An overclocked Snapdragon chip helps the Galaxy S26 Ultra beat the iPhone 17 Max in a benchmark

Samsung will once again resort to a mix of its own chips and the top-tier Qualcomm processors for the Galaxy S26 lineup. Some models in some markets will feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, while others will feature the Exynos 2600. We’ve already seen benchmark results showing what the 2 nm Samsung chip is capable of, and now is the time to see how the leading Snapdragon is performing in the same tests.

Galaxy S26 Ultra with an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset shows up on Geekbench

New benchmark results for a Galaxy S26 Ultra equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset appeared on the Geekbench database, revealing a few intriguing details. The listing reveals that Samsung is once again getting an overclocked version of the leading Snapdragon for its Ultra flagship. The test was run on a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 running at up to 4.74 GHz, which is about 3% faster than the usual 4.60 GHz maximum frequency of the chip. 

The Geekbench test results are the following:

• Single-core performance score: 3,601
• Multi-core performance score: 10,686

These results are achieved with 12 GB of VRAM on board, and the tests were run at a base clock of 3.63 GHz and a maximum of 4.74 GHz on two of the cores. The tests all but confirm that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will have a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor in some markets.

Surprising results

Despite being overclocked, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 inside the Galaxy S26 Ultra shows a performance that doesn’t look very impressive when compared with the competition. The chip outperforms the previously leaked benchmark with the Exynos 2600 chipset in the single-core test by almost 8%, but falls behind in the multi-core test by over 6%. The Exynos 2600 achieved 3,336 points in the single-core and a whopping 11,369 points in the multi-core test.

Compared to the A19 Pro inside the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S26 Ultra is also a mixed bag. The best of the iPhone 17 lineup scored 3,775 and 9,749 points in the single- and multi-core tests, respectively. That’s about 5% faster in the single-core and a whopping 9% slower in the multi-core benchmarks.



Considering we’re yet to see any of the Galaxy S26 models, those tests should be taken with a grain of salt. The final version of the devices and the software they run on could lead to different results. However, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 numbers track with the chip’s performance in other devices, despite the higher clock speeds. We’ll likely know much more after the Galaxy Unpacked event, which is rumored to happen on February 25.

Is this Samsung winning?

For years, Samsung fans were usually disappointed when they ended up with an Exynos chipset inside their favorite Galaxy S device, and for good reasons. Qualcomm’s leading chips usually performed better than the in-house processors of the Korean company. While the difference was typically marginal, it was precisely the most passionate Samsung fans that were seeing them and getting disappointed.

If those leaks turn out to be true, and the Exynos 2600 performs like that, Samsung may have an unexpected win. I still don’t expect fans to go out of their way to get what could end up being the slightly faster version of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but that would build trust in Samsung’s chips. That could be important not just for the company but for Galaxy fans as well.

If the company starts relying more on its own chips in the future, it may have better control over the pricing of its devices. With rumors about the Galaxy S26 prices skyrocketing, I’m down for any move that would make flagship phones even a bit more affordable.

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