Last week, Samsung unveiled its new mid-range Exynos chip, the Exynos 1580. It succeeds the Exynos 1480 chip announced last year and brings several improvements. But which are the most significant improvements that you will notice in your day-to-day life? Let us find out in this Exynos 1580 vs. Exynos 1480 comparison.
Exynos 1580 vs Exynos 1480: Specifications comparison
The Exynos 1580 has an octa-core CPU featuring newer-generation cores from ARM. It has four Cortex-A720 CPU cores and four Cortex-A520 CPU cores. One of those high-performance Cortex-A720 CPU cores is clocked at 2.9GHz, while the rest are run at 2.6GHz. Four power-efficient Cortex-A520 CPU cores are clocked at 1.95GHz. These CPU cores are three generations newer and a lot faster than the Cortex-A78 and Cortex-A55 cores used in the Exynos 1480.
| Exynos 1480 | Exynos 1580 | |
| Manufacturing | 4nm LPP | 4nm LPP |
| CPU | 4x Cortex-A78 2.75GHz + 4x Cortex-A55 2.0GHz | 1x Cortex-A720 2.9GHz + 3x Cortex-A720 2.6GHz + 4x Cortex-A520 1.95GHz |
| GPU | Xclipse 530 (RDNA2) | Xclips 540 (RDNA3) |
| ISP | 200MP Images + 4K 60fps Videos | 200MP Images + 4K 60fps Videos |
| NPU | Unknown | 14.7 TOPS |
| DRAM | LPDDR4X/LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X/LPDDR5 |
| Storage | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
Moreover, since the Exynos 1580 has a tri-cluster CPU structure, its highest-clocked Cortex-A720 CPU core can perform better when single-core performance matters, thanks to its higher clock speed and better architecture. Both chips are fabricated on Samsung Foundry's third-generation 4nm (4LPP) process node.
Samsung has used AMD RDNA3-based Xclipse 540 GPU in the Exynos 1580, offering 37% higher performance compared to the Exynos 1480. When the GPUs inside both chips are running at the same power levels, the Exynos 1580's Xclipse 540 performs 20% faster. With these improvements, the Exynos 1580 is powerful enough to let you run high-end (AAA) games at smooth and consistent frame rates at medium settings.
Both chips are compatible with LPDDR4x/LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, so there will be no visible improvements on that front.
Samsung claims that the ISP inside the Exynos 1580 offers more details and contrast compared to the ISP used in the Exynos 1480. Moreover, it is claimed to have lower noise even in low-light conditions. So, images and videos could appear sharper and with more accurate colors. However, both ISPs support 200MP camera sensors and can record up to 4K 60fps videos.
Both chips have dedicated NPUs for AI processing. The one inside the Exynos 1580 is faster and has higher memory (2MB), capable of achieving 14.7 trillion operations per second (TOPS).
Overall, the CPU and GPU performance is where you will find the biggest improvements. There might also be some improvements in image and video quality, especially in low-light conditions. The Galaxy A56 will be the first smartphone to feature the Exynos 1580. It will likely be used in the Galaxy Tab S10 FE series as well.
