Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Could Ditch Exynos for Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Worldwide

Hopes for Samsung Foundry's heroic return with the Exynos 2600 have been dampened yet again by a new report, which suggests the brand could potentially stick to Snapdragon's latest and greatest chipset.

Samsung Could Pair the Ultra with the Elite

According to a tipster, Schrodinger's Leaks on Telegram, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will exclusively feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 globally. This move dashes hopes of the Galaxy S26 Exynos 2600 upgrade.

The leak, while from a source with a limited track record, does align with recent projections from Qualcomm, which slated it's expected to power 75% of the entire Galaxy S26 series. This suggests that Samsung could stick to Exynos 2600 in Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus.

This decision does come as a surprise to many, as recent Exynos 2600 benchmarks showed promising performance improvements, nearly on par with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. For those unaware, the Exynos 2600 is based on Samsung's latest 2nm GAA process, while the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 uses TSMC's 3nm N3P process.

While there were reports that the "for Galaxy" variant may be based on Samsung's 2nm process, there's still no convincing evidence that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 powering the Galaxy S26 Ultra could be based on Samsung's 2nm GAA process.

While the reason for this decision is unknown, it's speculated that it could be due to Samsung's limited manufacturing capacity to produce enough of its new Exynos 2600 chips to meet the projected demand. The Ultra is projected to be Samsung's highest-selling flagship, which could be the reason for the decision.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 launch date has been reportedly scheduled for February 25, 2026. More details about the Galaxy S26 Ultra should be unveiled as we inch closer to launch, so stay tuned.