Why it matters: Samsung is facing more criticism over the Exynos chip found in overseas models of the Galaxy 20 Ultra. Many owners of these devices have complained that the expensive handsets are displaying a slew of problems not found in the Snapdragon version.
Gizmodo reports that owners of Exynos-powered Galaxy S20 Ultras have experienced overheating, poor autofocus performance, limited battery life, and incompatibility issues that have stopped games such as Pokémon Go from working. Some users have also reported that the phones are showing a heavy green tint, though it only happens in 120Hz mode and when the battery is under 25 percent, so it may be a software issue.
South Korea is one of several countries that usually get the Exynos version of the Galaxy phones, but this year saw it receive the Snapdragon-powered S20 series. As Samsung designed and fabricated the Exynos 990, some claim this is evidence the company knew it was an inferior SoC and wanted the superior Snapdragon version in its home nation.
Last month, a petition was launched demanding Samsung stop selling Exynos phones. It claims that phones with Exynos chips "perform slower, have less battery life, use inferior camera sensors and processing, overheat and throttle faster, amongst other issues." It's quickly closing in on its 50,000-signature target, having almost reached 43,000 names.
The petition does have a point; several benchmarks have shown the Snapdragon 865 performing better than the Exynos 990 in almost every test. If Samsung's chip is causing technical problems in addition to being inferior to Qualcomm's product, convincing people to buy an Exynos-powered $1,400 S20 Ultra will be even harder.