Today Samsung LSI announced the new Exynos 1080 SoC, a successor to last year’s Exynos 980. This year’s 1080 is seemingly positioned a little above the 980 in terms of performance as we’re seeing some quite notable gains in features compared to the 980. It’s to be remembered that this is a “premium” SoC, meaning it’s not a flagship SoC, but it’s also not quite a mid-range SoC, fitting itself in-between those two categories, a niche which has become quite popular over the last 1-2 years.

The new SoC is defined by having a new 1+3+4 CPU configuration, as reasonably large GPU, and full 5G connectivity integrated, and is the first publicly announced SoC to be manufactured on Samsung’s new 5LPE process node.

Samsung Exynos SoCs Specifications
SoC Exynos 980 Exynos 1080
CPU 2x Cortex-A77 @ 2.2GHz
+ 6x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz
1x Cortex-A78 @ 2.8GHz
+ 3x Cortex-A78 @ 2.6GHz
+ 4x Cortex-A55 @ 2.0GHz
GPU Mali G76MP5 Mali G78MP10
NPU Integrated NPU + DSP
5.7TOPS
Memory
Controller
LPDDR4X LPDDR4X / LPDDR5
Media 10bit 4K120 encode & decode
H.265/HEVC, H.264, VP9
10bit 4K60 encode & decode
H.265/HEVC, H.264, VP9
Modem Shannon Integrated 

(LTE Category 16/18)
DL = 1000 Mbps
5x20MHz CA, 256-QAM
UL = 200 Mbps
2x20MHz CA, 256-QAM

(5G NR Sub-6)
DL = 2550 Mbps
UL = 1280 Mbps
Shannon Integrated

(LTE Category 16/18)
DL = 1000 Mbps
5x20MHz CA, 256-QAM
UL = 200 Mbps
2x20MHz CA, 256-QAM

(5G NR Sub-6)
DL = 5100 Mbps
UL = 1280 Mbps


(5G NR mmWave)
DL = 3670 Mbps
UL = 3670 Mbps
WiFi Integrated 802.11ax (WiFi 6) Integrated 802.11ax (WiFi 6)
ISP Main: 108MP
Dual: 20MP+20MP
Main: 200MP
Dual: 32MP+32MP
Mfc.
Process
Samsung
8nm LPP
Samsung
5nm LPE

On the CPU side of things, this is the first time we’ve seen Samsung adopt a 1+3+4 CPU configuration, now adopting the Cortex-A78 architecture on the part of the performance cores. One core is clocked at 2.8GHz while the three others are running at 2.6GHz. Qualcomm had first introduced such a setup and it seems it’s become quite popular as it gives the benefit of both performance and power efficiency. The four big cores are accompanied by four Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0GHz.

On the GPU side of things, we’re seeing a quite large jump compared to the Exynos 980 as Samsung is now not only moving onto the new Mali-G78 microarchitecture, but is deploying double the number of cores. It’s possible that previous performance of these “premium” tier SoCs wasn't as well received as there was a large gap in performance compared to their flagship SoC counterparts, so Samsung employing a much larger GPU here is quite welcome, and still leaves room for a much larger configuration for their flagship SoC, which has yet to be announced.

Samsung now also includes a new generation NPU and DSP in the design, and quoted machine-learning inference power of 5.7TOPs which is again quite a sweet-spot for such an SoC.

The new modem now is capable of both 5G NR Sub-6 frequencies as well mmWave, something which was lacking in the Exynos 980. Samsung’s decision to deploy mmWave here is interesting given that outside of the US there’s very little deployment in terms of network coverage as sub-6GHz is being prioritised. Samsung adding this in in what’s supposed to be a more cost-effective SoC means that they’re actually expecting it to be used, which is going to be very interesting.

Multi-media wise, the specifications listed for the SoC show that it actually cut down on the MFC (Multi-Function Codec) decoder and encoder capabilities as it’s now only capable of 4K60 instead of 4K120 in the last generation – maybe a further cost optimisation.

The camera ISP capabilities have been improved, supporting now single camera sensors up to 200MP, and dual-sensor operation up to 32+32MP.

The most exciting thing about the SoC is its transition from an 8LPP DUV process to the new 5LPE EUV process. This is Samsung LSI’s and Samsung Foundry’s first announced 5nm chip which is going to garner a lot of attention when it comes to comparisons made against competitor SoCs on TSMC’s 5nm node. I do expect the Samsung process to be less dense, but we’ll have to wait out and see the actual performance and power differences between the two nodes.

Last year I had noted that the Exynos 980 looked like an extremely well balanced SoC and we did see it employed by third-party vendors such as VIVO, as well as more Samsung Mobile devices. The new Exynos 1080 look to be even stronger and solid in terms reaching a balance between performance and features and still trying to optimise things for cost.

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  • AlexDaum - Friday, November 13, 2020 - link

    For density Samsung 5nm is a bit better than TSMC 6nm, but much less dense than TSMC 5nm. I don't know anything about performance or price.
  • eastcoast_pete - Saturday, November 14, 2020 - link

    One thing I wonder more and more as the structures get smaller is heat dissipation. Power consumption should still be relatively lower compared to 7 nm or larger, but is there a sweet spot for density for each node? I believe Intel ended up lowering the density in one of their 14 nm plus etc nodes to achieve higher frequencies, but maybe someone here can point to a reference for that.
  • hanselltc - Thursday, November 12, 2020 - link

    no av1 rip
  • Whiteknight2020 - Thursday, November 12, 2020 - link

    Really? What on earth motivates "anyone" to watch hd and above video on a <8" screen? It's an utter waste of time/CPU/GPU/bandwidth. It's a *tiny* screen, with shit sound. WTF?
  • RSAUser - Friday, November 13, 2020 - link

    If I'm on the bus I'm not going to lug a laptop with, and often it can be difficult to carry a tablet around. Always have earphones with me.

    There are a lot more use cases than just yours.
  • iphonebestgamephone - Friday, November 13, 2020 - link

    You can hdmi out the phone to your 4k tv.
  • Whiteknight2020 - Thursday, November 12, 2020 - link

    @hansellt Why? Who gives a crap on a tiny screen? Video on phones is beyond pointless, just give me something I can read rather than some halfwit bellend blathering on. Codecs are as irrelevant as video is.
  • nandnandnand - Thursday, November 12, 2020 - link

    The latest smartphones can be used like desktop computers. Particularly Samsung with DeX.
  • MetaCube - Friday, November 13, 2020 - link

    2/10
  • eastcoast_pete - Saturday, November 14, 2020 - link

    Any news on a Samsung SoC with X1 for Windows-on-ARM ultralights? Something like this, but with an X1 and a few more Mali cores might to as well or better than the 865 variant Microsoft uses in its Surface X, and be cheaper. Right now, the two biggest obstacles to Windows-on-ARM are the lack of native apps (supposedly coming) and the high price of the Surface X.

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