14 DAY TRIAL // The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ flagships will draw power from either Samsung’s 10nm processor or Qualcomm’s latest platform, which is built on the same process. Benchmark results for both models are now available on AnTuTu.
Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8+ running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 will be available in the US and China, while the variant running Exynos 8895 will reach shelves in the rest of the world. Samsung has had dibs on Qualcomm’s initial batch of Snapdragon 835 platforms, and all other smartphone makers who announced premium phones running the latest platform have had to schedule later releases.
The latest AnTuTu benchmark scores for both variants show that Samsung’s own Exynos 8895 system-on-chip scored higher than the one developed by Qualcomm. The Snapdragon 835 platform in the Galaxy S8 scored 162,101 points on AnTuTu, while Samsung’s chip received a score of 174,155 points, surpassing the iPhone 7 Plus and overshadowing Qualcomm’s latest product.
Snapdragon 835 incorporates a new graphics processing unit, Adreno 540 with 25% increased graphics performance compared to its predecessor, the Snapdragon 821 platform.
Both Exynos 8895 and Snapdragon 835 use the same 10nm process and despite benchmark scores, consumers won’t be able to tell the difference between the two chips.
The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ with Snapdragon 835 platform are already available for pre-order in the US, where Samsung found that it faces lower costs to release phones with Qualcomm-made chips. In fact, Qualcomm holds a number of CDMA patents, which is why many smartphone makers choose to release products with Qualcomm platforms inside, instead of paying high licensing fees.
However, Qualcomm has been facing some issues with antitrust commissions lately, as a recent report showed that the Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission accused the semiconductor manufacturer of preventing Samsung from selling its chips to third-party smartphone makers.
The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be released on April 21, while the unlocked versions of the two phones should arrive in the US on May 9.