The Exynos 7 Octa processor will be the first one

Feb 16, 2015 12:28 GMT  ·  By

The more advanced a manufacturing process, the more transistors fit on a chip and the less power is needed to make a chip work, which is why foundries are always working on the next one or two fabrication tech generations. Samsung has one of the most advanced yet.

While Intel TSMC is working on 16nm processors and AMD is enlisting Globalfoundries for 20nm ones, Samsung is starting production of 14nm chips.

It will be interesting to see what kind of mass production nodes get released afterwards. We already know that Intel is preparing 10nm, and Globalfoundries will go to 16nm in a year or two.

Samsung will likely try to jump at 7nm, but this is a digression that will not be serving us well, so back to the point: Samsung has started production of 14nm chips. 8-core chips to be exact.

The Exynos 7 Octa processor

The Exynox 7 Octa processor will be 20% faster and 35% less power hungry than a similar chip based on the 20nm technology.

This leads to a productivity gain of around 30 percent, which is nothing to sneeze at, especially considering the stalemate in better battery creation.

The only reason mobile devices like tablets and smartphones have been gaining better battery lives is because the hardware has been growing in efficiency. Batteries have been rather stagnant of late.

There have been some good ideas about fixing the matter, like changing the materials in the electrodes or nanoengineering them somehow.

However, with results not expected from those breakthroughs for years, better chips with less energy needs are always good news.

Practical applications

The next Galaxy smartphone is bound to use a 14nm chip, but Samsung should eventually get around to using a variation of the node for Smart TVs and tablets as well.

We don't have an ETA for any of those though, not counting the phone which should debut on March 1, as we'll see later. Smart TVs aren't a priority, since they don't run on batteries and are good enough as they are at present, but tablets are a sure go. Maybe even an ARM-based 2-in-1 tablet or two. If not at MWC 2015, then at some other trade show this year.