Samsung's latest Exynos 1680 offers enhanced AI and graphics capabilities for mid-range smartphones.

      The new chip introduces minor CPU modifications while emphasizing enhanced GPU performance and accelerated on-device AI.

      Samsung has officially revealed its new mid-range Exynos 1680 chipset, presenting a promising outlook for the company’s forthcoming non-flagship smartphones. The chip features significant enhancements, particularly in AI and graphics, and is set to debut with the recently announced Galaxy A57 early next month.

      What’s new with the Exynos 1680?

      The Exynos 1680 is equipped with an upgraded Samsung Xclipse 550 GPU, which should offer noticeably improved graphics performance compared to the Xclipse 540 GPU used in the Exynos 1580. Samsung claims that the new GPU adds two additional Render Blocks along with two Work Group Processors, resulting in a stated 16% performance increase over its predecessor.

      To boost AI performance, Samsung has integrated a new 8K MAC NPU in the Exynos 1680 that reportedly achieves up to 19.6 TOPS of performance, representing a 33% enhancement compared to the previous version. This is expected to facilitate faster on-device AI functionalities.

      Additional noteworthy upgrades include compatibility with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage, along with Bluetooth 6.1 for enhanced connectivity.

      What hasn’t changed much?

      Similar to last year’s Exynos 1580, the new chip is manufactured using Samsung’s 4nm process and retains the same octa-core CPU setup. It consists of one high-performance Cortex A-720 core clocked at 2.9GHz, three Cortex A-720 cores operating at 2.6GHz, and three efficiency Cortex A-520 cores running at 1.95GHz.

      While the architecture remains constant, Samsung has indicated that one of the efficiency cores has been updated to a “mid-core” to better balance performance and efficiency. This adjustment could result in slightly improved battery life during regular use.

      Display support still maxes out at FHD+ with a 144Hz refresh rate, and camera capabilities remain unchanged, with the Exynos 1680 accommodating up to 200MP sensors and 4K video recording at 60fps. Connectivity features such as Wi-Fi 6E, GNSS, and 5G NR have also been retained.

      How these enhancements perform in practical use will be evaluated as the Galaxy A57 undergoes testing.

      Pranob is an experienced tech journalist with over eight years of expertise in consumer technology reporting. His contributions have been…

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