Samsung Galaxy Note 3 To Be Powered By Exynos 5 Octa Processor? Here's The Evidence That Says Yes

Information on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has been scarce, seeing as it likely won’t be unveiled for another five months. However, sources are beginning to consider that the third-generation phablet may feature the processing powerhouse Exynos 5 Octa CPU.

Ever since its unveiling at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, enthusiasts have been ecstatic about the prospect of a lightning fast eight-core processor. The Exynos 5 Octa features a quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 chip that clocks in speeds between 1.6 GHz and 1.8 GHz, as well as a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 chip that clocks in speeds up to 1.2 GHz. The Exnyos 5 Octa and its eight cores of processing juice are scheduled to debut on certain variants of the soon-to-be released Samsung Galaxy S4 and have been destroying the competition on a number of benchmark tests.

The Exnyos 5 Octa variant of the Galaxy S4 won’t be seen in the U.S., which many initially thought was due to a lack of LTE capability. But Samsung Exynos announced via Twitter in late March that the processor would, in fact, be LTE capable. Leaving many scratching their heads as to why the U.S. is constantly left out of the loop when it comes to Exynos processors, the American variant of the Galaxy S4 will run the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset.

Samsung’s 2012 flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S3, similarly came in two variants, an international version that contained the quad-core Exynos 4 processor and the U.S. version that contained the dual-core Qualcomm S4 Snapdragon processor. That Exynos processor, however, was not LTE-capable.

G 4 Games suggests that the reasoning for two variants of the Galaxy S4 boils down to availability, which could be a reasonable explanation when you consider that countries like the UK that usually receive the international version packing an Exynos processor will get the Qualcomm-equipped Galaxy S4 this time around. Reports from March indicated that a shortage of Exynos chips will equate to 70 percent of the first Galaxy S4 handsets shipped containing Qualcomm chips.

Many now wonder what device will be next after the Galaxy S4 to feature the Exynos 5 Octa processor. Enter the Galaxy Note 3. Little is known about the device except that it may be unveiled at the IFA Expo in Berlin in September and it is expected to have either a 5.9-inch or 6.3-inch display.

Looking back at the history of chipsets on Galaxy Note devices, they have all carried Exynos processors. The Galaxy Note 2, Note 8.0 and Note 10.1 all feature the same quad-core Exynos 4 processor as is seen in the international version of the S3. The original Note tablet features the dual-core Exynos 4 processor that is in the international version of the S2. In addition, Galaxy Tab devices also feature Exynos processors.

Galaxy Note devices thus far have been released after Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S series smartphones, with the smartphones containing the latest processing technology. The Exynos 4 Quad processor was unveiled in early May 2012, while the Galaxy S3 was first released later that month and the Galaxy Note 2 was first released in September. Before that, the Exynos 4 Dual processor was released in January 2011, while the Galaxy S2 was first released in May and the Galaxy Note was first released in October.

Perhaps the Galaxy S smartphones act as a Guinea pig of sorts for their phablet cousins, testing out the waters of functionality while Exynos sorts out its production issues and catches up on its stock. Qualcomm notably also unveiled its Snapdragon 600 chipset in January and seems to have had no trouble supplying the demand for its component.

Enthusiasts eagerly await more news about the Galaxy Note 3. If it does, in fact, contain the Exynos 5 Octa processor, could it give the Galaxy S4 a run for its money?