Exynos 990 vs Snapdragon 865, are the two variants of the Samsung Galaxy S20 the same?

For yet another year, Samsung’s decision to use different processors for the variants of the Galaxy S20 series depending on which market they are intended for has once again caused controversy, to the point of leading nearly 35,000 people to sign a proposal that Samsung is being asked to stop using Exynos chips in its phones and to opt for Qualcomm processors in all models.

By now, everyone knows the superiority of Qualcomm platforms over Exynos in terms of efficiency, performance, and photographic performance. But why are these differences due?

How different the Snapdragon 865 and Exynos 990 really are

Although indeed, last year the structural differences between the Snapdragon 855 and the Exynos 9820 were greater – the Qualcomm model was manufactured in 7-nanometer process, and Samsung’s in 8 -, the complaints towards the performance of the Exynos did not were as numerous as they have been in this new generation. However, the differences in performance were still notable.

This year, we are faced with two processors that, despite being more similar, maintain key differences. In both cases, we are talking about platforms manufactured in a 7-nanometer process, using the Samsung EUV format for their development.

There are differences, however, about their cores. The Qualcomm processor uses cores based on the latest ARM technologies, thanks to its four cores based on the Cortex-A77 architecture, which Samsung replaces in its Exynos 990 with four custom Exynos M5 cores, based on the previous ARM Cortex-A76 architecture. Of course, the GPU is also different, being a Mali-G77 MP11 in the Exynos 990 and an Adreno 650 in the processor signed by Qualcomm. Beyond that, both platforms are relatively similar in terms of the rest of the technical sections.

Those are just the differences on paper. In the “real world,” tests confirm that the superiority of the Snapdragon 865 is palpable in aspects such as performance or autonomy when comparing the different versions of the Samsung Galaxy S20 series models. In the tests carried out by the AnandTech portal, the following is concluded:

“The energy efficiency differences between Snapdragon and Exynos are acceptable in everyday use, however if you are a power user, especially gaming, the Exynos 990 will not do very well for you. The M5 CPU is disappointing and not competitive with the Snapdragon’s Cortex-A77 cores.”

And it is not the only test. Some YouTubers have also carried out their own tests comparing the phones’ performance in their different variants, declaring the model with Snapdragon 865 the winner in most sections.

Despite everything, Samsung continues to ensure that both platforms have been optimized to offer the best possible performance in the models of the Galaxy S series. However, its decision to sell the version with a Snapdragon processor in its country of origin is at least disconcerting, to the point of having caused some disappointment among the very members of Samsung’s processor division.