Exynos 2800 May Ditch Ray Tracing for Something Better

Samsung’s future in-house mobile chips appear to be preparing for a big leap in graphics. A fresh leak suggests the upcoming Exynos 2800 may ditch ray tracing in favor of path tracing. This move could allow the Korean firm to push Android gaming experiences to the next level with more realistic lighting.

Exynos 2800 could redefine the Android gaming experience with path tracing support

Samsung is reportedly gearing up to introduce its next-generation Exynos 2700 chip later this year or early next year. The chip could power some models of the Galaxy S27 series, depending on the region. However, early details about the Exynos 2800, expected to power the Galaxy S28 lineup in 2028, are already starting to surface on the web.

According to the leak, the Exynos 2800 could feature hardware support for path tracing on mobile devices. In 2022, Samsung first introduced hardware-accelerated ray tracing to smartphones with the Exynos 2200. The next-generation chips, including the Exynos 2400, 2500, and 2600, continued to support the technology. The upcoming Exynos 2700 may also retain it. However, things could be different with the Exynos 2800.

Path tracing is a more advanced version of ray tracing. While ray tracing improves lighting and reflections using shortcuts to reduce workload and improve performance, path tracing simulates realistic light interaction. It traces multiple bounced rays throughout a scene. This creates more natural shadow and lighting effects.

If Samsung successfully brings the feature to Exynos 2800, it will be a big leap for Android gaming graphics. Meanwhile, reports also suggest the company plans to develop its own GPU architecture for the chip, rather than relying on AMD’s RDNA-based graphics technology. This could give it solid control over graphics performance and software optimization in its devices.

All things considered, the Exynos 2800 could be the company’s most ambitious mobile chip yet. We’ll let you know if more details come to light in the coming months.