iPhones have always had the upper hand when it comes to CPU performance. In fact, Apple's smartphones were two to three generations ahead of leading Android smartphones from the likes of Samsung, OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi. Even this year, the iPhone 15 Pro is at least 28% faster than the fastest Android smartphone chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. But that's all set to change next year if a new analyst report is to be believed.
Exynos or Snapdragon, the Galaxy S25 could outperform the iPhone 16 Pro in CPU performance
All processors used inside Android smartphones use ARM's Cortex CPUs. This year's flagship smartphone chipsets use a Cortex-X4 CPU core, which is approximately 25-30% slower than the custom ARM-based CPU core used by the iPhone 15 Pro. This is a combination of Apple's custom CPU architecture and the most advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing process. Later this year, like clockwork, ARM is expected to unveil its Cortex-X5 CPU core, and it will be used in MediaTek and Samsung processors. Qualcomm could go a separate route and implement native Nuvia custom CPU cores in its next flagship chipset. According to research Report from Moore Insights and Strategy (Via Android body), ARM has “A bold plan to get the best smartphone CPU cores“In 2025. The Cortex-X5 CPU core, codenamed “Blackhawk,” is expected to deliver the largest year-over-year performance gains in the past five years.
The Cortex-X1 was the biggest leap in performance for ARM, and it came in 2020. With the Cortex-X5, ARM can beat Apple in terms of CPU performance. According to the report, the ARM plan is “Eliminate the performance gap between Arm-designed processors and custom Arm applications.“Here, the ARM implementation refers to Apple's custom implementation of the ARM design that is typically used in iPhones and iPads. However, nothing has been revealed about the power efficiency of ARM's Blackhawk CPU core. It is important that the power consumption remains low even with High performance, similar to Apple chips.
The Cortex-X5 CPU core will likely be used inside the 3nm Exynos 2500 chipset that will power most of the Galaxy S25 series phones. The remaining Galaxy S25 units will likely use the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor, which is expected to feature Qualcomm's in-house Oryon CPU core. This internal CPU design has shown tremendous promise, and can even match or beat the performance of Apple's single-core CPU. So, if the report from Moor Insights and Strategy is correct, both the Exynos and Snapdragon versions of the Galaxy S25 could beat the iPhone 16 Pro in CPU performance next year. The Galaxy S25 is expected to bring several other improvements, including better cameras, better hardware and software integration, and software fluidity.
Watch our long-term Galaxy S23 Ultra review in the video below to see how it has fared in terms of performance, battery life and software stability since launch.
Diary: Some Galaxy S25 units will likely use the Exynos 2500 processor (provisional designation) that Samsung is designing internally through its System LSI business arm. Some reports claim that the upcoming Exynos 2500 processor will be made specifically for the Galaxy S25 series. Previous Exynos chipsets were made in such a way that any smartphone brand could use them (another issue that no brand other than Samsung uses them).
Due to using the approach tailored to the Exynos 2500, industry insiders believe it will have better integration between hardware and software as well as better performance, efficiency and stability compared to what we are used to seeing from Exynos chips every year. year. They are always slightly (sometimes more) inferior to their Snapdragon counterparts in terms of performance and/or efficiency. The addition of a Cortex-X5 CPU core could help the chip further. Samsung is looking to make a big splash with the Galaxy S25, and everything looks like it's coming together to make it happen. Expectations are very high for the Galaxy S25, but only time will tell how good the smartphone will be and how it could turn around Samsung's fortunes.
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