Exynos 7904 Review

Samsung has recently launched its M-series of smartphones in India, all of which use the new Exynos 7904 chipset. The phones are meant to corner the millennial market, aiming to offer efficient features at an affordable price.

However, it is not easy to combine all the millennials’ desires into a mid-tier phone. If you want to do it, you need to combine a good gaming experience, nice camera, long battery life, and overall smooth performance.

Well, the Exynos 7904 aims to do just that. Does it succeed? Keep reading to find out.

CPU Performance

The Exynos 7904 comes with a ‘six plus two’ core configuration. The six Cortex-A53 cores that run at 1.6 GHz are suitable for the basic smartphone tasks and app usage. On the other hand, the two Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 1.8GHz are there for more demanding activities such as gaming or video editing.

This single core-processor is way more powerful than the previous Exynos 7870. Thanks to it, games should run at a low fast rate and load faster. Moreover, the heavy-duty Cortex-A73 will allow you to run multiple apps or tasks at the same time without sacrificing the performance.

Video Performance

The Exynos 7904 has some amazing display features. It comes with a 6.3” FHD + Infinity-V display, which highly improves the visuals. There’s also a multi-format codec that enables you to record HD videos and play them in the same resolution later.

On top of that, this processor can run and record videos in 4K, which is a feature rarely utilized in smartphones before. It can run and record videos in UHD at 30fps or full HD at 120fps.To sum up, this chipset offers full HD+ resolution and a high-end video subsystem.

What About Gaming?

When it comes to gaming, the processor uses the Mali-G71 MP2 GPU which should run most of the recent Android games without any issues. The GPU has good processing power, thus helping improve the performance of 3D gaming. This is important if you want to run more popular Android games on your phone.

The more demanding games such as PUBG or Fortnite should run smoothly most of the time.

However, during more intense moments, the frame rate may occasionally drop, but it shouldn’t affect your overall gaming experience.

Is the Camera Good?

The camera was one of the main selling points of this chipset. It brings a high-end camera experience to a mid-tier smartphone.

First of all, it comes with an image signal processor (ISP) which allows you to capture some cutting-edge images. The ISP can support a 32 megapixels single-camera resolution, but it also has a multi-camera solution.

For example, the Samsung M20, which utilizes this processor, has a primary 13MP camera that captures clear and sharp photos, as well as close-up selfies. There is also another 5MP camera that supports 120-degree ultra-wide mode. It allows you to capture panoramic scenery and other ultra-wide images.

The ISP has some additions to processing technologies. They include color-adapting scenery, stabilization of moving images and video images, and multi-frame processing that sharpens the picture.  As such, you can make decent images even in low conditions. The color-adapting mechanism can scan and adjust the brightness to make a perfect contrast.

How Do You Connect?

When it comes to connectivity, the Exynos 7904 has a multiple-mode modem that is compatible with most of the network services currently in use. The most notable are 2G and Dual-SIM Dual VoLTE, which allows users to connect to 4G LTE networks

On the device connectivity front, it can connect reliably to any Wi-Fi or Bluetooth device. You can thus easily connect to a Bluetooth speaker or a smart TV for some entertainment. This, combined with the great audio performance of Samsung’s smartphones that integrate this chipset, will provide countless hours of fun.

Is the Battery Decent?

Prolonging the battery life is one of the main upsides of this chipset. It has a design that consumes a lot less power thanks to the Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling. This is all due to the perfect balance of both high-performance cores and six lower-performance cores in the CPU.

This chipset, combined with the Galaxy M-series’ enormous battery and a 15W ultra-fast charger, makes your battery last for a long time.

How Does It Compare to Other Similar Chipsets?

The Exynos 7904 is a massive upgrade on its predecessors, such as the Exynos 7807. However, when you compare it to other chipsets that focus on mid-tier telephones, it isn’t better or worse. This means that the likes of the Snapdragon 660 that already dominate the mid-range smartphone environment are no worse than the Exynos 7904.

However, the one thing that makes this chipset stand out is its architecture. It is built to allow you to smoothly browse your apps, play popular games, capture stunning pictures, and save battery. The combination of these features should appease the needs of the millennial generation and can lay a foundation for other affordable and efficient smartphones.

The Verdict

While it isn’t much better than similar chipsets currently on the market, the Exynos 7904 marks a good comeback by Samsung. The features aren’t game-changing, but they may be the first step towards a perfect mid-range smartphone every millennial would enjoy.

Should you purchase a smartphone with this chipset? If you prefer Samsung, definitely. Otherwise, a comparable chipset like the Snapdragon 660 shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.

Which chipset does your smartphone have and how satisfied are you with its performance? Would you consider upgrading to a phone that uses the Exynos 7904? Share your thoughts and impressions in the comments below.