HMP is also only supported by the Exynos' big. LITTLE architecture. HMP means that as few as one ''small'' core can be used to handle the lightest of tasks and as many as all eight cores can be fired up simultaneously for the more processor-heavy demands (or for tweaking benchmark results...). Exynos chips use the ARM Mali graphics processor while the Snapdragon supports Adreno GPUs.
The variety of possible core activity in big. LITTLE is great for power management, because the device is never stuck using more processing power than it actually needs for a task. Plus, when all eight cores are firing at once the performance of an Exynos chip can dwarf that available with a Snapdragon. This wasn't always the case, but recent Exynos chips have consistently outgunned their Snapdragon equivalent in benchmarking tests.
There's also differences in RAM speed. Take, for example, the Snapdragon 801 and Exynos 5430, two of the most popular chips of 2014. The Exynos 5430 can support 2133 MHz of RAM speed compared to the Snapdragon's max RAM speed of 933 MHz. The same is true of the semiconductor size and memory bandwidth. The Exynos 5430 has a smaller semiconductor (20 nm compared to 28 nm) and can handle faster data speeds in memory as well.
On the other hand, the Snapdragon has integrated LTE and is also capable of recording 4K video, which the Exynos 5430, for example, is not. There's other differences as well, like the availability of LTE infrastructure, Qualcomm's licensing of 3G and frequencies in various markets, but we've covered the main points in terms of performance. While it may seem like the Exynos is much better, there's not much point getting worried about which chip you get. Unless you're willing to import an unlocked device your choice is going to be made for you.
Which chip do you think is better? Do you wish you had options for both?
