I want to put it in my Samsung Galaxy S25

Peek inside the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE and you’ll find an Exynos 2400e processor. While of little note to viewers around the world, Exynos is somewhat of a rarity in the continental United States. You have to go back to the days of the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 to see that this chip has been around before.

The US is home to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, which may be considered a premium option for Android smartphones, but could the S24 FE open the door to a bigger return to Exynos in the US? Only Samsung knows for sure, but there are a few important things involved in a move like this.

We’ve been benchmarking Samsung chips and Qualcomm chips for a long time. While the latter has consistently come out on top in recent years, we know that classic performance metrics are no longer as important as they once were. Google’s Pixel series, powered by custom Tensor processors, is a prime example. Benchmarks for the Tensor G4 on the Pixel 9 series lag slightly behind the best in the industry, but it remains fast enough to run your most important apps and offers unique features in the form of bespoke software. It matters little when providing functionality.

Still, when we benchmarked the Exynos 2400e, we found it to be second best performing to the regular Exynos 2400. The Exynos 2400 is a great chip for the Galaxy S24 series and puts up a solid fight against the best chips from Apple and Qualcomm. In fact, it’s no slouch, outperforming Google’s Tensor on CPU and GPU benchmarks. This issue is more of a perception issue than actual performance, as Exynos has been playing second fiddle to Snapdragon for years.

Of course, what sets Tensor apart is Google’s AI accelerator hardware that powers its own AI software capabilities. Samsung also has AI hardware, but we haven’t seen the company really lean in any particular direction with Exynos yet. That may change. The company relies on AMD silicon for its graphics, and recently reorganized its entire silicon development department. Next year’s chipset may tell us more about whether Samsung is primed to (finally) build a more competitive and/or interesting mobile processor.

Exynos could do something more interesting to make Galaxy stand out. But that’s enough wishful thinking. Exynos already has some practical benefits for smartphones: price.

If we know anything about 2025’s flagship smartphones, it’s that prices will likely be even higher. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and other high-end chipsets will reportedly be more expensive this year due to a combination of new CPU architecture and cutting-edge 3nm manufacturing process. Parts costs can be 20-30% higher. Xiaomi has already surveyed its fans to see if they are prepared to pay for premium performance or if they would accept a “cheaper” chip to keep prices the same.

Higher prices may be a pill to swallow in the ultra-premium market, but it’s bad news for basic flagship models like the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy Z Flip 7. Apple has already increased the price of the iPhone 16 by $30 more than last year. And no one wants to pay more than that. Granted, no entry-level flagship model hits $999.

Xiaomi isn’t the only company considering this kind of decision for mobile devices in 2025, but companies with custom silicon at their disposal have an advantage. As with the Galaxy S24 FE, making more liberal use of the Exynos chipset makes a lot of sense for a flagship model that Samsung wants to keep as affordable as possible. Samsung is already partially down this path. With the exception of the US and a few other markets, consumers worldwide will receive Exynos on the S24 and S24 Plus. But if you buy the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it’s Snapdragon for everyone. I don’t think many Americans would care if the S25 and S25 Plus use Exynos if it means keeping prices at roughly current levels. Consumers around the world seem to be more than satisfied.

Unfortunately, industry insiders still don’t seem to have decided which chipset will be included in next year’s Samsung phones. Some say all S25 models are Snapdragon, while others point out that at least some use Exynos. As for foldable devices, Korean sources say Samsung is at least considering using the Exynos 2500 for the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Fold 7, which have always used Snapdragon. However, although I have heard rumors like this before, it does not actually happen.

Still, if using Exynos allows Samsung to sell the Galaxy S24 FE for just $650, the S25 and future foldable models could be more competitive if Samsung’s next-generation chips are competitive enough. may benefit from a certain price range.