The Galaxy S24 has yet to make its appearance, but some have already been eyeing the Galaxy S25, especially the system-on-chip that it is supposed to be powered by.

It is the unannounced Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip. Nevertheless, a post on Weibo by the leaker DCS provides some information about the future chipset, which appears to be a significant upgrade over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 likely to be found in the OnePlus 12 and the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which will debut in 2024. It appears to be an upgrade. [According to Leaker, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be manufactured on a 3nm process. This compares to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3's 4nm process. This means that the new chip will be denser, which usually means a big leap in both power and efficiency.

The only 3nm chip currently in mobile devices is the A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro. Not surprisingly, the iPhone 15 Pro's benchmarks are far ahead of other models. Android phones have been clamoring for an equivalent.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is said to have an octa-core CPU with two high-performance Phoenix L CPU cores and six power efficient Phoenix M cores. This is quite a different setup from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which uses one prime core, five performance cores, and two efficiency cores. Perhaps, as DCS suggests, this new octet of cores will deliver better and more efficient performance.

Another informant, @revengus, claims that the Adreno 830 GPU in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is 10% more powerful than the Apple M2 chip in devices like the iPad Pro and MacBook Air. While this chip is now being phased out with the introduction of the Apple M3 chip in October, it is still impressive that a chip designed for smartphones could theoretically beat laptops and tablets.

However, it is unclear whether the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be in all Galaxy S25 phones in 2025. Samsung will only use Qualcomm's silicon in phones released in North America, while other markets could see the Exynos 2500 processor in the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus. This is consistent with what has been rumored for the Galaxy S24 series, where simply purchasing the Ultra model guarantees the same chip, thus ensuring consistent performance worldwide.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is probably not the only improvement Samsung plans for its 2025 flagship. There are indications that Samsung aims to reduce the size of the internal bezel in future phones, including the Galaxy S25.

Also, Samsung's Galaxy AI is likely to see further development, benefiting from the more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 after its rumored debut in the Galaxy S24 series. We will keep an eye on further rumors to see if they change or develop, and will of course check in on the assumed Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered performance of the Galaxy S24 series when it makes its debut.