It’s quad-core, not octa-core, but that’s not something worth worrying about
Following recent speculation across the blogosphere, Samsung has this morning confirmed to us that UK consumers will get the quad-core Snapdragon 600-powered Galaxy S4, rather than the octa-core Exynos 5 variant. That’s contrary to the original press release sent out to UK media last week, which suggested the opposite.
Here’s the updated statement from Samsung —
“Samsung Galaxy S 4 is equipped with a 1.9GHz Quad-core AP or a 1.6GHz Octa-core AP. The selection of AP varies by markets.
In the UK the Galaxy S 4 will be available as a 4G device with a 1.9GHz Quad Core Processor”.
And as we know from speaking with Qualcomm last week, that quad-core CPU is the company’s latest Snapdragon 600.
Though the move from an eight-core CPU to a four-core CPU sounds like a significant change, we know from our time with devices like the HTC One and LG Optimus G Pro that the Snapdragon 600 is one of the fastest mobile chips around.
What’s more, the Exynos 5 Octa CPU fitted in other Galaxy S4s uses ARM’s big.LITTLE processing technique, meaning all eight cores are not equal. Samsung’s implementation, it’s believed, uses two quad-core CPUs that it can dynamically switch between — one high-power Cortex A15 chip and another low-power A7 — rather than using all eight concurrently (via Wired).
So that’s that. The UK — and likely some other territories — will be be getting a Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S4 this time around, and by all accounts it shouldn’t make much difference to the overall user experience.