Exynos 1680 chip goes official with faster performance and AI

Samsung has announced the Exynos 1680, its most advanced mid-range smartphone chip yet. It succeeds last year’s Exynos 1580 chip and brings faster performance, improved efficiency, and a more modern connectivity feature set. The chip is expected to power the upcoming Galaxy A57.

The Exynos 1680 is fabricated on Samsung Foundry’s enhanced 4nm process (likely SF4X), offering better performance and efficiency. It features an octa-core CPU with five high-performance cores and three power-efficient cores. One of the high-performance Cortex-A720 cores is clocked at 2.9GHz, while the remaining Cortex-A720 cores run at 2.6GHz. The power-efficient Cortex-A520 cores are clocked at 1.95GHz.

The chip includes the Xclipse 550 GPU, based on AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture. While it builds on the previous generation’s design, it adds two Render Blocks (RBs) alongside two Work Group Processors (WGPs), delivering up to 15% better graphics performance. It can drive Full HD+ displays at refresh rates of up to 144Hz.

The integrated NPU delivers up to 19.6 TOPS of AI performance, which is a 33% improvement over the Exynos 1580.

The Exynos 1680 supports LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage, putting it in line with higher-end chips like the Exynos 2600 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. This should result in faster app loading, smoother multitasking, and quicker image and video processing.

The image signal processor (ISP) has also been improved, offering better detail, color accuracy, and contrast. It enhances noise reduction, especially in low-light conditions, compared to the previous generation. The chip supports camera sensors up to 200MP, 4K video recording at 60fps, and 10-bit HDR capture for both photos and videos.

For connectivity, the integrated 5G modem supports download speeds of up to 5.1Gbps and upload speeds of up to 1.28Gbps on sub-6GHz networks. On 4G LTE, download speeds can reach up to 1.2Gbps, while upload speeds are rated at up to 211Mbps.

It is also the first Exynos chip to offer Bluetooth 6.1 connectivity. Other connectivity features include GPS (and compatibility with other GNSS systems), Wi-Fi 6E, NFC, and USB 2.0 Type-C.