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In a surprise announcement, Samsung unveiled today its first ever SoC with integrated 5G connectivity. The new chipset is not a flagship suite of Exynos 9825 and 9820, but rather a new entry into the midrange and seems to be a follow-up of the chipset Exynos 9610. Nevertheless, the new chip brings many new features to the market, which should enable the new Exynos 980 to be extremely competitive with the upcoming Qualcomm and MediaTek offers.
| Specifications of Samsung Exynos SoC | ||
| SoC | Exynos 980 | Exynos 9610 |
| CPU | 2x Cortex-A77 at 2.2 GHz
+ 6x Cortex-A55 at 1.8 GHz |
2x Cortex-A73 at 2.3 GHz + 4x Cortex-A53 at 1.7 GHz |
| GPU | Mali G76MP5 | Mali G72MP3 |
| NPU | Integrated | – |
| Memory Controller |
LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Media | 10bit 4K120 encode and decode H.265 / HEVC, H.264, VP9 |
10bit 4K120 encode and decode H.265 / HEVC, H.264, VP9 |
| Modem | Shannon integrated
(Category LTE 16/18) (5G NR Sub-6) |
Shannon integrated
(Category LTE 13/13) |
| Wireless | 802.11ax built-in (WiFi 6) | 802.11ac built-in (WiFi 5) |
| ISP | Main: 108MP Dual: 20MP + 20MP |
Rear: 24MP Before: 24MP Dual: 16MP + 16MP |
| Mfc. Process |
Samsung LPP 8 nm |
Samsung LPP 10nm |
The particularity of the Exynos 980 is its new naming scheme. This is the first time that Samsung has opted for a three-digit scheme in its Exynos range, which may be a bit confusing at first, certainly also because of the similarity of the denomination Kirin 980. However, it is obvious that this new chip seems to be a sequel to the Exynos 9610. I'm questioning about Samsung's naming scheme and how it will work for its tracking chips both in the midrange and in the next flagship iterations.
Nevertheless, the new Exynos 980 is the first announced chip with Arm's new Cortex-A77 processor. Although Samsung has been successful in getting the message out here in terms of announcement, we are still anticipating that HiSilicon will be the first to market a SoC with the new processor in the coming weeks. The integration of the new processor in a mid-range SoC by Samsung is pretty aggressive, especially since the company is lagging behind the Exynos SoC of the previous generation, such as the 9610. The A77 cores fit at 2.2 GHz, which is of course a little less than what we expect from the flagship products, but cores should be extremely effective in this implementation. The two big cores are accompanied by 6 Cortex-A55 at 1.8 GHz, making it an octa-core SoC.
The graphics processor of the Exynos 980 is identical to that of its last flagship SoC, a Mali-G76, but this time it is only in an MP5 configuration representing less than half of the heart of its flagship counterpart. I expect the clock frequency of this GPU to be much more aggressive than its flagship counterpart. The performance should be more than half, which is actually a pretty good performance goal compared to midrange Qualcomm SoCs.
This new chip is also Samsung's first midrange to integrate the internal architecture of its nuclear power plants, which the company is promoting by increasing the camera capture capabilities of the SoC platform.
The most important news is however the announcement that it is a SoC with integrated 5G modem. Although we still have to wait for the competition, it could be one of the first SoCs with such integrated connectivity. LTE connectivity is the 16/18 category with download and send speeds of 1000 / 200Mbps, enabled via 5CA / 2CA connectivity. In addition to LTE connectivity, the chip also supports 5G NR Sub-6 with speeds of up to 2550 / 1280Mbps. With dual E-UTRA-NR (EN-DC) connectivity, the modem can bundle LTE and 5G NR together and achieve download speeds of up to 3.55 Gbps. This modem seems to lack mmWave capabilities, but considering its mid-range positioning and overall preference for Sub-6 5G connectivity, it seems to be a strategic decision based on cost-effectiveness.
Another novelty: the new chip now integrates WiFi 6 (802.11ax). Last year, Samsung launched its own WiFi connectivity solutions by integrating them into SoCs, which we have yet to see implemented by high-end SoC providers that rely on external combined chips.
Finally, the SoC promises ISP cameras to support up to 108 sensors, which is the sensor of S.LSI's Isocell 108 MP camera.
The Exynos 980 is scheduled to begin mass production by the end of the year and we will likely see devices shortly thereafter. Overall, the chip seems unusually competitive for Samsung, featuring many firsts. With the new naming scheme, it seems that the strategy is changing slightly compared to mid-range Exynos chips from the previous generation. Hopefully this new design will allow Samsung to compete better for design gains outside its own Mobile division.
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