Samsung has two versions of processor it uses in the variants of its Galaxy S series depending on where in the world you live. The Galaxy S9/S9+ is no exception with the U.S version powered by the Snapdragon 845 processor and the international version by Samsung's own in-house Exynos 9810 chip.Over the past few weeks, reports have emerged that the Exynos version of the Galaxy S9/S9+ was seeing worse battery performance when compared to the Snapdragon version. Over the previous generations of Galaxy devices, there has always been a slight difference when it comes to performance and battery life when comparing the two processors, but in the latest Galaxy S9 models, the difference is significantly more noticeable.Don't Miss: Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S9: is it worth upgrading?In response to customers requests for an explanation of why the battery life of the Exynos version differs so much to that of the Snapdragon version, Samsung has issued a statement shedding light on the situation.
The Galaxy S9 is a reimagined smartphone designed to provide the best experience possible. Battery discharge time is dependent upon each user's specific installed apps and settings, as well as other environmental factors. Both processors go through strict and rigorous testing considering real life usage scenarios, in order to provide the same top-of-the-line experience regardless of processor. Samsung is committed to delivering consistent battery performance over the lifecycle of the phone to provide users with an optimal experience.Essentially this is Samsung's way of saying that there is no issue and it comes down to a users combination of apps and usage patterns as to the performance of the battery.Despite Samsung's best efforts to insist the processors offer an equal experience, there are hard-coded architectural reasons why the Snapdragon offers better battery performance over the Exynos.According to Android Central, the Exynos 9810 is up to 50% less power efficient when compared with similar mobile processors. Despite being incredibly fast, Samsung seems to have programmed the core scheduler in such a way that it results in clock speeds and voltage settings that aren't optimized. While the Exynos chip isn't especially power-hungry, the settings chosen by Samsung is what differs over the Snapdragon equivalent and seems to be accountable for the poor battery performance.However, given the stance Samsung are taking for the Galaxy S9 battery life, it doesn't seem like the company will be rushing out to issue a fix. It would appear that those with the Exynos 9810 version of the Galaxy S9/S9+ are just going to have to live with a worse battery experience than the Snapdragon counterparts.If you have the Exynos Galaxy S9/S9+, leave us a comment below and let us know your experience with the battery life on your device.