Samsung unveils Exynos 9 Series 9810 processor, likely to be used in upcoming Galaxy S9, and teases iPhone X-like features including face detection using AI
Starting off the new year by introducing its latest custom smartphone processor, Samsung has revealed some of what we might expect from its next Galaxy S flagship.
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung's flagship-chip cadence is now an annual reveal: after the 10nm Exynos 8895 arrived ahead of the Galaxy S8 cycle with dual-camera support and a 1 Gbps LTE modem, the 9810 opens 2018 as the presumed heart of the Galaxy S9. The notable shift is what Samsung is advertising — less raw spec, more AI-based face detection that explicitly echoes the iPhone X.
The tease matters because it signals where Samsung thinks differentiation lives. Within two years the roadmap confirms it: the Exynos 9820 adds a dedicated NPU for on-device AI, the 9825 moves to 7nm, and the Exynos 990 doubles down with 2x faster AI-specific performance plus a 5G modem.
First-order effects
- Samsung's next Galaxy S9 ships with in-house silicon whose headline feature is AI-driven face detection, putting a direct answer to the iPhone X's biometric pitch inside Samsung's own flagship.
Second-order effects
- Apple's Face ID debut effectively sets the feature template for Android flagships, forcing Samsung to match biometric capability at the silicon level rather than treat the camera stack as sufficient.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, on-device AI stops being a marketing line and becomes a fixed silicon requirement — which is exactly what the follow-on Exynos generations show, with dedicated NPUs and AI-throughput claims becoming the standard yardstick for each new flagship chip.
The trend: Flagship smartphone SoCs are shifting from CPU and modem spec races toward dedicated on-device AI acceleration, with each Exynos generation institutionalizing neural hardware as a baseline requirement.