The Galaxy S27 Pro gets a red card – not even Trump can overturn it

The FIFA World Cup 2026 is in its zenith: the stadiums are packed, goals fly in all directions and Trump once again managed to enrage hundreds of millions by intervening and essentially calling off a red card that was given to a player on the US national team.

Those who prefer to watch the NFL or the NBA should know that a red card is a serious punishment. The player who receives a red card is sent off immediately, and their team must play with one fewer player for the rest of the match. In most cases, the player is also suspended for at least the next match. Trump reversed it and got people screaming at him (again).

I needed that sports introduction and red card explanation because I'm raising the red card high in the face of the upcoming (and alleged) Galaxy S27 Pro.

Not even the most powerful president of the most powerful country in the Solar System (20 bucks that Trump will put that in his bio if he stumbles upon this article) can make me call off this red card, though.

The latest bits of news

"If you're expecting the Galaxy S27 Pro to match the S27 Ultra's power, you might be disappointed" – this is the elegant title I stumbled upon yesterday and the one that got me to draw the red card in my hand.

In short, at the beginning of 2027, we're bound to welcome a total of four Galaxy S phones – three sequels and one newcomer:

• Galaxy S27 Ultra
• Galaxy S27 Pro
• Galaxy S27 Plus
• Galaxy S27

You can spot the new model right away, can't you? The Galaxy S27 Pro is once again in the cards, after the Galaxy S26 Pro didn't materialize at the start of 2026.

The Galaxy S27 Ultra, as usual, will be the cream of the crop. Just like the iPhone 17 is not on par with the maxed-out iPhone 17 Pro Max, the Galaxy S Ultra differs from the baseline Galaxy S model. Nothing wrong with that; a degree of separation never hurt anybody, as companies need to justify the higher prices they ask for flagshipper flagships.

So far, so good – but maybe having too many options to choose from isn't ideal, too. I'm not talking about the sheer number of phones that a given series contains, but their characteristics.

It gets tricky

Per the aforementioned information above, the Galaxy S27 Pro is set to come with either the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro for Galaxy chipset (an absurd moniker on its own, but that's another story) or Samsung's Exynos 2700 chipset.

The Snapdragon chip has become the gold standard for Android flagships. Over the last few generations, Qualcomm has consistently delivered the fastest all-around performance, the strongest graphics and perhaps most importantly, excellent efficiency. When people spend flagship money, they expect the Snapdragon version. It's a safe bet and we all love those, right?

Giving the Galaxy S27 Pro an Exynos chip immediately makes the phone feel like a (marketing) compromise.

New capabilities?

To be fair, the Exynos 2700 might finally change the narrative. Early rumors suggest Samsung has made significant progress in the areas where Exynos chips have traditionally struggled. Better heat management means the processor could sustain peak performance for longer without throttling, while improvements to CPU and GPU performance could finally put it much closer to Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon.

If those rumors prove accurate, great. Competition is healthy, and Qualcomm could certainly use someone breathing down its neck.

But Samsung itself has spent years convincing buyers that Snapdragon-powered Galaxy phones are the ones to get (their recent Ultra phones have packed it, and not Exynos).

A phone carrying the "Pro" badge shouldn't leave buyers wondering which processor they'll get. "Pro" implies the best experience Samsung can offer right up there with the Ultra. If the chipset depends on where you live, or if one version is seen as less desirable, the whole "Pro" moment starts to lose its momentum.

Should've, could've

The Galaxy S27 Pro should simply be a compact Galaxy S27 Ultra.

Not everyone wants to carry around a phone that's pushing seven inches tall. Some people want flagship cameras, flagship performance and flagship features in a device that's easier to use with one hand.

Compact flagships still have an audience. Imagine an S27 Pro with the exact same Snapdragon chip, the same memory options, the same AI features and the same cameras as the Ultra, just without the giant display. I'd argue that many people would choose that phone over the Ultra in a heartbeat.

Apple gets it right

The iPhone 17 Pro is essentially a smaller iPhone 17 Pro Max. Yes, the larger model usually gets a slightly bigger battery, but the overall experience is remarkably similar. Buyers don't feel like they're settling simply because they prefer a smaller phone.

Samsung could offer the same kind of choice. Instead of forcing buyers to choose between size and performance, it could let them pick the form factor they prefer without sacrificing the core flagship experience.

If Samsung wants the Galaxy S27 Pro to become more than just another name in an already crowded family, it needs to make it feel like a petite Ultra, not yet another vanilla Galaxy S27 spin. Until then, that red card stays firmly in the air.

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