New rumor claims Samsung's 2nm GAA process is inferior to TSMC's 2nm N2P node

Exynos 2700 May Lean on Advanced Cooling to Challenge TSMC’s Reportedly Superior 2nm Edge

Samsung Exynos 2700 Could Bring New Cooling Tech as 2nm Chip Race Heats Up

Samsung’s next-generation Exynos 2700 is shaping up to be one of the company’s most important mobile processors in years. The chip is expected to be built around Samsung’s advanced 2nm GAA manufacturing process, but new industry chatter suggests the company may still have work to do before it can fully match TSMC’s competing 2nm N2P technology.

According to a rumor from Weibo tipster Smart Chip Insider, Samsung’s 2nm GAA node may trail TSMC’s N2P process in key PPA metrics, which refer to power, performance, and area. These three factors are critical in modern chip design because they determine how fast a processor can run, how efficiently it uses energy, and how compact the final chip can be.

If the rumor is accurate, Samsung may be turning to advanced cooling and packaging technologies to help close the gap. The Exynos 2700 is expected to benefit from new thermal solutions designed to improve sustained performance, reduce heat buildup, and allow the chip to maintain higher speeds for longer periods.

One of Samsung’s recent cooling innovations is called Heat Pass Block, or HPB. This technology reportedly appeared in the Exynos 2600 and was designed to move heat away from the processor more effectively. Early claims suggest the Exynos 2600 showed impressive thermal behavior, even being compared favorably against a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 setup cooled with liquid nitrogen in certain tests.

For the Exynos 2700, Samsung is rumored to introduce another solution known as Side-By-Side, or SBS architecture. This approach is said to further improve heat dissipation inside the chip package, helping the processor control temperatures during heavy workloads such as gaming, AI processing, multitasking, and high-resolution video capture.

The focus on cooling makes sense. Modern flagship smartphone chips are becoming increasingly powerful, but that performance comes with higher heat output. If a chip gets too hot, it has to reduce its speed to protect itself, a process known as thermal throttling. Better cooling allows a processor to sustain peak or near-peak performance for longer, which can make a major difference in real-world usage.

Samsung appears to be preparing the Exynos 2700 for direct competition with future high-end mobile platforms, including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600. Both are expected to target premium Android phones, making the next chip generation especially competitive.

However, the rumor also suggests that Samsung’s new cooling methods may not be enough on their own to guarantee a win over its rivals. If the 2nm GAA process is less efficient than TSMC’s alternative, Samsung may need to rely on a combination of architecture improvements, thermal design, power management, and chip packaging to stay competitive.

The Exynos 2600 already shows that Samsung has made meaningful progress. After several years of criticism around Exynos performance and efficiency, the company appears to be taking a more aggressive approach with its latest designs. The move to GAA technology is a major step, and the addition of advanced cooling systems could help Samsung deliver stronger sustained performance in future Galaxy devices.

Still, power consumption remains an important concern. Reports have claimed that the Exynos 2600 can reach up to around 30W under heavy load, which is a very high figure for a smartphone chip. That level of power draw is closer to what some laptop processors consume, despite phones having far smaller bodies and much less space for cooling.

If the Exynos 2700 operates in a similar power range, Samsung’s HPB and SBS cooling technologies could become essential rather than optional. Without strong thermal management, even a very powerful chip could struggle to maintain performance inside a slim flagship smartphone.

There is also a broader strategic reason behind Samsung’s push. The company is not only competing in the smartphone market but also trying to strengthen its semiconductor manufacturing business. A successful 2nm Exynos chip would be a major showcase for Samsung Foundry and could help rebuild confidence in its advanced chipmaking roadmap.

For now, the Exynos 2700 remains surrounded by rumors, and its final performance will depend on many factors, including CPU and GPU architecture, manufacturing yields, software tuning, and device-level cooling. But the direction is clear: Samsung wants its future Exynos chips to compete more aggressively at the top end of the mobile processor market.

If Samsung can combine its 2nm GAA process with effective heat dissipation, improved efficiency, and stronger sustained performance, the Exynos 2700 could become a major comeback moment for the brand’s in-house silicon. The real test will come when the chip appears in commercial devices and faces next-generation Snapdragon and Dimensity processors in real-world conditions.