Samsung Galaxy S26 could return to Exynos over Snapdragon — here's what we know

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

For years, buyers of Samsung’s flagship phones have been subject to a geographical lottery. While the handsets outwardly look the same, the chipset powering them usually depends on the region of purchase, with the USA getting Qualcomm chips, and the rest of the world seeing models with Samsung’s own Exynos processors.

Next year’s Samsung Galaxy S25 family will reportedly be an exception, with all three models getting the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, no matter where you buy. That’s good news for tech fans, generally — not just because you can be sure that any reviews you read will match the performance of the model you buy, but because historically Qualcomm chips have outperformed their Exynos equivalents.

But apparently this isn’t a change that’s going to last. On X, the leaker @Jukanlosreve has claimed that Samsung is planning to “‘significantly’ equip the Galaxy S26 with Exynos chips next year.” Of course, the leaker actually means the year after next, given we haven’t even seen the Galaxy S25 yet, but you get the point.

Disappointing, but not the end of the world

Samsung Exynos chip — (Image credit: Samsung)

Of course Samsung would prefer to use its own chips where possible: it keeps costs down, especially given the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite is reckoned to be 25-30% more expensive than its predecessor. The weak state of the Korean Won doesn’t help matters, either.

Nonetheless, tech enthusiasts may be disappointed. Historically, the Qualcomm versions of Galaxy phones have outperformed their Exynos equivalents, so it’s a shame that we may be going back to the un-level playing field as soon as 2026.

But there are two things to bear in mind. Firstly, while we’ve heard big claims before about Exynos hardware potentially bettering Qualcomm only to be wildly disappointed, it’s always possible that 2026 is the year when this will actually happen. Considering past form, it doesn’t seem likely, but hey: you never know.

But, secondly, it likely won’t make that much difference. While benchmarks make for excellent bragging rights, the actual real-world difference between flagship phone performance remains largely invisible for most users.

Unless you’re pushing the phone’s GPU with extremely intensive games, most people will likely find the experience of using an Exynos-flavored Samsung Galaxy S26 indistinguishable from a Qualcomm-packed one.

We’re still a long way from the launch of the Galaxy S26, of course, given Samsung needs to get the Galaxy S25 out the door first! We’re expecting it to launch in late January, featuring rounded corners, a larger display on the S25 and a rounded back panel on the S25 Ultra. Said deluxe model may also come with 50MP sensors on both the ultrawide and secondary telephoto lenses — a big upgrade on the 12MP and 10MP lenses on the S24 Ultra.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.