Next year, Samsung will be in somewhat of a dilemma. The newest Exynos and Snapdragon chips that will power the Galaxy S10 in various markets are markedly different in two areas compared to previous versions of this chip. The Snapdragon 855 has the benefit of being built on a 7nm process, meaning it will be more efficient and powerful. The Exynos 9820 comes with support for 8K video recording (and 4K recording at 150 fps) while the 855 tops out at 4K@60 fps, just like the Snapdragon 845.
For Samsung, this will mean equalizing the two chipsets to make sure the Galaxy S10 it sells in various markets are all equally equipped. The Exynos version does stand to be more negatively affected, of course. While Samsung can limit the performance of the Snapdragon 855 to match that of the Exynos variant, the 855 will still be more efficient. The difference between 7nm and 8nm manufacturing process won't be too big, but even a slight advantage in efficiency is useful when you're talking about a flagship phone. But the 855's inability to record 8K videos could also stop Samsung from an important marketing standpoint.
No 8K recording is a negative for Samsung from a marketing standpoint
8K televisions are going to be hitting the market in the coming year, and Samsung is going to be at the forefront of the 8K TV revolution (the company already has an 8K TV hitting retail this year). And selling a flagship phone that can record 8K videos (or 4K videos at @150 fps) along with an 8K TV would be a useful marketing trick. But it's something the company won't be able to do in 2019. Not if the Galaxy S10 cannot offer 8K recording because the Snapdragon 855 doesn't support it.
If history is any guide, Samsung probably is going to leave out 8K video recording from the Galaxy S10. Well, unless Qualcomm and the Korean giant can team up and make the feature possible on the Snapdragon 855 variant as well. And our question to our readers is: What would you prefer to have if you are hoping to buy the Galaxy S10? Would you like to see 8K video recording, or would better battery life be your choice?
Tell us in the comments section after voting in the poll embedded below!
Results: As expected, the results are skewed in favor of battery life, with 75 percent voters saying they prefer it over 8K video recording. 18 percent of voters say they'd like both good battery life and 8K video recording, while 6 percent believe the latter is preferable over longer battery life. So it seems those who get the Snapdragon version of the Galaxy S10 will be in luck, though there's no reason why the Exynos models won't last long, especially if Samsung manages to put in big batteries on each Galaxy S10 variant.
