Samsung Galaxy S11 to Run on Exynos 990 Chipset; ToF Modules to Come from China

There’s more information flowing online on what to expect in the next S series flagship from the South Korean giant Samsung. The Samsung Galaxy S11 and its other variants will be launched in the first quarter of 2020. The company usually fits is own chipsets on the flagship smartphones, but in advanced markets like the US and Europe, the company releases the devices with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Thus, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 used Exynos 9825 chipset in China and many of the Asian markets, while in the US, the processor under the hood was the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. Now, for the Samsung Galaxy S11, the company has developed a new processor, the Exynos 990.

Built on 7nm Process; More Powerful Than 9825

Samsung says the Exynos 990 is its latest processor and has been built on the 7nm process. According to the manufacturer, in terms of performance, the chipset would deliver 20% better faster functionality than the Exynos 9825. Explaining the capabilities of this new chipset developed by the company, Samsung says it features an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology and can support a screen refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It’s an octa-core processor that comprises four ARM A55 cores and two ARM Cortex A76 cores. The remaining two cores are Samsung’s proprietary cores to handle custom tasks. More significantly, the manufacturer now has an Exynos 5123 modem as well for 5G connectivity along with the Exynos 990. There are also specific capabilities built into this chipset for photography. It can offer support for up to six cameras. The primary sensor could be up to 108MP in resolution. The chipset is also capable of 8K video recording at 30fps or 4K UHD at 120fps.

China’s Sunny Optical to Supply ToF Modules

Samsung looks beyond domestic suppliers for the 3D sensors to fit in its smartphones. These are the Time of Flight or ToF cameras, which help with the Face ID technology as a security feature. A Chinese maker of these modules, Sunny Optical is reportedly going to supply these key components to Samsung to be fitted in next year’s Samsung Galaxy S11 phones. The two South Korean manufacturers of the ToF cameras and suppliers to Samsung are Namuga and Patron. Though the Chinese suppliers get only around 20% of the overall requirements from the South Korean major, some observers say the South Korean manufacturers are not very comfortable with the decision of the smartphone maker to source them from China.