Quad-core or Octa-core? It doesn’t matter: Samsung Mobile Chief

Co-CEO of Samsung Electronics, and Head of Samsung Mobile – J K Shin is telling customers it doesn’t matter which variant of the Galaxy S4 – the quad-core or the octa-core model, they buy. According to him, we’ll never, or at least, most of us will never notice the difference in performance.

Samsung’s latest flagship, the Galaxy S4, releases this week worldwide. It will release in 2 different versions – one powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, while the other will run on an in-house Samsung Exynos 5 processor – with 8 cores.

Different markets and regions are set to get different variants – but the reason this is being so widely discussed is because major markets like USA and Europe will receive the inferior quad-core model, while other markets get the octa-core version.

Although JK Shin claims there will be no noticeable performance difference for most users, benchmark test scores show the octa-core model way ahead of its quad-core counterpart. AnTuTu benchmark tests by SamMobile had the Exynos version registering a score of 28018 while the quad-core version only managed 23607. With most devices in the world scoring below 20,000, both devices are well ahead of competition  But the Exynos version is certainly a beast – a beast that the US and Europe will not receive.

Initially we had reports that the octa-core Exynos version of the Galaxy S4 would not support 4G LTE, and thus the US and European markets were offered the quad-core, to allow customers access to the faster internet. However, Samsung confirmed via its Twitter feed last month that the octa-core does indeed offer support for 4G LTE.

Why would the Exynos version not make it to Samsung’s biggest markets then? Samsung blames it on the high demand for the phone. Because everyone wants the Galaxy S4, Samsung has split the supply for the device between itself and Qualcomm to meet the high demand. J K Shin simply blames it on this sourcing issue.

Even then, it’s not helping. Samsung is still running behind schedule to deliver the Galaxy S4, despite two suppliers.

Due to overwhelming global demand of Galaxy S4, the initial supply may be limited. We expect to fulfill inventory to meet demands in the coming weeks. – Samsung

Is the quad-vs-octa core debate really worth the fuss? Are 8 cores really that important? Or is an AnTuTu score of 23000+ on the quad-core S4 more than enough for you?