It is already known that Samsung makes two variants of its flagship phones, one for U.S. and Canadian users (Qualcomm Snapdragon variant), and other powered by Samsung’s own Exynos SoC for other countries. There have been several tests that prove the superiority of the Snapdragon variant over the Exynos SoC when it comes to performance, but recently YouTube channel PhoneBuff carried out tests to check if the chipsets give out different battery performance or not.
Snapdragon S10 variant better in battery management
To test the battery life, as can be expected, PhoneBuff chose the Galaxy S10. For comparing Galaxy S10 Snapdragon vs Exynos battery life, the YouTube channel put the phone to real world testing. For this, a robotic arm was used to carry out common tasks on both the phones, such as playing music, playing a game, making calls and other usual things.
In the Galaxy S10 Snapdragon vs. Exynos battery life test, both the phones gave similar results. However, in another test measuring the power management, a significant difference was noticed.
As per PhoneBuff, the Exynos CPU performed worse than the Snapdragon one when it came to power management in standby mode. This means that when the device is idle, or is resting in your pocket or on your desk, the Exynos model will see a larger battery life reduction when compared to the Snapdragon variant.
This test proves that the Galaxy S10 powered by Qualcomm’s chip is better in going to sleep or when it is not in use.
Battery drain – a known issue with S10 Exynos models
It must be noted that the idle battery drain with the Exynos models is a known issue. Since the release of the handset, users of the Galaxy S10 Exynos version have complained about an issue with the sleep mode and high CPU utilization.
Samsung reportedly addressed the deep sleep bug with the March security update, while with the April update, the company patched battery drain related issues. PhoneBuff notes that both the phones used in the Galaxy S10 Snapdragon vs Exynos battery life test were on the March security patch level.
So, the tests failed to consider the drain related fixes related to the Wi-Fi connection and cellular signal fluctuations. PhoneBuff promised to update the results after taking into account the April update, and yesterday came out with the updated results.
“After receiving a software update yesterday, we tested the Exynos variant’s Standby performance and can confirm that it is in line with what we saw in the test. Results are still accurate,” read a tweet from PhoneBuff.
These tests prove that Samsung needs to improve its in-house silicons to beat the competition, which is currently led by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and Huawei’s HiSilicon SoCs.
Galaxy S10 Snapdragon vs Exynos
Samsung’s Galaxy S10 is powered by Qualcomm’s SD855, which is built using the 7nm fabrication method, while the Exynos 9820 is based on the 8nm process. Such a difference itself makes the Snapdragon Galaxy S10 variant more efficient than the Exynos version.
The Snapdragon-855-based Galaxy S10 has scored high on benchmark tests. For instance, in the Antutu, which is an all-around benchmark test, the Snapdragon-based version scored a significant lead over the Exynos model.
In Geekbench 4, which gives out separate results for single- and multi-core, it was a mixed performance. The Exynos-based model performed better in the single-core test, while the Snapdragon variant came out the winner in the multi-core test. However, even this result is a victory for the US-based model as historically the Exynos-based model has performed well in both of the tests.
In the Jetstream 1.1 browser benchmark, which analyzes how browsing and web applications perform, the Snapdragon variant came out on top and was well ahead of the Exynos S10.
It is not that the Exynos-based models don’t have any competitive advantage. They are better than their Snapdragon counterpart when it comes to faster software updates, offering dual SIM support, unlockable bootloader and more.
In terms of gaming, the Exynos model came out the winner. In the gaming-oriented GFXBench, the Snapdragon variant was almost 20 fps lower than the Exynos 8920 variant. However, both the chipsets were below the 60 fps mark with the Snapdragon variant at 38 fps and the other one at 56 fps.
