Samsung may launch Exynos 9820 chipset -- its first 7nm tech based processor on Nov 14

Although Samsung is tight-lipped about the new chipset's name, reports suggest it would be called Exynos 9820. Upon launch, the chipset would succeed Exynos 9810, a 10nm-based processor which powers smartphones such as Galaxy Note 9 and the Galaxy S9 variants.

According to reports, the upcoming chipset will be manufactured with 7nm technology. At present, only two other smartphone manufacturers have 7nm chips – Apple with its A12 Bionic chip which powers the latest iPhones and Huawei with its Kirin 980.

To the uninitiated, 7nm technology allows manufacturers to squeeze in more transistors into chipsets which are in fact smaller in size. This enables processors to be more powerful while consuming a lesser amount of power. However, the trade-off with these chipsets is increased manufacturing costs, which in turn drives the price of the handsets they power.

Speculated to sport eight cores, Exynos 9820 will not only exhibit brute power but it would also be engineered keeping efficiency in mind. The processor would come with two large M4 cores along with two Cortex-A75 or A76 cores, which would be activated only while running power-intensive applications. At other times, it will run on four smaller Cortex-A55 cores which would handle tasks in a power efficient manner.

Reports have also surfaced stating Exynos 9820 could be the first chipset from Samsung’s stable to sport a dedicated dual-core Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to focus on AI-based (Artificial Intelligence) activities.

The processor would be accompanied by ARM’s MALI-G76 GPU which is again built with 7nm technology. The GPU was launched by ARM earlier this year.