Samsung Galaxy S4 to Have Quad-core Processor in UK

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

Hope you didn't have your heart set on that octa-core CPU.

Earlier this month, Samsung announced the Galaxy S4 after weeks of teasing. However, while specs were easy enough to find after the event, the company didn't talk too much about the phone's hardware during the press conference itself. Now it seems the specs for the Galaxy S4 may not be the same all around the world.

 

Pocket-lint reports that though Samsung had said the UK version of the phone would get the octa-core processor it talked about at launch, that is actually not he case. The site now says that it has received confirmation that the UK version of the device won't have Samsung's new 1.6GHz octa-core Exynos 5.

"Samsung Galaxy S4 is equipped with a 1.9GHz quad-core processor or a 1.6GHz octa-core processor," the company is quoted as saying. "The selection of application processor varies by markets. In the UK, the Galaxy S4 will be available as a 4G device with a 1.9GHz quad-core processor."

Of course, this is not the first time a company has varied the specs of a phone depending on the market. In fact, Samsung itself did the very same thing with the Galaxy S3. The U.S. version of the S3 had a dual-core CPU with 2GB of RAM while versions sold outside of the U.S. swapped that for 1GB of RAM and a quad-core CPU. Usually the reason for regional hardware differences is down to supply or compatibility issues with other features (such as 4G LTE).

The Galaxy S4 is set to launch in the UK on April 26. The Galaxy S4 will pack a 5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED PenTile display, either a 1.9GHz quad-core processor or a 1.6GHz octa-core processor (depending on the region you're buying the device), 2GB of RAM, 13-megapixel camera, a 2-megapixel camera up front, 16GB or 32GB of storage, and a 2,600mAh battery.

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Jane McEntegart
27 Comments Comment from the forums
  • mayankleoboy1
    If USA and UK are getting the Snapdragon, then i suspect that the Exynos Octa may not be so good after all.
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    Quad core 1.9GHz CPU is confirmed for the S4 and there have been constant rumors of it being a Snapdragon, even confirmation of that at some point IIRC... That's almost confirmation of it being the Snapdragon 600 IIRC, the only new Snapdragon quad core that'll be out at the supposed time of the Galaxy S4's launch that runs at 1.9GHz.
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    mayankleoboy1If USA and UK are getting the Snapdragon, then i suspect that the Exynos Octa may not be so good after all.
    I thought that the USA continually doesn't get Exynos in *their* version of the Galaxy phones and such because Exynos doesn't support LTE like Snapdragon does.

    Is this assumption incorrect?
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    blazorthonI thought that the USA continually doesn't get Exynos in *their* version of the Galaxy phones and such because Exynos doesn't support LTE like Snapdragon does.Is this assumption incorrect?
    Correcter than my assumption :D
    Reply
  • redeemer
    It doesn't matter to me, cheap shiny plastics and gimmicky software no thanks. Amazing how powerful a tool like marketing is, no doubt this phone will sell as a result. Looking forward to the HTC One myself, this is a good year for the smartphone industry!
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    ^ +1

    HTC one appears to be a better phone overall.
    Reply
  • guvnaguy
    Basically the same as the iPhone 5 launch. Way over-hyped, and turning out to be just an improvement on the specs. It certainly isn't a bad phone, though. I have an SG3 now and love it, would love to see how the G4 handles

    I wonder though if the Quad-core in most situations (1 or 2 apps running) will be faster due to its higher clock speed, while the octa-core will be faster when running many apps at once?
    Reply
  • Bloob
    guvnaguyBasically the same as the iPhone 5 launch. Way over-hyped, and turning out to be just an improvement on the specs. It certainly isn't a bad phone, though. I have an SG3 now and love it, would love to see how the G4 handlesI wonder though if the Quad-core in most situations (1 or 2 apps running) will be faster due to its higher clock speed, while the octa-core will be faster when running many apps at once?The "Octa"-core is just 2 sets of quad-core, one for low-power operations, the other for high performance.
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    10538032 said:
    Basically the same as the iPhone 5 launch. Way over-hyped, and turning out to be just an improvement on the specs. It certainly isn't a bad phone, though. I have an SG3 now and love it, would love to see how the G4 handles

    I wonder though if the Quad-core in most situations (1 or 2 apps running) will be faster due to its higher clock speed, while the octa-core will be faster when running many apps at once?

    The octa-core is supposedly a dual-quad core with one quad-core Cortex A15 CPU and one quad-core Cortex A7 or A8 CPU (I don't remember the exact number, it's something like that and it's definitely lower than 9) and the quad core, if it is the Snapdragon 600, uses Krait. The quad core at 1.9GHz probably has very similar performance per core to the four A15 cores at 1.6GHz rather than having an advantage. Besides, even if the frequency was the only CPU performance difference between the two, I don't think going from 1.6GHz to 1.9GHz is enough of a jump to visibly see the difference unless there is a software problem. It's only an ~19% increase in frequency.

    Also, IIRC, Samsung is only using the second, low power quad core in the Exynos 5 SoC in a similar manner to Nvidia Tegra 3's fifth low power core rather than using it to augment the performance of the more powerful Cortex A15 quad core CPU.
    Reply
  • kensingtron
    I think its best wait till the bench marks come in; throwing round all the Ghz numbers are just confusing the punters, who don't seem to understand we are dealing with different architectures. What I'm more concerned with is battery life with the lost of the low powered quad cores A7's.

    As far as HTC one is concerned the battery has already failed as it can't be replaced. Lithium is only good for about 500 charges or 1.5 years. Then your HTC one is a paperweight in half a day. Planned obsolescence don't fall for it.
    Reply