With the launch of the Galaxy S26 series, the Exynos 2600 has finally landed on the battleground against the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which has been dominating the flagship space for quite some time now. While both are flagship chipsets, they're very different from each other in terms of specifications and manufacturing process.
While we don't have the Galaxy S26 to test the Exynos 2600 at the moment, we pitted the leaked Exynos 2600 benchmarks against the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 to give you an idea about where both the processors stand. Here's what you need to know.
Exynos 2600 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: AnTuTu Score
Since the Exynos 2600 has just shown up in the Galaxy S26 and S26+, we don't have the AnTuTu scores yet. However, we did benchmark the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and it displayed its performance prowess by scoring 3,740,686 points. The eight 3rd Gen Oryon cores and the Adreno 840 GPU are clearly well-equipped to handle demanding CPU and GPU tasks without breaking a sweat.
On the other hand, the Exynos 2600 is a Deca Core chipset which uses ARM's latest ARMv9.3 cores clocked at 3.8 GHz. Samsung's collaboration with AMD has resulted in the Xclipse 960 GPU, which is based on RDNA 3.5, promising better GPU performance. If the leaks and rumours are anything to go by, the Exynos 2600 is expected to tear through the 3,000,000 mark, but it most likely won't outperform the 8 Elite Gen 5.
Exynos 2600 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: Geekbench Score
We tested the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 quite comprehensively in the iQOO 15. But since the Exynos 2600 is not with us yet, we will be relying on Geekbench results from the wild and from the previously-leaked benchmarks to tell you exactly how the processors compare to each other.
| Geekbench 6 CPU | Exynos 2600 | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-core | 3,105 | 3,588 |
| Multi-core | 10,444 | 10,207 |
The results, although not set in stone right now, paint a clear picture of two different approaches. Samsung outscores Qualcomm with 10,444 points in multi-core (vs 10,207) but loses out to Qualcomm in single-core test with 3,105 (vs 3,588) points.
This is all thanks to the two extra cores advantage it has over the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Besides, it looks like the HPB technology (Heat Path Block) is doing the job since the multi-core score doesn't look like it's throttled. This was seen primarily in our Exynos 2500 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 comparison.
If the scores are anything to go by, Samsung has outdone itself. The Exynos 2600 could be a multi-generational upgrade over the Exynos 2500.
Exynos 2600 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Specifications
| Specs | Exynos 2600 | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Process Node | 2nm GAA | TSMC's 3nm (N3P) |
| CPU | 10-core Tri-Cluster CPU (ARMv9.3) | 8-core 3rd-gen Oryon CPU |
| CPU Cores | 1x Cortex-C1 Ultra (3.8GHz), 3x Cortex-C1 Pro (3.25GHz), 6x Cortex-C1 Pro (2.75GHz) | 2x 3rd-gen Oryon Prime (4.60GHz), 6x 3rd-gen Oryon Performance (3.62GHz) |
| GPU | Samsung Xclipse 960 (Based on AMD RDNA 3.5 Architecture) | Adreno 840 GPU, Up to 1.2GHz, 18MB Adreno High Performance Memory (HPM) |
| NPU | 32K MAC NPU | New Hexagon NPU |
| ISP | Up to 320MP Single Camera, 8K 60 fps Encoding, Decoding | Qualcomm Spectra 20-bit Triple ISP, Images up to 320 MP, Videos at 4K120FPS |
| Storage and Memory | UFS 4.1, LPDDR5X Memory (Quad-channel) | UFS 4.1, LPDDR5X memory, Up to 5.3GHz, Up to 10.7 Gbps |
| Modem | Integrated 5G modem | Snapdragon X85 5G modem, Up to 12.5 Gbps Peak Download, Up to 3.7 Gbps Peak Upload |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, LE, and UWB |
And that's all you need to know about how Exynos 2600 compares to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. So far, it's looking pretty good for team blue, but we should find out more once more real-world tests are out, so stay tuned!
