Samsung’s newly unveiled Galaxy S24 phone series brings a return to confusion over which regions get the top-tier Qualcomm Snapdragon chips versus Samsung’s own Exynos processors.
The premium Galaxy S24 Ultra flagship offers some clarity, arriving globally with the brand new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy system-on-chip (SoC). So no matter where you buy the S24 Ultra, you’ll get the same fast Snapdragon speed and performance.
Differences emerge for the regular S24 and S24 Plus models, unfortunately. U.S. customers purchasing these phones can expect the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chip found in the S24 Ultra. China and South Korea will also exclusively carry the Snapdragon-powered S24 and S24 Plus models.
The “for Galaxy” Snapdragon variant differs slightly from the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 used in other Android flagships. On paper, Samsung’s customized version edges out nominally higher clock speeds on the main processing core (3.39GHz vs 3.3GHz) but trails on the secondary cores (2.9/3.1GHz and 2.2GHz vs 3/3.2GHz and 2.3GHz).
In Europe, India, Dubai and other global regions, the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus ship with Samsung’s own Exynos 2400 for Galaxy processor. While no slouch, the Exynos falls a bit short of the Snapdragon’s elite-level performance. Early estimates point to a 3-5% performance gap in the Exynos chipset, but real-world testing will settle the score.
In the past, Exynos-powered Galaxy phones have struggled with battery life, gaming, and overall smoothness compared to their Snapdragon counterparts. Users will hope Samsung has closed the optimization gap with its latest silicon. But the split between regions persists when customers just want Samsung’s newest premium phones firing on every cylinder out of the box.
With the Galaxy S24 series rolling out now, extended hands-on analysis will determine if the Exynos 2400 posts strong gains over past showings. Or if those outside Snapdragon regions remain shortchanged on the true S24 performance flagship experience.
