Samsung Exynos 2200 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 specifications and performance of Galaxy S22 Ultra

Despite the speculation Samsung's new Exynos 2200 chipset will be revealed by the rumors Galaxy S22 Unpacked event date February 8, Samsung unveiled the Exynos 2200 specs and features a few weeks before, as usual.

The new processor is the first to bear fruit Samsung's exclusive partnership with AMD on mobile graphics processing devices, as it has the first AMD RDNA 2 silicon with ray-tracing capabilities tailored to the mobile area. That's why we wanted to compare performance, specifications and features in Galaxy S22 series processors.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Snapdragon vs Exynos 2200 benchmark

We dived in Geekbench 5 database and dug the highest score sets out of the Exynos Galaxy S22 Ultra model (SM-S908B) and the Snapdragon S22 Ultra version (SM-S908U). As you can see, the difference in their synthetic benchmark score is not great, but it was interesting to observe the ray-tracing performance where the mobile AMD RDNA 2 GPU in Exynos 2200 should have had a leg up.

Galaxy S22 Ultra Snapdragon vs Exynos 2200 Geekbench score

Samsung Exynos 2200 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 specifications and features

Key New Exynos 2200 Features Available on Galaxy S22 Models:

First hardware-accelerated beam tracking (RT) and variable speed shadow (VRS) in a mobile chipset
Samsung Xclipse GPU based on AMD's RDNA 2
4nm Samsung EUV production method
10 Gigabit 5G modem with sub-6GHz and mmWave connection
4K @ 120Hz refresh rate support screen resolution

Here is a list of the most important new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 features:

X65 5G modem with 10 Gigabit download speeds.
First 18-bit image signal processor for mobile.
First 8K HDR10 + video recording for mobile.
Mega shooting in low light takes 30 pictures and merges the best parts into one shot.
Always-On ISP for fast face locking and locking.
7th generation Qualcomm AI Engine for voice analysis and Leica Leitz Look bokeh filters.
Bluetooth Low Energy audio features such as broadcast, stereo recording and voice back channel for games.
First platform with Android Ready Secure Element support, the new standard for digital car keys or driving licenses.

In terms of how the new Exynos 2200 fares compared to its direct Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 competitor, last year's Exynos 2100 in the S21 Ultra and Apple's A15 monster in the iPhone 13, here's a quick comparison of their specifications and features.

	Snapdragon 8 Gen 1	Exynos 2200	Exynos 2100	Apple A15
Production process	Samsung 4nm EUV	Samsung 4nm EUV	Samsung 5nm EUV	TSMC 5nm 2nd gen
Processor cores	1xCortex-X2 @ 3GHz 3xCortex-A710 @ 2.5GHz 4xCortex-A510 @ 1.8GHz	1x Cortex-X2 3x Cortex-A710 4x Cortex-A510	Exynos X1 @ 2.91GHz 3x Cortex-A78 @ 2.8GHz 4x Cortex-A55 @ 2.2GHz	2x Avalanche @ 3.23GHz 4x Blizzard @ 1.8GHz
GPU	Adreno 730, 30% faster and 20% more economical	Ray-tracing Samsung Xclipse 920 with AMD RDNA 2 architecture	ARM Mali-G78	Apple Custom Quad-Core (5-core on iPhone 13 Pro models)
Modem	X65 5G modem (integrated) up to 10 Gbps over 5G Global support for iSIM multi-SIM cards	Samsung 5G modem (integrated) 5G downloads up to 10 Gbps (mmWave), 5.1 Gbps (sub-6GHz) or 3Gbps (4G LTE), 8xCA Uploads: up to 3.67 Gbps	Exynos 5123 (Category 24) Downloads up to 7.3 Gbps (mmWave), 5.1 Gbps (sub-6GHz) or 3Gbps (4G LTE), 8xCA Uploads: up to 422 Mbps	Qualcomm X60 5G modem
AI co-processor	7th generation Qualcomm AI engine	FP16 NPU	Tri-core NPU, up to 26 TOPS	16-core neural motor, up to 15.8 TOPS
Video encoding	8K HDR10 +	Up to 8K decoding: 60 fps included 10-bit HEVC (H.265), 30 fps with 10-bit VP9, AV1 Up to 8K encoding: 30 fps with 10-bit HEVC (H.265), VP9	8K HDR at 60 fps 4K HDR at 120 fps	4K HDR + at 120 fps
Features support	QHD + @ 144Hz or 4K @ 60Hz screen update Demura and subpixel rendering for OLED uniformity First 18-bit ISP, mega low light capture combines 30 images in one shot for brighter, sharper images Qualcomm FastConnect 6900: Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-fi 6E (up to 3.6 GBps)	4K @ 120Hz or QHD + @ 144Hz screen update up to 200 MP in single camera mode, single camera 108MP @ 30fps, Dual camera 64MP + 32MP @ 30fps Integrated Secure Element (iSE) for storing private cryptographic keys AMIGO performance optimization technology	UFS 3.1 storage support for up to 2.9 GB / s speeds Single camera up to 200MP up to 16 GB DDR5 Variable 120Hz screen refresh rate	Calculation photography Cinematic Mode video bokeh Machine learning capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second

As you can see, Qualcomm and Samsung are not playing around offering some unique 5G connectivity and other features that Apple will have to catch up with when its next-generation A16 processor hits iPhone 14 in the fall of 2022. It will reportedly also be done on the 4nm process, but until then, the Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 may remain the undisputed connection kings of the 5G era.

The AMD-based Xclipse 920 GPU from Exynos 2200 does not shine in benchmarks compared to the Adreno 730 in Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, but the variable-speed beam tracking and shading support more than the synthetic results. In addition, it supports 4K resolution screens with up to 120Hz refresh rate, whereas Snapdragon 8 settles for 60Hz update support only at that resolution.

We do our own set of benchmark tests to demonstrate to you how the S22 Ultra performs in real life when we get our hands on an Exynos 2200 and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 version like the one that will be sold here in the US