Galaxy S26 might be a worse phone in Europe—here's why
Samsung may be pausing its all-Snapdragon strategy. After using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 across the entire Galaxy S25 lineup, a new round of leaks suggests the upcoming Galaxy S26 may reintroduce Samsung's in-house Exynos chips—though only in certain markets.
According to multiple sources in the leaker community on X (formerly Twitter), the Galaxy S26 will feature the Exynos 2600 in Europe, while other markets such as North America and Asia will get Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 instead. The reported reason for this split is low initial production yields of Samsung's 2nm process, which is being used to manufacture the Exynos 2600.
Latest industry note related to Samsung:Exynos 2600 is indeed planned to be used in the S26.Currently, due to reportedly low yield, it is likely to be equipped mainly in European models.
An industry source emphasized that even in the AP for the S26, Qualcomm's Snapdragon… — Jukanlosreve (@Jukanlosreve) May 3, 2025
If the leaks are accurate, the situation will be the same as with the Galaxy S22 series, which was also split the same way across the different markets. The users in Europe got the Exynos 2200 then, while the rest of the world got the arguably better Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
The thing is that it has never been fair when Samsung does this. Most of the time, the Exynos chipsets did not match those from Qualcomm in performance and power efficiency, which lead to a lot of criticism in 2022.
Samsung then released the S23 series with a Snapdragon chip across all regions, followed with another split for the S24 series, and then again going back to the unified Snapdragon strategy with the S25 this year.
The reports still don't say whether thi chip split will apply across the entire Galaxy S26 lineup, though. Earlier rumors suggested that only the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus would get the Exynos 2600 in Europe, while the flagship S26 Ultra would have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 no matter the region.
It's hard to tell for sure, but there are two potential reasons.
It is still unclear why Samsung chooses to distribute the Exynos Galaxy S phones in Europe when it goes for the chip split strategy. It could be tied to supply constraints or internal cost structures.
Of course, Samsung hasn't confirmed any of these rumors regarding the Exynos 2600 or its strategy for 2026, so take this information with a grain of salt. However, if history is any indication, it seems like a likely scenario for the Galaxy S26 series.
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