Last-minute cliffhanger: Will the Galaxy S24+ get Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 instead of Exynos 2400 globally?

Welcome to the Galaxy S24 multiverse. Things are spiraling out of control, as rumors around Samsung's latest flagship lineup pile up and soon we'll need wings just to stay on top of them.

The latest information claims that the Galaxy S24+ could get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in “most countries,” while vanilla Galaxy S24 could be an Exynos 2400 exclusive. This stands in stark contrast to the reality we have been living in for several months now.

Let's rewind the tape and recap the chipset-related rumors regarding the Galaxy S24THE Galaxy S24+ and the Galaxy S24 Ultra. While we're at it, let's not forget the Galaxy S21 and Apple iPhones.

In the last episode…

Let's go back a year and take a look at the Galaxy S23 lineup: all three devices, regardless of which country they were sold in, come with the same excellent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset (excluding the Galaxy S23 FE which is comes with Snapdragon or Exynos).

The decision to integrate the same chipset across the world in all three siblings was nothing short of revolutionary. The general rule is to install the most powerful chips only in maximum flagships. For example, Apple puts its latest and greatest in the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max models, while vanilla iPhones get last year's chipset from the Pro and Pro Max.

Before Galaxy S23, Samsung has respected this rule. The Galaxy S22 lineup came with Qualcomm's Exynos 2200 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, depending on location. Same with the Galaxy S21 range: the international and Korean models were equipped with the Exynos 2100 chipset, while the American, Canadian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong and Japanese models used the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888.

What about the Galaxy S24?

For months, it was rumored that Samsung was about to abandon the Galaxy S23 treatment and was said to be going back to the good old “I'll sell you a phone with a top-notch Snapdragon chip inside, based on your zip code” mantra.

This was the chipset schematic for the Galaxy S24 which almost everyone agreed on:

• THE Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S24+ should come with Snapdragon 8 generation 3 in the United States, China and perhaps Canada. Buyers in other countries would get the Exynos 2400 chip;
• THE Galaxy S24 Ultra should pack a Snapdragon 8 generation 3 SoC regardless of where it is sold.

Now what?

Now that we've covered what was agreed to five minutes ago, let's start some crazy rumors.

By tipster X/Twitter Ahmed QwaiderSamsung could put a Snapdragon 8 generation 3 in the Galaxy S24+ in “countries in the Middle East and most countries around the world”. He asks for vanilla Galaxy S24 “will only come with Exynos 2400”.

Another X/Twitter tipster, Tarun tankssays something similar: “Snapdragon 8 generation 3 is almost confirmed (99%) for the Galaxy S24 Plus in India »

It's a mess, but here are some guidelines

The aforementioned claims come just hours after the release of new benchmark test results, so if you want to dig deeper into the Snapdragon/Exynos drama, we suggest checking out these latest Geekbench results showing how Samsung is optimizing its in-house manufactured Exynos 2400.

January 17 – opening night (or rather day) – is fast approaching, so stay tuned!