Some Galaxy S26 models may get Exynos again: should we brace ourselves?

A new report from the Korean outlet The Bell indicates that Samsung's development of the Exynos 2600 chip is doing better than what the company achieved with the Exynos 2500. This could mean that next year's flagships, the Galaxy S26 series, may not be powered exclusively by Qualcomm's chip.


This year, the Galaxy S25 comes globally with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. This is likely due to the fact that Samsung had poor yield results with the Exynos 2500, which should have been powering some of the Galaxy S25 phones.

Yield, when it comes to processors, is the percentage of usable chips over the maximum number that could be manufactured from a silicon wafer. Normally, a foundry can mass produce a chip only if it achieves a yield of above 70% or even 80%. However, with the Exynos 2500, Samsung reported a yield of 20% in mid-2024, which practically made it impossible to equip the Galaxy S25 phones with that chip.

Now, it seems the story is different. The 2nm Exynos 2600 processor has reportedly achieved more than 30% yield in test production. Given that we're still at the beginning of the year, it seems Samsung is in a way better position with the Exynos 2600 than it was with the Exynos 2500.

Before the Galaxy S25, Samsung had the flagship models split regionally: models for the US, Canada, China, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan would be equipped with Qualcomm's chips, while models for the rest of the world would come with Exynos.

But this division has long had some people unhappy. Generally, Qualcomm's chips have historically performed better than Samsung's in-house chips. The performance gap isn't huge, but it's there - enough for many to question why Samsung would equip some flagship models with a weaker processor.

However, before you start bashing Samsung, there are also good things to come from a possible Exynos chipset in the Galaxy S26. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite saw a price increase this year but Samsung kept the prices of the S25 phones steady. Using an Exynos chip could help Samsung keep prices steady and avoid backlash from fans over potential price hikes.

It's still quite early to know how the upcoming Exynos 2600 may perform compared to the yet-unannounced Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. Hopefully, the difference won't be dramatic.