The rumors that preceded the launch of the Galaxy S24 were correct. They warned that Samsung would use both the Exynos 2400 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips to power the flagship. Fans had not forgotten the massive Exynos 2200 disappointment that forced Samsung to use a Snapdragon chip inside every Galaxy S23 model.
But Samsung did things differently when splitting its Galaxy S24 versions by chip model. Every Galaxy S24 Ultra model runs on Qualcomm’s latest chip, including international devices. But only the North American Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus phones come with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips. Those phones feature the Exynos 2400 chip in global markets.
Yes, there’s a difference between the two chips, and it’s not imperceptible. It’s not just about speed, either, as you’ll see in the video below from a YouTuber who purchased both versions of the Galaxy S24. The Exynos 2400 gets hotter, the battery is worse, and you might experience cellular connectivity and photo quality issues.
Still, this isn’t as bad as the year of the Exynos 2200. That chip burned Samsung from the first days of the Galaxy S22 series going on sale. The Exynos 2400 is a different beast. It can’t match the Snapdragon chip in performance and overheats more than the Qualcomm processor, but it’s still not as bad as two years ago.
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The fact that Samsung hasn’t been going out of its way to advertise the Exynos 2400 is another indicator that the chip isn’t quite on par with its Snapdragon equivalent. That Samsung would rather not attract any attention to the differences in performance and experience.
YouTuber Techmo got the two phones from Canada and Europe. He then put the two through the same benchmark tests and use case scenarios.
The benchmarks overwhelmingly favored the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, a sign of what was to come. Also, the Exynos 2400 got hotter during those tests and used more energy than the Qualcomm counterpart.
Speaking of performance, the Galaxy S24 Ultra performed amazingly in a speed test against the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’ll be interesting to see the Exynos 2400 Galaxy S24 put through a similar test.
You can’t tell which chips the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus feature just by looking at the phones. Image source: Samsung
Techmo used the Galaxy S24 phones to play continuous video, take photos, edit images, and play games. He also made calls and tested them on standby. That is, he left the phones alone to see how they impact battery life.
Once you move beyond the benchmark tests in the clip, you’ll see all the issues that might impact the Eyxnos 2400 Galaxy S24 version. The 5G signal isn’t as strong as the Snapdragon’s variant, and the phone might drop to 4G even when there’s good 5G coverage.
The screen might dim once the handset becomes hotter than 45ºC (113ºF). And the handset will overheat more than the Qualcomm model when running apps that require extended performance, like playing a mobile game.
The Exynos also does worst in camera tests, with side-by-side comparisons showing washed-out colors, which don’t always match the colors from the Snapdragon version. Both phones have identical rear-facing cameras. But it’s different chips doing the processing.
Maybe the worst thing about the Exynos 2400 Galaxy S24 model is battery life. At least according to the tests that Techmo performed. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip might be more efficient, and it runs cooler than the Exynos 2400. That might explain why the Exynos phone ran out of energy long before the Snapdragon model. That Galaxy S24 handset still had 17% battery life at the end of the test.
If you remember a recent battery test, some reviewers found the base Galaxy S24 to outperform the iPhone 15. But that was a US version of the phone, therefore running the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra features the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip in all markets. Image source: Samsung
I will also give you the obvious disclaimer. This is just one such comparison between the two devices. Maybe Samsung will further optimize the software for the Exynos 2400 chip. Also, the real-like experience of the Exynos 2400 Galaxy S24 version can’t be that bad, considering that we’ve not witnessed a wave of complaints as we did with the Exynos 2200 Galaxy S22.
At the same time, most reviews covered Qualcomm versions of the Galaxy S24 phones, focusing on the Ultra model. As I said before, that phone packs the same Snapdragon chip globally.
But the conclusion seems to be that the Snapdragon Galaxy S24 model might be a much better choice than the Exynos one. If you can find the former in international markets, that is.
One thing the comparison fails to look at is Galaxy AI, a staple feature of the Galaxy S24 series. It would have been interesting to see a few examples of Galaxy AI on the two phones and how AI impacts the chips, temperature, and battery life.