Dual-core Galaxy S3 to be offered in some territories with Snapdragon S4 and LTE

In addition to the quad-core HSPA+ version of its upcoming Galaxy S3, Samsung will launch a dual-core variant with LTE connectivity and a Snapdragon S4 chip for LTE markets outside of Korea. Reports from The Korea Times, which match what we’ve been told by our own sources, indicate that the the quad-core Exynos/HSPA+ version will see broad international availability, while the Snapdragon S4 model will launch in other countries with LTE, including the United States. KT reports that inside of Korea, Samsung will offer a CDMA/LTE model based on its own quad-core chip, though we haven’t been able to verify this specifically.

According to our sources, LTE radio compatibility was behind the decision to move to the S4 chip for the international 4G version of the Galaxy S3, and this makes sense if you look at the differences in LTE frequencies between the U.S. and Korea (and much of the rest of the world, in fact).

So it appears the situation will be similar to that of the AT&T HTC One X, where the manufacturer opts for a dual-core S4 instead of a competing quad-core chip, for the sake of LTE connectivity. This is nothing new, however -- we saw a similar situation last year with LTE variants of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II, which used Snapdragon S3 chips. So once again it’s a choice between LTE and quad-core. But despite “only” being a dual-core chip, Qualcomm’s S4 is based upon the newer (and speedier) ARM Cortex A15 architecture, compared to Exynos’s A9, and we’ve already been impressed by the chip’s performance in the HTC One S.

Be sure to keep watching AC over the next week, as we rapidly approach the Galaxy S3’s London launch event.

More: Samsung Galaxy S3 forums

via: The Korea Times

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