, let’s take a closer look at its features.

Exynos 2200, Dimensity 9000 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 features

All three of these Exynos, Dimensity and Snapdragon chips, which will be used in flagship devices in 2022, use cores based on the Armv9 architecture. If we look a little deeper, we see Cortex-X2 for power, Cortex-A710 for midrange and Cortex-A510 for efficiency.

Although Google makes its own developments in the Tensor chip and uses Cortex-X1, A78 and A55 cores that come with 2+2+4 configurations, we did not include this chip in our comparison, since it is based on Armv8 when looking at its architecture.

In contrast, the new Snapdragon, Exynos, and Dimensity chips are expected to offer fairly close performance data, as they all use the same CPU cores and 1+3+4 layout. However, since MediaTek prefers TSMC’s 4nm process over Samsung’s 4nm manufacturing architecture, there will be minor differences such as clock speed and cache differences.

But when we look at the basic user experience, we can say that all 3 processors offer very close things to the users. Of course, at this point, there may also be low performance problems due to heating or efficiency, which may vary depending on the device. However, although we will only see the difference on paper, it should be noted that MediaTek supports LPDDR5X RAM, which is slightly faster than its competitors.

Looking at the graphics processor, the color of the work changes. MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000 chip uses Arm Mali-G710 MC10 GPUs, which offer 35 percent higher performance than Snapdragon 888, one of this year’s popular flagship chips.

On the Qualcomm side, we cannot reach an absolute conclusion as it has switched to a completely new nomenclature, model numbers and chip series. But looking at the data announced by the company, it offers a performance increase of around 30 percent over the previous generation 888. Therefore, we can say that it is a direct competitor with MediaTek.

The Samsung Exynos 2200 is the long-awaited chip with the most radical change. It houses the Xclipse 920 GPU, which uses AMD’s RDNA2 architecture that powers PlayStation 5, Xbox and high-end PC graphics cards.

It’s a big step forward for the mobile side, and first of all, hardware-based ray tracing will definitely be stronger than Mediatek’s software support. Of course, thanks to the application and game support, we will be able to clearly understand this difference. However, among these 3 chips, which are close to each other in CPUs within the chip, Samsung seems to take the leadership seat on the GPU side.

However, it should be noted that we still have no information on the performance or power consumption of RDNA2 in a low-power mobile form factor. The core count and clock speeds are significantly throttled compared to its console siblings. Therefore, we should never compare performance expectations with them.

As we can see in the spec sheet, all 3 mobile processors are actually pretty close to each other. But those looking for a little more detail will find some differences in download speeds or the Megapixels they offer in a single camera.

Of course, as we said, these differences, which seem quite small between these chips, which are very close in terms of user experience, can become quite important if we consider the performance test results that can occur on two different devices using the same processor. But on paper, they all seem pretty good.

All three companies are proudly displaying their advanced image processing capabilities, thanks to their AI capabilities. Mediatek says this will enable video bokeh and advanced noise reduction. Qualcomm, on the other hand, states that it will increase the burst mode, HDR and night shooting capabilities. Therefore, the difference becomes a purely preferential distinction after a point.

Speaking of AI performance, all three manufacturers are making big claims. Qualcomm has doubled the tensor performance inside the Hexagon DSP, which will provide significant boost for some workloads. Samsung also promises a two-fold increase in machine learning compared to the previous generation chip. Mediatek’s Dimensity 9000 offers 4 times performance and 4 times energy efficiency compared to its predecessor.

In addition, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has an all-new Trust Management Engine compatible with Android Ready SE. Similarly, Exynos 2200 comes with an integrated Secure Element that can verify Root of Trust and data held in secure domains.

In the port, we see the chips are a little more separated from each other. All three models have 5G support. Qualcomm and Samsung claim they can achieve 10Gbps download speeds. However, achieving this requires more specific data collection scenarios.

For example, Samsung does this while taking advantage of simultaneous 4G and 5G connectivity. In other words, when network connections start to offer independent 5G support in the near future, they will not be able to benefit from this feature. On the other hand, perhaps the most important difference between these chips is that Mediatek is the only one that does not support 5G mmWave.

We do not yet know what the Exynos 2200 supports in terms of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. But considering the specs of its predecessors, we can expect the lowest Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. But let’s also mention that its competitors offer features such as Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

What do you think about this subject? Don’t forget to share your views with us in the comments!