Tipster says that Samsung will soon introduce the chips that will power the Galaxy S21 line

A tweet disseminated on Saturday by tipster MauriQHD (@MauriQHD) says that the next Exynos chipset will be introduced by Samsung at any moment. According to the tweet, the Exynos 2100 will be the successor to the Exynos 990. A recent Geekbench test of the Exynos 2100 allegedly running on the Galaxy S21+ had a single-core score of 1038 and a multi-core score of 3060. That pales in comparison to the Geekbench results recently posted for the Apple A14 Bionic SoC that will power the iPhone 12 series. That chip, tested while powering an iPad, had single-core and multi-core scores of 1583 and 4198 respectively. At this point, it is possible that the Exynos 2100 score is based on a test using unoptimized firmware so we need to hold off on making any direct comparisons.

Samsung’s 5nm Exynos 2100 chipset could be unveiled soon says tipster

Both the A14 Bionic and the Exynos 2100 will be manufactured using the 5nm process which means that more transistors will fit inside a square mm allowing for greater performance and improved energy consumption. Like the Exynos 2100, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 chipset will be manufactured by Samsung Foundry using the 5nm process node. We could see the new Snapdragon flagship chip unveiled in December during the Snapdragon Summit.

The tipster also said in his tweet that the Exynos 2100 should be “way better” than the Exynos 990. Considering that the latter was manufactured using the 7nm EUV process (EUV is a technique used to mark wafers with very thin ultraviolet beams allowing more transistors to be placed inside a chip) compared to the more powerful and energy-efficient 5nm Exynos 2100, this is pretty much a sure thing.

The Exynos 2100 and Snapdragon 875 will both be found in consumer devices starting early next year. The A14 Bionic, which Apple already introduced when it unveiled the fourth-generation iPad Air last month, could be in consumers’ hands as soon as later this month as the chip will power both the aforementioned tablet and the 2020 iPhone models, both of which are expected to be released later this month. Another 5nm chip manufactured by TSMC this year is Huawei’s Kirin 9000 chipset. The chip will power the Huawei Mate 40 line and the Huawei Mate X2 foldable model. But due to a change in U.S. export regulations, Huawei can no longer get deliveries of this chip sent to it by the foundry. The Chinese manufacturer has been building up a stockpile of Kirin 9000 chips that it will be able to use until the inventory is all gone.

So how will the Exynos 2100 compare with the Snapdragon 875? Both 5nm chipsets, as we pointed out, will be manufactured by Samsung, but Twitter tipster Ice Universe said back in August that while Samsung will close the gap, the Snapdragon 875 will still be the superior chip (note that the Exynos 1000 is a rumored name for the same chip that we are calling the Exynos 2100). While Samsung is moving to AMD for the GPU on its new component, Qualcomm is debuting the 7 series for the Adreno GPU found inside the Snapdragon 875.

The Exynos 2100 SoC will most likely make its debut on the Samsung Galaxy S21 line which will probably include the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. If Samsung sticks with tradition, the Exynos 2100 will power the vast majority of Galaxy S21 series models; those in the U.S., China will get the version of the phone powered by the Snapdragon 875. However, for the Galaxy S20 line this year, Samsung equipped all of the units shipped everywhere but Europe with the Snapdragon 865. That humiliated Samsung employees in the company’s home country of South Korea. But the Exynos 990 just did not have the performance capabilities that Sammy’s executives were hoping for. This year, we could see Samsung return to the Exynos chip for its first flagship line of the year in most markets.