Exynos 2600 to power Samsung Galaxy S26 series but not everywhere

Samsung is expected to launch Exynos-powered Galaxy S26 models in select regions, while keeping the Galaxy S26 Ultra exclusively on Snapdragon.

As we are marching towards the new year, reports about the Galaxy S26 series are popping up everywhere. There are strong rumors about Samsung giving up on the "Edge" model and has reinstated the "Plus" model to the Galaxy S26 series.

Then the purported camera and battery details of the Galaxy S26 and S26+ were leaked, suggesting a bump in the specs. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is also said to come with the fastest wired and wireless charging speeds of all Galaxy phones, ever. And the big news, amidst speculation that the next year's Unpacked event could be delayed, it is now tipped that Galaxy S26 series will launch by the end of February and release in March.

Fast-forward to now, chipset details of the Galaxy S26 series has popped up. According to Chosun Biz, the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26+ will be powered by both the Snapdragon and Exynos 2600 processors. Reportedly, regions in Asia, will receive the Exynos 2600 powered Galaxy S26 and S26+ models.

On the other hand, Europe and regions in North America are said to get the Snapdragon-powered Galaxy S26 series. The report adds that Samsung's LSI division, responsible for the Exynos SoC, are negotiating with Samsung's MX division to bring the supply cost down by$20-$30 over the Snapdragon chipset.

The result could be good for the consumers, as there are rumors that Samsung may keep the prices of the Galaxy S26 and S26+ similar to this year's prices. The Exynos chipset is always found to be inferior compared to the Qualcomm chipset, which could be true, again, for the Exynos 2600.

The report adds what an industry insider seemingly stated (Google-translated from Korean): "Although the Exynos 2600 may have recorded good indicators in the benchmark results, the performance when installed in an actual smartphone is completely different." While there were news that Samsung is going all-in with the Exynos 2600 processor, and it might zoom past Apple's A19 or Qualcomm next-gen chipset, only time will tell how much weight these claims have.