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Bottom Line Up Front: The Exynos 7885 is a capable 14nm octa-core (2x A73 + 6x A53) SoC, but its driver ecosystem is a classic Samsung mix: stable proprietary blobs for One UI, but a significant headache for Linux mainline, post-market OSes, or custom gaming tweaks.
If you plan to install LineageOS, crDroid, or Evolution X on your Exynos 7885 device, you will need custom drivers (often called "HALs" or "vendor blobs") to make Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and RIL (Radio Interface Layer) work.
There is a growing movement to mainline Exynos 7885 drivers into the Linux kernel (not just Android). The Samsung Exynos7885 Mainline Project on GitHub aims to write open-source drivers for:
Success would allow the Exynos 7885 to boot postmarketOS, Ubuntu Touch, or even a minimal Debian desktop. As of 2025, basic serial output and framebuffer console are working, but GPU acceleration remains a work in progress. exynos 7885 driver
If you are a developer, contributing to linux-samsung mailing lists is the best way to get your Exynos 7885 device a decade of driver support beyond Samsung’s EOL.
Outdated audio or modem drivers can cause kernel panics (random reboots) or excessive battery drain in standby mode. A fresh driver set can patch these bugs.
Before we talk about drivers, we must understand the silicon. The Samsung Exynos 7885 is a 14nm FinFET octa-core processor released in 2018. It features two ARM Cortex-A73 cores (clocked at 2.2 GHz) for performance and six Cortex-A53 cores (1.6 GHz) for efficiency. It is paired with a Mali-G71 MP2 GPU. Bottom Line Up Front: The Exynos 7885 is
The Exynos 7885 driver refers to the low-level software that allows your operating system (Android, or in rare cases, Linux) to communicate with the hardware components of this chipset. This includes:
Without the correct driver, your device may suffer from app crashes, screen flickering, overheating, or complete failure to boot.
For advanced users involved in the custom ROM scene (e.g., installing LineageOS or Pixel Experience on an A8 2018), "drivers" take on a different meaning. There is a growing movement to mainline Exynos
In this context, developers refer to Vendor Blobs.
The Exynos 7885 packs a Mali-G71 MP2 GPU. The last official driver update from ARM for this GPU was based on OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan 1.1. On stock Samsung firmware (Android 10 or 11), you are stuck with buggy, unoptimized drivers.
Symptoms of outdated drivers: