CES is over, we’ve all had a weekend to wind down and digest it all, and for mobile hardware junkies there is a lot to talk about. We saw what the big three mobile CPU builders will have to offer in 2013, and it’s impressive on every front.

We started with NVIDIA, who took everything good about their current model Tegra chips and made it all one better with the Tegra 4. A quad-core A15, 72-core GPU, and LTE soft modem right on the chip shows NVIDIA is as serious in the mobile-space as they are on the desktop. 

Not to be outdone (and they certainly weren’t) Qualcomm announced a pair of “superchips” that should make our phones scream on benchmarks, as well as handle the newest tech like 802.11ac.

Finally, Samsung wrapped thing up with the 8-core Exynos 5 Octa. Using what’s called big.LITTLE processing, Samsung thinks they can manage the blazing speed from the quad-core A15 side by using the battery-friendly quad-core A7 side for those times when you don’t have the need for speed, much like NVIDIA’s Tegra “4+1″ design. It will be a tricky balance, and we’re excited to see how well Samsung can pull it off.

Even if you’re not a big processor nerd, this kind of advancement is important. The hardware is what will decide how much developers can throw in the software, and we can expect better applications to run on our phones and tablets. If you are a big processor nerd, you’re loving this. Which will impress you the most — NVIDIA’s addition of LTE to their domination of mobile gaming, Qualcomm’s screaming speeds and support for new tech, or Samsung’s foray into the battery saving world of big.LITTLE processing?

We want to hear from everyone. Which vendor showed the most, and more importantly, showed what you’re looking for in your next phone or tablet on the hardware side. Answer the poll in the sidebar to the right or after the break and let us know what you think.

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