Samsung unveils the Exynos 7 Series 9610 chip: Neural image processing, rad slow-mo, coming H2 2018

Samsung just announced the Exynos 7 Series 9610, a new high-profile member of its mid-range chipset lineup which puts the emphasis on AI-assisted photography prowess and promises exceptional image quality.

“The Exynos 7 Series 9610 is our latest mobile processor that delivers on added power and speed,” said Ben Hur, vice president of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics. “But more importantly, it sets a new performance standard for high-end devices with its deep learning vision-image processing solution and slow motion video capabilities that change the way we engage with our mobile devices.”

Now, Samsung boasts that the chip comes with advanced face detection functionality which would recognize a face even if its skewed to the side or partially obscured behind another object. It also comes along with clever software trickeries and smart depth-sensing capabilities which will allow even single-camera devices to make stunning portraits with exaggerated out-of focus bokeh effect, similar to what Google's Pixels device are capable of. The chipset also promises great low-light imaging performance by enhancing brightness and merging multiple frames into one so as to minimize digital noise. Although all of these will be available on single-lens devices, the Exynos 7 9610 will also support various multi-camera setups, as is trendy these days. The chipset supports up to 24MP singular camera units or up to 16MP+16MP dual ones.

Samsung's new chipset also features a neural processing unit working in concert with the image processor which will "offer AI related features for enhanced photography and filming", quite possibly similar to the various gimmicky AR effects the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are bundled with.

Finally, the chipset will handle 480fps slow-motion video recording at Full HD 1080p, which is a much more practical take on this trendy slow-mo jig. Aside from that, the chip is perfectly capable of encoding and decoding 4K video at up to 120fps in HEVC (H.265). Great!

Now, on the more essential specs of the chipset: the Exynos 7 9610 is an octa-core mobile processor built on a 2nd-gen. 10nm FinFET process comprising a 2.3GHz quad cluster of Cortex-A73 cores and another quad cluster of Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.6GHz. The graphics unit inside is a Mali-G72 MP3. The new Exynos supports LTE data throughput speeds of up to 600Mbps on the downstream and a Cat.13 up to 150Mbps on the upstream.

Samsung says that the Exynos 7 Series 9610 will be is expected to be mass produced in the second half of this year