Last-minute cliffhanger: Will the Galaxy S24+ get Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 instead of Exynos 2400 globally?

Welcome to the Galaxy S24 multiverse. Things are getting out of hand, as rumors surrounding the latest flagship line from Samsung are piling up and soon, we’ll need wings just to stay above them.

The latest piece of information claims that the Galaxy S24+ might get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in “most countries”, while the vanilla Galaxy S24 could be Exynos 2400-exclusive. This is in sharp contrast to the reality we’ve been living in for many months now.

Let’s rewind the tape and recap the chipset-related rumors about the Galaxy S24, the Galaxy S24+ and the Galaxy S24 Ultra. While we’re at it, let’s not forget the Galaxy S21 and Apple’s iPhones.

In the last episode…

Let’s go one year back and check out the Galaxy S23 line: all three devices, regardless of the country they were sold in, came with the same excellent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset (excluding the Galaxy S23 FE which comes with either Snapdragon or Exynos).

The decision to pack the same chipset across the world in all three siblings was no short of revolutionary. The rule of thumb is to install the mightiest chips in the maxed-out flagships only. For example, Apple puts its latest and greatest in the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max models, while the vanilla iPhones get last year’s chipset from the Pro and Pro Max.

Prior to the Galaxy S23, Samsung did stick to that rule. The Galaxy S22 line came with either Exynos 2200 or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, depending on the location. Same with the Galaxy S21 line – international and Korean models came with the Exynos 2100 chipset, while the US, Canadian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong and Japanese models utilized the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888.

What about the Galaxy S24?

For months now, the rumor mill had it that Samsung was about to ditch the Galaxy S23 treatment and was said to come back to the good old “I’ll sell you a phone with a top-notch Snapdragon chip inside, depending on your ZIP code” mantra.

This was the chipset scheme for the Galaxy S24 that virtually everyone agreed on:

• The Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S24+ are expected to come with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the US, China, and possibly Canada. Buyers from other countries would get the Exynos 2400 chip;
• The Galaxy S24 Ultra is expected to pack a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC regardless of where it’s sold.

Now what?

Now that we’ve covered what was agreed upon until five minutes ago, let’s throw in some wild rumors.

Per X/Twitter tipster Ahmed Qwaider, Samsung might put a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the Galaxy S24+ in “the countries of the Middle East and most countries of the world”. He claims the vanilla Galaxy S24 “will only come with Exynos 2400”.


Another X/Twitter tipster, Tarun Vats, says something similar: “Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is almost confirmed (99%) for Galaxy S24 Plus in India”

It’s a mess, but here are some benchmarks

The aforementioned claims come just hours after new benchmark testing scores floated, so if you want to dig deeper into the Snapdragon/Exynos drama, we suggest you check out these latest Geekbench scores showing how Samsung is optimizing their in-house-made Exynos 2400.

January 17 – the opening night (or rather, day) – is upon us, so stay tuned!