Samsung Galaxy S25 chipset could be way more efficient — but there’s a catch

We may see the Samsung Galaxy S25 boast improved power efficiency, at least in some markets, thanks to its new chipset according to industry sources and analysts speaking to Business Korea.

The efficiency is reportedly due to the alleged Exynos 2500 silicon used in some Galaxy S25 models (more on that below) featuring Samsung’s unique Gate-All-Around process. This manufacturing method allows chips built with it to “limit energy leakage and increase drive current.” Less energy leakage is an easy-to-understand benefit, while the latter point refers to how much power is being sent through the components in the chip, which impacts their speed and therefore performance.

Importantly, Gate-All-Around is also a cutting-edge 3nm process, meaning it has the same-sized transistors that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is tipped to have, and that the Apple A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro already uses. This will, hopefully, further guarantee power and efficiency of the new Exynos chip.

Regional advantages

To catch you up on why this is interesting: the Galaxy S25 series is thought to use a mix of Samsung-made Exynos 2500 chipsets and Qualcomm-built Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chips, depending on where you buy it due to complicated business deals Samsung made a number of years ago.

Excluding the Galaxy S23 series, which had Snapdragon chips worldwide, the U.S. market’s  Snapdragon edition of each year’s Galaxy S phone has been the superior version in terms of power and efficiency. While this year’s Exynos 2400-powered Galaxy S24 models have proven to be pretty close to their siblings running the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, buyers in Europe and many other regions have undoubtedly received an inferior product compared to Americans.

But if the new Exynos boasts a huge power efficiency increase, that would finally give global users an advantage over the U.S., even if the computing power gap between Exynos and Snapdragon remains. And it sounds as if it may, since there are rumors of a sudden overclocking effort in order to improve the 8 Gen 4’s performance compared to Apple’s new M4-powered iPad Pro.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 series, including the series-topping Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, probably won’t arrive until at least January 2025. But the rumor mill’s still churning out plenty of claims about these phones, such as the possible lack of 3x telephoto camera on the Ultra, or generative AI-enhanced Bixby, which you can read in our rumor hubs linked above.

More from Tom’s Guide

• Sony Xperia 1 VI arrives — what it does that Galaxy S24 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro can’t
• iOS 17.5 is out now — here are the new iPhone features
• Cheaper Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 could be canceled — here’s the latest

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he’s also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he’s likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.