The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra might use an Exynos chipset, and surprisingly that could be a good thing

• The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could use an Exynos 2600 chipset in at least some regions
• This would be the first time since the S22 Ultra that a Snapdragon chipset wasn't used
• But reports suggest the Exynos 2600 could actually be even better than the latest Snapdragon and Apple chipsets

Most years, Samsung will use a mix of chipsets in its Galaxy S-series handsets, with you getting either an in-house Exynos chipset or a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip depending on the phone you choose and where in the world you are. But in recent years, the Ultra models have always used Snapdragon. That might not be the case with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra though.

This is according to a report on Yonhap News (via @Jukanlosreve), which states it’s “likely” the Exynos 2600 will be used in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. That said, they don’t specify whether it would be used globally or just in some regions, and if we had to guess we’d speculate that the US will still get a Snapdragon chipset (specifically the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5), since the US usually gets Snapdragon models of Galaxy S phones.

But if any version of the Galaxy S26 Ultra gets an Exynos chipset, that will be the first time this has happened since the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra in 2022.

Promising performance

If you’re aware of past Exynos chipsets this reported move might sound concerning, as while the Exynos 2600 is the top model in the Exynos chipset line, that line has had a slightly troubled history, with its performance usually not matching Qualcomm’s top Snapdragon chipsets.

However, that might all change with the Exynos 2600, as the same report states that has 30% higher NPU performance and up to 29% higher GPU performance than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

The former figure should help in particular with AI, and the latter with gaming and video editing, among other things.

On top of which, the Exynos 2600 also apparently has 6x better NPU performance than the A19 Pro chipset used by the iPhone 17 Pro Max, plus 15% higher multi-core CPU performance and up to 75% higher GPU performance.

Those are some remarkable figures, and while we remain a bit skeptical that it will truly prove that good, if it does, then it might for the first time be buyers of the Snapdragon model that feel they’re being short-changed.

We’ll probably find out exactly how good each configuration of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is in early 2026, as it will likely launch by March at the latest.

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