SAMSUNG

HPB: Samsung technology could end overheating in cell phones

The battle for the world's fastest mobile processor has an invisible cost, but one that we all feel in the palm of our hand: heat. Recent generations of Snapdragon chips, despite being incredibly powerful, have struggled with physics, leading many top-of-the-line devices to overheat and lose performance (throttling) after a few minutes of intense gaming. Now, a new rumor suggests that Qualcomm has found a solution for its next generation, and the help comes from an unexpected place: its rival and partner, Samsung.

According to information shared by leaker Fixed-Focus Digital on the Weibo social network, Qualcomm is planning to integrate a technology called "Heat Pass Block" (HPB) into its high-end processors that will be released later this year, presumably the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.

HPB technology is not magic software; it is a physical hardware solution developed by Samsung's semiconductor division. In simple terms, this is an advanced heat sink, usually a copper or composite material cover, that is integrated directly into the chip's (SoC) structure.

This block acts as a fast track to remove heat from the processor cores and transfer it to the cell phone's cooling system (such as the vapor chamber). Samsung already uses this technology in its own Exynos 2600 processor, which will equip some models in the Galaxy S26 series, with the aim of ensuring thermal stability.

Noisy fans...The importance of this adoption by Qualcomm cannot be underestimated. Currently, to combat the extreme heat of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, manufacturers such as Red Magic or ASUS have resorted to active cooling solutions, i.e., mechanical fans.

Although the fans work, they bring serious compromises:

-Battery Consumption: Moving parts consume energy.

-Durability: Fans can break or accumulate dust.

-Water Resistance: It is very difficult (or impossible) to certify a phone with fans as IP68 (waterproof).

If HPB allows the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 to run "cool" with only passive cooling, this will allow manufacturers to create thinner, more watertight phones with better battery life, without sacrificing sustained performance.

This rumor comes just two months after reports indicated that Samsung was trying to sell its HPB technology to external clients. If Qualcomm took the bait, a curious dynamic is created: next year's best Android phones may owe their speed to Qualcomm, but their "coolness" to Samsung.

It remains to be seen if there is enough time to integrate this technology into the Gen 6 development cycle, but if this happens, the biggest winner will be the end user, who will no longer feel the phone overheating during a gaming session.

Samsung's Heat Path Block (HPB) is an advanced thermal...management technology introduced for mobile Application Processors (APs), starting with the Exynos 2600. It uses a copper-based block directly on the chipset, combined with Fan-out Wafer Level Packaging (FoWLP), to improve heat dissipation by up to 30%, reduce thermal throttling, and maintain higher, more stable performance. 

Key features and benefits(below)

Structure: HPB acts as a "thermal highway" placed directly above the processor die to rapidly transfer heat away from the core.

Design Change: Unlike traditional PoP (Package-on-Package) designs where DRAM is stacked directly on the AP (trapping heat), HPB allows for a design where the DRAM is placed to the side, allowing the heat sink to make direct contact with the chip.

Performance: It improves thermal resistance by 16% to 30%, enabling higher sustained clock speeds for gaming and intensive, high-load tasks.

Adoption: While debuting on the Exynos 2600, this technology is expected to be used by other Android chipmakers, including in future Qualcomm Snapdragon, for improved thermal efficiency. 

The technology specifically solves overheating issues common in high-performance, small-body devices.

by mundophone