Galaxy S25 and S26 series may go Snapdragon-only and ditch Exynos

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Following last week’s Snapdragon 8 Elite announcement, Samsung has revealed something exciting about its mainstream flagship Android phones.

The Korean brand may go Snapdragon-exclusive for the next few years with the Galaxy S25 & S26 series and eventually return to Exynos with the Galaxy S27 series. 

According to Ice Universe’s post on Weibo (via SamMobile), Samsung’s next flagship Exynos chipset will be developed using a 2nm fabrication process for the Galaxy S27.

In the meantime, Samsung will use Snapdragon chips in a “full-line” (machine-translated) way in the Galaxy S25 and S26 series. 

Not only Galaxy S25 but Samsung could go Snapdragon exclusive for the Galaxy S26 

Reports about Samsung’s use of chipsets on its next flagship phones have been mixed between Snapdragon and Exynos, with a heavier emphasis on Exynos.

However, the latest rumor completely disregards Exynos and claims that Samsung will go Snapdragon-exclusive and not for just one generation but two. 

This isn’t the first time Samsung is going full-on Snapdragon for its Galaxy S flagships. Samsung opted for this route for the Galaxy S23 series.

This shift makes sense after Qualcomm revealed its latest mobile chip. The new Snapdragon processor comes with custom Oryon cores, which are faster and already beat Samsung’s in-house Exynos chips by a significant margin. 

That said, Samsung isn’t completely giving up on Exynos. The leaker has revealed that the Korean brand is developing a next-generation Exynos chip codenamed “Ulysses.”

This Exynos processor is reportedly planned for the Samsung Galaxy S27 series, likely set for 2027.

The chip will be developed by Samsung Foundry’s 2nm fabrication process, which will be ready by the end of 2026. 

Samsung was supposed to use the 3nm Exynos 2500 chip for the vanilla Galaxy S25 and the S25 Plus, which reportedly failed to get enough yield.

Hence, Samsung was forced to ditch the chip and adopt the Snapdragon 8 Elite for the entire Galaxy S25 series. 

What do you think about Samsung’s chip strategy for the upcoming generations? Would you be okay with Exynos going away for good? Tell us your thoughts below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.