Samsung's next ultra-premium flagship, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, is likely going to come out at the beginning of next year. However, we're already hearing about some of its specs, and one potential change is being rumored: this year, the Galaxy S26 Ultra may come with an Exynos chip instead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5.
Now, we asked you whether you preferred a Galaxy S26 Ultra with a Snapdragon chip or an Exynos one. And some of the results are... well, interesting.
Our poll indicates more than 40% of you are willing to give Exynos a chance with the Galaxy S26 Ultra
There's a heavy stigma going around Exynos chips and Galaxy S devices. Exynos processors are made by Samsung, while Snapdragon chips are made by Qualcomm. Historically, Exynos chips have performed worse in Galaxy S devices in comparison to their Snapdragon counterparts, both in efficiency and power.
Of course, early leaked benchmarks suggest the Exynos 2600, which is the chip that could potentially power the Galaxy S26 Ultra, may have ironed out some of its deficiencies in comparison to Snapdragon. So, we asked you guys, our PhoneArena readers, what you thought about it all.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 or Exynos 2600 for your Galaxy S26 Ultra?
Only Snapdragon for me, thank you very much.
49.5%
I'm willing to give Exynos a try, but only after reviews.
41.42%
I don't care, Exynos 2600 will do the trick.
9.08%
At the time of writing, the majority of you (49.29%) prefer to hear nothing about the Exynos and have the Galaxy S26 Ultra rock the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chip, which is the successor of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. And that's understandable given Exynos' bad rep.
But then again, here comes the twist: 41.72% of you are actually willing to give the Exynos 2600 a chance. So, there's a big portion of you guys who are relatively open-minded when it comes to Samsung's first-party processor. Samsung will be delighted to hear that.
Image Credit - PhoneArena
And only 9% of you have stated that you don't really care about the processor in the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
At the time of writing, 1189 people have participated in our poll about the processors.
Exynos vs Snapdragon: the Galaxy S situation
Many of you who are hardcore Sammy fans are well aware where this Exynos-Snapdragon situation stems from. Samsung has the tradition of offering Exynos-powered Galaxy S models to most markets in the world, while Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S models were sold in its home country, the U.S., and a couple of other markets.
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Of course, the pricing is the same everywhere, but historically, the Exynos chips have performed worse. This disparity became a huge deal with the Galaxy S20 series, where the Exynos chip performed noticeably worse in thermal management and raw power, especially in tests, when compared to the Snapdragon version.
It's important to note that the differences between the two versions are hardly noticeable in real life. But hey, if the price is the same, one would expect the same exact performance in all regions in the world, right?
The split between Exynos and Snapdragon continued until the Galaxy S23 series, which all came with Snapdragon chips, to the joy of Sammy fans worldwide. Then, the S24 came with a split again, and then the S25 series was available with the Snapdragon chip worldwide.
Exynos 2600 may have a chance
The Exynos 2600, according to rumors, may tell a different story from its predecessors, though. Reportedly, the chip will be manufactured using Samsung's 2nm process, which puts it a generation ahead of today's 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite. Technically, this should mean greater efficiency and more power.
Leaked benchmarks of the Exynos 2600 show it scoring 3,309 in single-core and 11,256 in multi-core, which managed to surpass Apple's iPhone 16 Pro in multi-core. So I'm pretty hopeful that Samsung may have finally learned its lesson, and the Exynos, if it gets chosen for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, will be one serious, badass chip. Let's see how things go!
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Izzy, a tech enthusiast and a key part of the PhoneArena team, specializes in delivering the latest mobile tech news and finding the best tech deals. Her interests extend to cybersecurity, phone design innovations, and camera capabilities. Outside her professional life, Izzy, a literature master's degree holder, enjoys reading, painting, and learning languages. She's also a personal growth advocate, believing in the power of experience and gratitude. Whether it's walking her Chihuahua or singing her heart out, Izzy embraces life with passion and curiosity.
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