Tegra 3+, Snapdragon S4 Pro, Exynos 4412...what do they have in common? Android, that’s what! All 3 of these very powerful quad core chipsets are currently being used in Android devices, and with the debut of Exynos 5250 in the Nexus 10, along with Tegra 4 on the horizon, it’s pretty easy to see how hard OEMs are going when it comes to processors in Android devices. But Samsung wants to step it up a notch more, as it’s now being rumored that the Galaxy S4 will feature an all new quad core Cortex A15 architecture that surely has Qualcomm and Nvidia shaking in their boots.

I was pretty confident that Samsung would opt to use their new Exynos 5250 chip in the Galaxy S4 next year, but according to rumors, not even that beastly chip is good enough for Samsungs next Galaxy flagship (maybe it's better  optimized for high res tablets?). It’s now being reported that Samsung will feature a new Exynos 5450 chip, which is also a Cortex A15 chip (as is the Exynos 5250). The difference here being that the new 5450 will be a QUAD core 2Ghz Cortex A15 chip vs the dual core version used in the current 5250. The new chip will reportedly take advantage of a bigger and badder Mali-658 GPU as well. Beastly? I think yes. Wipe the floor with any current (or even upcoming) CPU’s? I’m willing to bet money on it.

But, a problem presents itself: the power needed to run this processor will be just as beastly as the chip itself. 5450 will be made on a 28mn process (vs the 32nm process used in the Exynos 5250). Samsung could naturally clock the CPU down a bit on their new chip, but even then controlling the battery drain could still be an issue.

That being said, battery life on the GS3 and Note 2, which both use the Exynos 4412 is very good in my opinion, and if Sammy manages to get the same great battery life for the Exynos 5250, I’m sure they will figure out a way to do the same with the 5450.

None of this is confirmed, and it could be that finding a way to control the power drain needed to control this monster won’t be ready in time for the Galaxy S4. But rest assured that if there’s realistically a way to use that chip in the Galaxy S4, that Samsung will most likely do their very best to make it happen.

Picture credits: GSM Arena