Snapdragon

Samsung may have one of the most powerful Android phones in the market today but it also has some of the most expensive. There are definitely other options around with almost the same raw power, or even better, but some might argue that you are getting what you pay for. That might not actually be the case for Samsung's flagships, which may have different processors inside and even a different cooling system. And while the prices might be the same, JerryRigEverything's test shows the performance definitely isn't.

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It's not unusual for Samsung to launch a "lite" version of its flagship models, although the name has varied from time to time. Long rumored to be in the works, the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition or FE might be close to finally launching and when it does, it might prove to be controversial to some of Samsung's customers. While the phone is definitely "Lite" in some aspects, there are also some specs that put it above the more expensive base Galaxy Note 20 model.

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Qualcomm may have the lion's share of the smartphone processor market but there is still one segment that it doesn't have a firm grasp on. On the lower and budget tiers, MediaTek's processors are often the go-to solutions, often because of their affordability rather than their features. With MediaTek aggressively pushing its 5G-capable Dimensity processors on high and middle tiers, Qualcomm is now trying to hit where it hurts by promising a 5G Snapdragon 400 series chip next year.

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Intel may have shown off its newest chips for ultraportable notebooks yesterday, but today Qualcomm is aiming to eclipse that with the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G Compute Platform. The latest iteration of the chip-maker's high-end ARM architecture for always-connected laptops and 2-in-1s, it promises 5G as standard, along with not just hours but days of battery life.

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Qualcomm has a new gaming chipset for smartphones, with the Snapdragon 732G aiming to deliver an uptick in graphics performance in more affordable handsets. Compared to the Snapdragon 730G, Qualcomm says that the Adreno 618 GPU in the new Snapdragon 732G should deliver a 15-percent improvement in graphics rendering.

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Xiaomi sub-brand POCO has been rumored to be working on another model to add to its collection, that despite having already released two phones earlier this year. That said, the POCO X3, as it is currently being called, is expected to sport a slightly different design that will set it apart even from Xiaomi's other phones. That, however, might not be its only new feature as leaked specs hint at a slight upgrade from the POCO X2.

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The size of smartphones often belies the power they hold as well as the complexity of their construction. Phones may be said to come from this or that country or manufacturer but the truth is that different parts can be traced back to different sources and suppliers. All smartphones have many components in common, of course, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors have the lion's share of those. Unfortunately, that also means that when that particular chip turns out to have a vulnerability, it also puts the majority of the world's smartphones at risk.

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Smartphones are slowly but surely approaching PC-level performance, enough for certain companies to bank on mobile technologies to power their next-gen computers. One area where mobile still can't catch up with is in graphics and it will still be a long time before it ever will. That said, it seems that there are efforts from Qualcomm and Chinese phone makers like Xiaomi that are giving users the option of tweaking their phones' graphics performance to their preferences and needs.

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Samsung has always put the best of the best components in its flagship Galaxy phones but one critical hardware is quickly becoming a liability rather than an asset. Its own branded Exynos silicon, in spite and despite all the marketing, has had trouble catching up with its Qualcomm equivalents in recent iterations. That disparity made headlines when the Galaxy S20 launched earlier this year and Samsung seems fated to make the same mistake with the Galaxy Note 20 with one minor difference. It will use a supposedly improved version of the Exynos 990 instead.

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Smartphones are being compared a lot with regular computers because of the great strides they have made in power while still keeping power consumption at a minimum. Of course, it's apples to oranges considering there are many things smartphones or even tablets can't do that even laptop users take for granted. Never mind how impossible it is to upgrade or add fast storage (microSD cards don't count), even software updates to key hardware components are more than just difficult. Google and its Android partners have been working to make that last bit a little easier and OPPO is just one of the extremely few, really two, to take advantage of that.

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For years, Samsung has been using a two-processor strategy for its high-end flagships, launching with a Qualcomm Snapdragon in the US and China while other markets get Samsung's own Exynos chip. It changed its tune earlier this year and even went with the Snapdragon 865 for Galaxy S20 phones sold in its own hometown. That caused quite a ruckus even within Samsung's own ranks and it seems that history will repeat itself next month when the Galaxy Note 20 launches with the Snapdragon 865+ in Korea, too.

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The days are closing in before Samsung's second big 2020 event but it seems that the outlook may not be so positive for the company's next mobile devices. The Galaxy Z Fold 2, if that is really its name, is reportedly delayed by a month and the Galaxy Note 20 is shaping up to be a rather mixed bag. Ignoring the 5G revision of the Galaxy Z Flip, which practically leaves the Galaxy S20 Lite as the most positive thing Samsung has to show next month.

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