Samsung Galaxy S22 could be a gaming powerhouse — here's why

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AMD boss teases PS5 and Xbox Series X chips coming to Samsung smartphones

Galaxy S21 Plus
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Samsung Galaxy S22 could get high-end gaming features found on the PS5 and Xbox Series X thanks to its partnership with AMD.

Speaking at Computex 2021, AMD CEO Lisa Su delved into the plans for the company's RDNA2 architecture — as seen in the two next-gen consoles — and revealed that the tech would also be coming to Samsung's Exynos chipset. That could bring features such as ray tracing to the Galaxy S22, which should help it carve out a place amongst the upper echelons of the best gaming phones.

In the keynote speech, Su revealed that features such as "ray tracing and variable rate shading capabilities" would be coming to "high performance mobile devices"; the Galaxy S22 would clearly qualify as one of those, as will the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Note 21, if the latter device actually ever appears. 

Samsung smartphones are typically powered by either the firm's proprietary Exynos chipset or Qualcomm's Snapdragon SoC, depending on the region the hardware is launching in. While we we don't yet know whether Samsung will switch to using only Exynos for the Galaxy S22, the extra grunt it could offer might well make it a tempting move.

Samsung has had its eyes on the mobile gaming market for a while, partnering with Microsoft to bring Game Pass to last year's Galaxy S20 series. Plus, with the PS5 and Xbox Series X still in short supply, unlocking next-gen gaming features on a future smartphone kitted out with Game Pass would make a lot of sense. 

Samsung will hopefully touch on the finer details at its next Unpacked event: the tech giant should have a summer event pencilled in to reveal its upcoming foldables: the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. 

Meanwhile, Su also announced that the RDNA2 tech will be rolling out in the Tesla Model X and Model S, giving the electric cars some seriously impressive gaming chops of their own. 

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Shabana Arif
Shabana Arif

Shabana is T3's News Editor covering tech and gaming, and has been writing about video games for almost a decade (and playing them since forever). As well as contributing to Tom's Guide, she's had bylines at major gaming sites during her freelance career before settling down at T3, and has podcasts, streaming, and video content under her belt to boot. Outside of work, she also plays video games and should really think about expanding her hobbies.