We've known for a while that the Samsung Galaxy S4 will come in two varieties, each with a different processor, just like the Galaxy S III.
The European models get an eight-core Exynos 5 Octa processor developed in-house by Samsung, while North American models get the more conventional Qualcomm Snapdragon 600.
But it looks like at least some European countries will also be getting the Snapdragon. The Swedish Galaxy S4 pre-order page for major carrier Tele2 lists the processor as a "Snapdragon 600."
That news will likely disappoint Swedish consumers, as well as customers in other countries that will probably also be getting the Qualcomm. But there hasn't been a reliable benchmark for the Exynos 5 yet, so it may not be a huge improvement over the Snapdragon.
"The Qualcomm-designed chipset should still offer stellar performance - better than the competing flagships, which use the same chip but at lower frequency," GSMArena writes. "It remains to be seen what kind of performance the Exynos 5 Octa will offer -- AnTuTu's publicly available benchmark doesn't support the chipset and the scores the AnTuTu team posted from in-house testing can't be compared to the old benchmarks."
As for why Samsung has opted to use both chips, the issue may be supply.
"Mass production of the new chip is scheduled for the 'second quarter of 2013'. In which case the S4 demand, which everyone predicts to be massive, can't possibly be satisfied by mid-May, at the earliest," Android Authority writes.
We've seen sourcing issues at HTC recently, so it's possible there's a dearth of high-end components available right now. And with all the effort Samsung has put into keeping the S4 cheap and easy to produce, it would be a shame if it went to waste.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 features an eight-core Exynos 5 Octa processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 5-inch 1920x1080 Full HD AMOLED display at 441 ppi, a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video, a 2 megapixel front facing camera, internal storage between 16 and 64 GB, an SD card slot that can accommodate an additional 64 GB, a polycarbonate body, Smart Pause and floating touch tech and runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
North American (and some European) models feature a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor instead of the Exynos 5 Octa.
Check back for the latest info on the Galaxy S4 as it becomes available.
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