Samsung Galaxy S26 will either make or break Exynos
It has been all but confirmed that Samsung is returning to Exynos and Snapdragon variants of its flagship phones across different markets. The Samsung Galaxy S26 and the S26 Plus will feature the Exynos 2600 in certain regions, while being powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 in others.
Samsung has been working towards the Exynos 2600 chipset for a very long time. The company's foundry faced a lot of challenges during 2024 before finally being able to stabilize the 3 nm manufacturing process. Samsung immediately began work on its 2 nm processes so that it could ready the Exynos 2600 in time for the Galaxy S26 phones. After having been forced to equip the entire Galaxy S25 lineup with Snapdragon instead of the Exynos 2500 as planned, Samsung is determined to debut its new chipset next year. However, some reports from inside the industry, as well as a decision by Samsung, make me think that the company knows that its chips will still fall behind.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 series used Snapdragon across the world. | Video credit — Samsung
Samsung has reportedly planned on not using the Exynos 2600 in the Galaxy S26 Ultra regardless of region. Whenever this has happened before, like with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it was so Samsung could provide the 'Ultra' experience everywhere and ensure a competitive offering. Additionally, Galaxy phones equipped with Exynos chips have historically underperformed compared to their Snapdragon alternatives.If Samsung is not going to use the Exynos 2600 for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, then it seems very likely that the company's own chipset is still not as good as the competition. Rumor has it that Samsung's 2 nm chips perform slightly worse than TSMC's ( Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ) 3 nm counterparts.
If that is the case, then it makes sense that Samsung would refrain from using the Exynos 2600 for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. But the average consumer can't really tell the difference, so what's the problem?
The average user doesn't pay attention to slight performance advantages. | Image credit — Samsung
Samsung has spent a lot of money to make sure that Exynos can replace Snapdragon. There was a time during last year when it seemed like Samsung Foundry was doomed to shut down. The recovery has been exciting to see, but the company needs results yesterday .
Apple and Samsung are ditching Qualcomm, as both companies have their own visions for the future. Samsung's plans include investing heavily into Exynos so that the Galaxy phones never have to resort to Snapdragon again. This is something that I am heavily in favor of because I want to see Samsung's devices go through the same revolution that Apple's products did with Apple silicon.
However, the Exynos 2600 needs to impress the techies. It needs positive publicity so that consumers' knee-jerk negative reactions to the word 'Exynos' can start to fade. I'm already concerned after the news about the S26 Ultra, and I can only hope that Samsung knows what it's doing. If the Exynos 2600 mirrors its predecessors with less efficient power draw, heating problems, and lower performance scores, then it will only make Samsung's struggles infinitely worse. Samsung will question its resource allotment to Exynos, and the public will once again raise their pitchforks at the company.
Exynos isn't likely to be canned any time soon on account of how expensive Snapdragon is, but if it doesn't perform like it should, it'll definitely mean harder times for Samsung Foundry. People aren't a fan of spending the same amount of money for a worse product — shocker, I know — even if they can't actually tell the difference. After the developments of these last few years, it seems to me like the entire future of Exynos depends on how it performs next year.
If the Exynos variants of the Galaxy S26 are as capable as the Snapdragon ones, then it'll usher in a golden age for Samsung Foundry. But, keeping in mind the decision Samsung has made for the S26 Ultra, I think we can reasonably guess what the Exynos 2600 is going to actually perform like.
I would love to be proven wrong, though.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Phone Arena
an hour ago
- Phone Arena
Everyone wants TSMC to build their 3nm chips as Samsung Foundry has trouble finding customers
Let's say you work for a major device manufacturer that is a fabless chip designer. In other words, while you design your own chips, you lack the facilities to produce them which explains the fabless label (Fab is short for a semiconductor fabrication facility). Suppose part of your job is to decide which foundry is going to build your chips. Right now, if you need advanced semiconductors, you have only two possibilities, TSMC and Samsung Foundry. But if you need your chips built using the most advanced process node of 3nm, there is no choice. TSMC is the foundry of choice. You might have to pay more and hope that there isn't a capacity issue that forces your order to be put on allocation by the foundry. However, if reliability is an issue, which it usually is, you want the foundry churning out 3nm chips with a 90% yield rather than the one with a 50% yield at that node which is Samsung Foundry. Big tech firms that count themselves as TSMC customers include Apple, MediaTek, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. The latter had decided to have Samsung Foundry produce the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 during 2021-2022. However, the foundry reportedly had an extremely low 35% yield and Qualcomm pulled its business from Samsung Foundry. Instead, it reworked the chipset and had it built by TSMC as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+. Since then, Qualcomm has relied on TSMC exclusively to manufacture its flagship Snapdragon 8 SoCs. The extreme ultraviolet lithography machine helped to take chip production under 5nm. | Image credit-ASML While TSMC is clearly the most reliable in-demand foundry, Samsung Foundry is a distant second. Coming up fast behind Samsung is China's SMIC which happens to be the third-largest foundry in the world. Due to U.S. and Dutch sanctions, SMIC is not allowed to purchase an extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machine used to transfer circuitry patterns onto silicon wafers using lines thinner than human hair. EUV machines allow for the placement of billions of transistors inside these semiconductors. SMIC reportedly is using older Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) machines, purchased before sanctions hit, to build Huawei's new 5nm Kirin X90 chip used to power the Mate Book Pro laptop. The foundry also uses multiple impressions in an attempt to make up for the lack of an EUV machine. However, this results in lower costs and higher prices for such chips. Still, SMIC is ready to make 5nm and 7nm chips for the Chinese automotive manufacturing sector which would be another blow to Samsung Foundry which has been doing brisk business making such chips for these Chinese-based firms. With 2nm chips coming to smartphones next year, including the iPhone 17 line, TSMC will remain on top and possibly stay there well beyond 2026.
GSM Arena
an hour ago
- GSM Arena
vivo X200 FE and X Fold5 launch date leaks
According to a new rumor out of India, both the vivo X200 FE and the X Fold5 will launch on the same day: July 10. This strongly implies that they will both be the stars at the same launch event. The X200 FE has been rumored to sport a 6.31-inch flat OLED screen with "1.5K" resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate, an under-display fingerprint sensor, the Dimensity 9300+ or Dimensity 9400e chipset at the helm, a 50 MP main camera using Sony's IMX921 sensor, a 50 MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and Sony's IMX882, and an 8 MP ultrawide. vivo X Fold3 Pro Selfies will be taken care of by a 50 MP camera, and the phone will be available in 12/256GB and 16/512GB trims. It will be IP68 and IP69 certified for dust and water resistance, and will get a 6,500 mAh battery with support for 90W wired charging. It should weigh approximately 200g. The X Fold5, on the other hand, will allegedly come with an 8.03-inch foldable AMOLED screen with "2K+" resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate, a 6.53-inch LTPO OLED cover screen with 120 Hz refresh rate, and a 6,000 mAh battery with 90W wired and 30W wireless charging support. It will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It will have a 50 MP main camera with the same IMX921 sensor as the X200 FE, a 50 MP ultrawide with autofocus, and a 50 MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom and (you guessed it) the IMX882 sensor. For selfies the device will have two 32 MP shooters. There will also be a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, a three-stage Alert Slider-like button, there will be an IP rating too. The X Fold5 will be 4.3mm thick when unfolded and 9.33mm thick when folded. Source
Phone Arena
6 hours ago
- Phone Arena
Samsung's new useful Tap to Transfer feature starts rolling out today
Earlier this month we told you that Samsung was going to bring a feature called Tap to Transfer to Galaxy users in the U.S. Today, Samsung announced that Tap to Transfer is now rolling out. This allows a Samsung Galaxy user to send money to the bank account of a friend or family member associated with a debit card in their digital wallet that has been issued by Mastercard or Visa. If your friend or family member uses Samsung Wallet, Apple Wallet, or Google Wallet, Tap to Transfer will send the money to the recipient without you having to install a third-party payment app. With NFC (Near Field Communications) enabled on both phones, just tap them and within minutes the transfer will take place. For a limited time, Samsung will not charge any fees for using Tap to Transfer although by pointing this out, it seems obvious that Samsung will eventually tack a fee onto the amount of the funds transferred. You can even send money directly to a Mastercard or Visa debit card by tapping your phone directly with the card. The chip embedded in the debit card will allow you to make the transfer even if the other party doesn't use a digital wallet. How to use Tap to Transfer rolling out starting today to Samsung Galaxy handsets. | Image credit-Samsung If the recipient isn't with you but is somewhere in the U.S., you can still send them money by using the Online Transfer tab in Samsung Wallet. The other person must be using Samsung Wallet for this option. Find the recipient in your contacts and with the phone number associated with the Mastercard or Visa debit card in their Samsung Wallet, you can send funds directly to their bank account. The minimum transaction allowed is $1 and the maximum transaction size is $500. The daily transaction limit is $500 and no more than 10 transactions are allowed over a 24-hour period. The weekly transaction limit is $1,500 with no more than 50 transactions allowed over a 7-day period. The monthly transaction limit is $7,000 with no more than 50 transactions permitted to take place in a 30-day period. Samsung says that you can use Tap to Transfer in the following scenarios: Pay a friend back for last week's dinner Receive money from a group of friends to buy concert tickets Collect payment from people not in the user's contact list by directly tapping their debit card onto the user's phone Send funds to others regardless of location by simply searching for their Samsung account All U.S. domestic Samsung phones that are "Samsung Wallet eligible" and have Android 12 or later installed can use Tap to Transfer.
