(Image credit: Future / Chris Hall)

Most of the main phone launches have now happened for 2025. We've seen Apple announce its new iPhones, Google reveal its new Pixels, and Samsung announce both its flagship Galaxy S25 range, as well as its latest folding phones. And they are only the tip of the iceberg – there have been plenty of devices from other brands too.

But with this year's flagship phones out of the way, all eyes are turning to what is coming next and Samsung is usually one of the first as the new year arrives. The company typically announces its flagship S-series range in January, and that means we're likely to see the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+ and Galaxy S26 Ultra in just a few months.

And based on the most recent rumours, there could be a surprise in store for these handsets.

Why might Samsung be moving back to Exynos?

According to 9to5Google, Samsung's Galaxy S26 range could opt for the company's in-house Exynos 2600 chip instead of Qualcomm's recently announced Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

The report is based on information from Hankyung (via @Jukanlosreve) so it's been through a few sources already, but apparently the Exynos 2600 chip is very powerful.

It's claimed to offer better CPU performance than Apple's latest A19 Pro – which powers the Apple iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone Air. It's also said to have a 75% better GPU.

The NPU meanwhile, which is the part of the chip responsible for undertaking the AI processes, is said to be six times faster than Apple's A19 Pro.

Based on the report, the Exynos 2600 will also offer around 30% better GPU and NPU performance compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

The Exynos 2600 is thought to be produced on Samsung's 2nm process, while both the Apple A19 Pro and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 are based on a 3nm process.

For now, nothing is confirmed by Samsung so take this with a pinch of salt. It's also worth noting that Exynos might be used in the UK and EU versions of the Galaxy S26 models, but not the North America, China or Japan models.