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Samsung recently unveiled the new Galaxy S23 series, which is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy SoC. This chip is slightly different from the 8 Gen 2 found on the Xiaomi 13.
Qualcomm has worked closely with Samsung to ensure that the new Samsung devices come with class-leading performance and integration. The result is a new chip that will exclusively be found in the flagship Galaxy S23 devices.
This chips the Galaxy S23 as the fastest smartphone on the planet. But let's pitch the Samsung devices against other flagships to see how much users lose with the traditional Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is marginally faster than the base chip
Before delving into the performance differences between the processors, check out the specs to determine the changes made for the Galaxy-only chip.
Specs
The 8 Gen 2 for the Galaxy-run S23 series is the only variant of the smartphone available on the market. Starting this year, Samsung has stopped launching an Exynos-powered flagship device.
However, the new devices pack a special processor that is a slightly improved version of the original Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The chip utilizes the improved power management system that Samsung devices are capable of.
Both the CPU and GPU on the SoC have been overclocked to utilize the maximum of the underlying silicon. Besides this slight change, the special edition processor retains similar internals, including the same connectivity modem and CPU cores.
The CPU cores can boost up to 3.36 GHz, up from the 3.2 GHz max clock speeds of the 8 Gen 2. Similarly, the Adreno GPU has been overclocked from 680 MHz to 719 MHz. These improved clock speeds resulted in more performance compared to the traditional speed.
Coupled with the improved cooling potential of the new Galaxy S23 series thanks to the vapor chamber design, the phones rank among the fastest in the bunch.
Performance differences
It is worth noting that the improved clock speeds of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chips do not contribute to a massive difference over the base SoC. It is much like how the 8+ Gen 2 processor would perform. However, it might be that the improved flagship from Qualcomm is more powerful.
In benchmarks originally published on GSMArena, the S23 Ultra is seen to be only marginally faster than the 8 Gen 2-powered Red Magic 8 Pro. In some benchmarks, the gaming flagship device from ZTE beats the improved 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip.
Thus, it is evident that a few more factors other than improved clock speeds affect overall performance. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy scores a lead over every other Qualcomm chip on the table in the single-core performance test of Geekbench 5. However, the chip loses that lead in the multi-core test and AnTuTu, where all eight cores are put to work.
Thus, the device clearly can't keep up with the increased heat output of the improved chip. This could lead to underwhelming results in the remaining tests.
However, the clock speed massively helps the Adreno GPU as it pushes out a significantly higher score in the Wild Life Extreme test.
Conclusion
Overall, the improved clock speeds of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy powering the S23 devices are only slightly faster than the original chip. Although the results are reflected in benchmarks, they are too small to affect real-world performance and experience in any significant way.
