Samsung’s Galaxy S7 handset used a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor (and the Exynos 8890 in some regions), so it’s only logical that rumors would begin popping up that point to the recently unveiled Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor as the uber-powerful heart of Samsung’s next flagship phone. Such rumors have been floating around for some time, but with the Snapdragon 835 officially revealed during CES, such rumors can now start gaining credence and steam as they make their way to more and more sources, closer and closer to the heart of the matter. Korean news outlet Business Korea is the latest to jump on board with this rather logical and convincing rumor, practically a foregone conclusion at this point.
Asking anybody in the know what processor they think will grace the Galaxy S8 in most territories will see Qualcomm’s newest powerhouse of a mobile chipset being given as the answer more often than not, and for good reason; Samsung’s in-house Exynos processors are usually in their Galaxy flagships in a few select markets, with Qualcomm’s silicon inside them in most other territories, most notably the United States, one of the big key battleground markets for smartphone makers. Of course, beyond the obvious, “It’s their history” reason for Samsung to use the Snapdragon 835, along with its overwhelming raw muscle and power-sipping battery savvy, there are actually a few viable reasons that Samsung would want to consider Qualcomm’s latest.
For starters, Samsung manufactures it. Samsung’s own 10nm process will be applied to Qualcomm’s die and blueprints in order to produce the Snapdragon 835. Being manufactured by the same company means it would be trivial to allocate some of the production toward units that will find their way into the Galaxy S8. Another reason, perhaps even more compelling, is the Galaxy S8’s PC-like docking feature. When docked into the proper equipment, users will allegedly be able to run multiple apps in a windowed interface. As it happens, the Snapdragon 835 is poised to be able to emulate x86 instructions, allowing it to run legacy Windows applications like Photoshop and even older videogames. Naturally, this is a perfect fit for a phone-cum-desktop. The approach is even used to some degree of success on the Windows 10 Mobile side of the pond, in the HP Elite X3. Lastly, Qualcomm said that we will begin seeing Snapdragon 835 devices in the first half of the year, and the new Galaxy S flagship usually debuts around March each year, with the S8 reportedly set to be put out in April. All of the pieces are in place, so at this point, it may actually be a bit surprising if there isn’t a Snapdragon 835 variant of the Galaxy S8.