Compact Galaxy S20 finally appears with 12GB RAM, benching against S20+
After thoroughly previewing the Galaxy S20 Ultra and the S20+, finally it’s time for the smallest and cutest member of the pack, the 6.2″ Galaxy S20, to pop up somewhere. Denoted with the SM-G981U model number, the same that it appeared with at the FCC in the US last week, the Galaxy S20 will most likely be a value-for-money juggernaut, so its performance matters.
Now, the only thing left is to wait for the eventual Exynos 990 version of the Galaxy S20 phones to be benchmarked as well, so that we can compare the two processors and see which will come on top. Samsung’s Exynos model will have the advantage of an integrated 5G modem, whereas the Snapdragon 865 has to have Qualcomm’s X55 one tacked on in addition to the processor chippery.
Here are the main differences of the new Exynos 990 and Snapdragon 865 processor when compared to their predecessors in phones like the S10, or against Apple’s finest for the moment A13.
Snapdragon 865 and 855+ vs Exynos 990 vs Apple A13 specs comparison
| Exynos 990 (Galaxy S20) | Snapdragon 865 (Galaxy S20) | Snapdragon 855+ | Apple A13 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production process | 7nm+ EUV | 7nm (TSMC N7P) | 7nm (TSMC FF) | 7nm (TSMC N7P) |
| Processor cores | 2x Exynos M5
2x Cortex A76 4x Cortex A55 |
1x 2.84GHz A77
3x 2.42GHz A77 4x 1.8GHz A55 |
1x Kryo 485 Gold (custom Cortex-A76) @ 2.96GHz
3x Kryo 485 Gold (custom Cortex-A76) @ 2.42GHz 4x Kryo 485 Silver (custom Cortex-A55) @ 1.80GHz |
2x Lightning @2.66GHz
4x Thunder @1.7GHz |
| GPU | Mali-G77 MP11 | Adreno 650 at 587MHz | Adreno 640 | Apple custom quad-core |
| Modem | Exynos 5123 (Category 24) Downloads up to 7.3Gbps (mmWave), 5.1Gbps (sub-6GHz), or 3Gbps (4G LTE), 8xCA |
X55 5G modem add-on
up to 7 Gbps over 5G, and 2.5 Gbps download speeds on LTE |
Snapdragon X24 LTE (Category 20) Downloads: up to 2Gbps, 7xCA Uploads: up to 316Mbps X50 5G modem add-on |
Intel XMM7660 (Category 19) Downloads: up to 1.6Gbps, 7xCA Uploads: up to 225Mbps |
| AI co-processor | Yes, dual-core NPU | Yes | Yes | Yes, octa-core Neural Engine |
| Video encode | 4K HDR at 150fps 8K HDR at 30fps |
8K HDR | 4K HDR10+ | 4K HDR at 60fps |
| Misc. | UFS 3.0 storage support for up to 2.9GB/s speeds
LPDDR5 memory support Single-camera up to 108MP 120Hz display refresh rate |
LPDDR5 memory support | 4K HDR Bokeh Video
8K 360 VR video playback Always-on noise cancellation Dual-frequency GPS |
Computational photography
Machine learning capable of 1 trillion operations per second |