Samsung is expected to launch its next-gen flagship Galaxy S26 series early next year, and recent leaks suggest that the phones could be powered by the company’s in-house Exynos 2600 chipset. Now, ahead of the Galaxy Unpacked event, the South Korean giant has officially unveiled the SoC and shared its key specifications.
The Exynos 2600 will go up against Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and, as such, brings several noteworthy upgrades. It’s the first smartphone SoC built on a 2nm process, a step up from the 3nm node used for Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon chip.
New CPU, GPU, and NPU promise a major performance jump
Samsung has equipped the chip with a new 10-core CPU that uses Arm’s new v9.3 architecture based C1 Ultra and C1 Pro cores. It includes a single C1 Ultra prime core clocked at 3.8GHz, three high-performance C1 Pro cores running at 3.25GHz, and six additional C1 Pro cores clocked at 2.75GHz. Samsung says this updated CPU results in a 39% performance boost over the Exynos 2500.
The SoC packs a new built-in NPU, which reportedly improves generative AI performance by 113% compared to last time, enabling support for larger and more complex on-device models. On-device privacy has received a significant upgrade through “virtualization security and hardware-backed hybrid Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC),” another first for a mobile SoC.
The Exynos 2600 also features a new Xclipse 960 GPU that promises double the computing performance of the outgoing Xclipse 950 and 50% better ray-tracing performance. Furthermore, it includes Samsung’s Exynos Neural Super Sampling (ENSS) tech for AI-based resolution upscaling and frame generation, leading to three-times smoother gaming performance.
New ISP unlocks higher-resolution cameras and smoother video
To boost camera performance on next-gen hardware, the Exynos 2600 packs a new ISP that supports up to 320MP cameras and can capture 108MP images with no shutter lag. It also supports video recording at 8K 30fps or 4K 120fps with HDR.
The ISP features an AI-based Visual Perception System that can detect detailed elements like blinking and process them in real time, while reducing power consumption by 50%. Video performance is also expected to improve dramatically, thanks to the ISP’s Deep Learning Video Noise Reduction (DVNR) system, which reduces noise in videos captured in low-light.
New thermal design targest sustained performance
To address concerns of poor thermal management, which has been a major bottleneck on previous Exynos chipsets, Samsung has implemented a new Heat Path Block (HPB) method that improved dissipation through “the application of High-k EMC.”
This is another first for the mobile SoC space, and is expected to result in higher sustained performance by lowering thermal resistance up to 16%, “allowing internal heat to move outward more quickly” and keep the SoC’s temperature stable.
Other noteworthy specs include UFS 4.1 storage and LPDDR5X DRAM support, up to 4K 120Hz display output support, HDR10+ video playback, and HDR gaming. The Exynos 2600 lacks a built-in wireless chip and will likely use a separate connectivity and modem chip to enable 5G, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.
It remains to be seen how these improvements translate to real-word performance when the Exynos 2600 hits the market with the Galaxy S26 series next year.
