New Galaxy S26 leak adds fuel to the Exynos vs Snapdragon debate

Samsung's expected Galaxy S26 series is going to be unveiled in a few months, and a new leak is reportedly disclosing the chip that the base Galaxy S26 Pro model may come with. It seems we're really looking at a regional split.

Evidence found that the Galaxy S26 Pro will use Exynos 2600 

The Galaxy S26 series may be a little bit different from what Samsung's done so far. Rumors claim that the 'vanilla' variant will be called the Galaxy S26 Pro, while there may be a Galaxy S26 Edge to accompany it. We still don't know if it will be there instead of a Plus model, or as an additional fourth model. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to be the baddest of the three, as usual. 


It seems, according to the hints found by SamMobile, that the Galaxy S26 Pro may come with the Exynos chip in most regions worldwide. The same phone may be powered by Qualcomm's chip (the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) in the U.S. and China. Quite similarly to previous years, where Samsung had split the two chips regionally. 

The Galaxy S26 Plus is also said to come with the same chip configuration. Now, we're not entirely sure that a Plus model is coming, but the publication claims that it is. 

The Exynos 2600 is reportedly going to be made on Samsung's 2nm process. The chip is said to feature a ten-core CPU, featuring ARM C1-series CPU cores. For graphics tasks, it will use the Xclipse 950 GPU. 
Reports indicate that Samsung may have actually managed to pull ahead with the Exynos in reference to the A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 series. The chip is also said to be faster than the Snapdragon 8 Elite. We still don't know whether the Exynos 2600 will be as fast as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, though. 

Regional split seems to really be happening

Samsung has done the regional split before for previous Galaxy S models. And Samsung fans haven't exactly liked that situation, because historically, Samsung's chips have performed worse in raw power and efficiency than Qualcomm's counterparts. 

With the regional split, some Galaxy S buyers are getting an Exynos-powered phone while those in the U.S., China, or Samsung's home market are getting the more powerful Qualcomm-powered option, but for the same money. And that ruffled some feathers, understandably. 

We don't know how well the Exynos 2600 will perform, though. Samsung may have managed to make it on par with the Snapdragon option. 

Galaxy S26 launch will be interesting 

Although the chip situation annoys me, I'm still pretty much excited about what's in store for us at the beginning of 2026 with the new Galaxies. Rumor has it that we may see a redesign; obviously, we may see the lineup change a bit, and all these things get me hyped. I was feeling like the smartphone market had become boring, and now, it seems it may have come to life once again. 

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