Samsung Exynos 5430 processor with 2K display support, Intel LTE revealed

Samsung could be preparing to phase out Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile processors from its Galaxy smartphones and tablets in favour of its Exynos chips, if a new report is to be believed. The upcoming Exynos 5430 apparently supports Intel’s LTE 4G modem and 2K resolution displays, and could power the long-rumoured premium Galaxy S5 variant expected to arrive later this year.

Digging inside Samsung’s latest device source code, Samobile reports that the high-end Galaxy S5 model is indeed in development, under the codename “Samsung KQ”, and will be powered by the new Exynos 5430 processor.

The 5430 is an upgrade to the existing 5422, and will use two quad-core ARM processors in an octa-core configuration. The more powerful A15 cores will run at 2.1GHz, while the low-power A7 cores will run at 1.5GHz to save battery power. The Mali GPU core should also receive a speed boost to around 600MHz, compared to 533MHz in the Exynos 5422. It supports the H.265 HEVC hardware video decoder, a first for a Samsung-designed chip, which should help support 4K video playback, and will include a dedicated audio co-processor based on ARM’s Cortex A5, known as SEIREN.

It appears that Samsung may have switched to a 20nm manufacturing process, as the Cortex A7 cores have seen a large voltage reduction of around 125mV – usually a leap only made possible by switching to a more efficient manufacturing process, although Samobile was unable to confirm the move.

Importantly, Intel’s XMM7260 Category 6 (300mbit/s) LTE modem is also included, adding 4G capabilities to the international and European variants of supported handsets. This would potentially provide Qualcomm with some much-needed competition, as it currently has a commanding share of 4G-enabled handsets in Europe and other territories.

Unfortunately the source code hasn’t revealed a US model, indicating Samsung may be considering a limited launch in order to test the waters for a high-end smartphone with a 2K display. Hopefully the company will reveal more information soon, but at the time of writing had refused to comment on the rumours.