For years, Samsung has employed a somewhat confusing chipset split when it comes to the flagship Galaxy S collection – outside of the US, anyway.
While US customers get the same Snapdragon chipset across the range, those in the UK, Europe, and other regions get a Samsung Exynos chipset in the regular models. In contrast, the Ultra model gets the more popular Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset.
Despite Samsung’s efforts to keep pace with the Snapdragon competition, it doesn’t quite hit the mark. I found that out firsthand when testing both the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S24 and the Exynos-based Galaxy S24, with the former outpacing the latter in benchmark tests – particularly in the GPU department.
“The gap in performance is best showcased by the chipsets’ GPUs. Running GFXBench Aztec Ruins on high settings to simulate high-level 3D gaming at 1080p, the Exynos S24 managed a respectable 85fps, but the Snapdragon’s 111fps dwarfed it.” I noted at the time.
Essentially, it was frustrating for users around the world as it felt like they were being shortchanged while still paying the same price as those in the US.
Thankfully, Samsung changed tack in 2025 with the Galaxy S25 collection. The entire collection sports the top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy in all regions worldwide, ensuring parity in performance regardless of where you buy and use your device.
It was one of the highlights when we reviewed the regular Samsung Galaxy S25 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, with benchmarks not too dissimilar to the top-end Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Finally, I thought, Samsung has got its act together and given consumers what they really want.
I also thought it signified a change in direction for Samsung going forward, with the Galaxy S26 collection all sporting whatever Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon chipset will be called in 2026. The 8 Elite Gen 2? 8 Gen 4? Something else entirely? Qualcomm has definitely shot itself in the foot with the odd 8 Elite branding, but that’s a different article altogether.
However, my hopes and dreams were shattered over the weekend when I saw a leaker claim that the S26 will, in fact, use an Exynos-based chipset in some regions.
Leaker @JukanIosreve has a solid track record, especially when it comes to Samsung-related leaks, so this claim has more weight than others I’ve seen recently.
In a tweet, the leaker claims that the Exynos 2600 chipset is “definitely back” and will be used in the S26. The leaker doesn’t specify which models of S26 will get the chipset, and which regions will get it in place of the Snapdragon equivalent, but they claim that “chip volume is so limited that it’ll likely be similar to the Exynos 990 situation”.
The Exynos 990 chipset was the chipset of choice for the regular Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus in all regions except the USA back in 2020, so it looks like we could be seeing something similar with the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus in 2026. I hope not, but much to my chagrin, it’s looking increasingly likely.
Why Samsung, why?
