Battery life might take a hit on some Galaxy S26 models
The Exynos 2600's design is raising concerns about efficiency.
Samsung's newly unveiled Exynos 2600 chip, which is expected to fuel South Korean, Asian, and European models of the Galaxy S26, doesn't have a built-in modem. A standalone modem may make the phones less power-efficient.
After persistent criticism of the Galaxy S24's Exynos 2400, Samsung equipped all Galaxy S25 models with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. The company returned to the drawing board for the 2nm Exynos 2600 chip, which features ARM’s latest cores and the Heat Path Block (HPB) technology. While the company says the chip is 39 percent more powerful and significantly more power-efficient, it has yet to reveal specific efficiency gains over its predecessor.
Reports from The Elec and leaker Erencan Yılmaz suggest the Exynos 2600 features an external Shannon 5410 modem. This is a departure from the Exynos 2400 and Exynos 2500, which both featured integrated modems.
Combining multiple components such as the CPU, GPU, NPU, and modem onto a single piece of silicon facilitates communication over short internal connections, reducing power consumption and heat generation. Fewer individually packaged chips also help save on space.
It's believed that Samsung went for the modular design because the Exynos 2600 incorporates a lot of components, and the modem was removed to free up space.
As a result, the chip will theoretically offer lower performance per watt, likely impacting the Galaxy S26's battery life. This might be why Samsung didn't talk about specific efficiency gains. Samsung's 2nm process improves power efficiency by 8 percent compared to the 3nm tech.
The Exynos 2600's HPB tech uses High-k EMC material to channel internal heat outward more quickly and keep the internal temperature stable. This could help with the throttling issues that plagued the Exynos 2400. However, considering that the Exynos 2600's design could reduce energy efficiency, we wonder if any gains from HPB will be cancelled out.
Even if the Exynos 2600's low-power design keeps temperature in check, the external modem could still cause the Galaxy S26 to use more power and drain the battery more quickly.
That raises concerns, because only the standard model is expected to have a bigger battery.
Samsung's Exynos chips have a reputation for being inferior to Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips due to overheating issues.
With the Exynos 2600 being the world's first 2nm smartphone chip and the innovative HPB tech, it looked like Samsung had finally made a chip that was on par with Snapdragon chips. However, given the new development, we wonder whether anything has changed. That said, Apple's iPhones also feature external modems and still have excellent battery life, so the Exynos 2600's design doesn't necessarily doom efficiency.
An inefficient design?
After persistent criticism of the Galaxy S24's Exynos 2400, Samsung equipped all Galaxy S25 models with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. The company returned to the drawing board for the 2nm Exynos 2600 chip, which features ARM’s latest cores and the Heat Path Block (HPB) technology. While the company says the chip is 39 percent more powerful and significantly more power-efficient, it has yet to reveal specific efficiency gains over its predecessor.
Combining multiple components such as the CPU, GPU, NPU, and modem onto a single piece of silicon facilitates communication over short internal connections, reducing power consumption and heat generation. Fewer individually packaged chips also help save on space.
Conversely, splitting functions into separate chips reduces efficiency because data has to travel between components.
It's believed that Samsung went for the modular design because the Exynos 2600 incorporates a lot of components, and the modem was removed to free up space.
As a result, the chip will theoretically offer lower performance per watt, likely impacting the Galaxy S26's battery life. This might be why Samsung didn't talk about specific efficiency gains. Samsung's 2nm process improves power efficiency by 8 percent compared to the 3nm tech.
It is true that the modem is missing from the Exynos 2600.
Samsung spokesperson, December 2025
One step forward, one step back
The Exynos 2600's HPB tech uses High-k EMC material to channel internal heat outward more quickly and keep the internal temperature stable. This could help with the throttling issues that plagued the Exynos 2400. However, considering that the Exynos 2600's design could reduce energy efficiency, we wonder if any gains from HPB will be cancelled out.
Even if the Exynos 2600's low-power design keeps temperature in check, the external modem could still cause the Galaxy S26 to use more power and drain the battery more quickly.
That raises concerns, because only the standard model is expected to have a bigger battery.
Did Samsung miss the mark again?
Samsung's Exynos chips have a reputation for being inferior to Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips due to overheating issues.
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