Galaxy S26 — shocking new Exynos 2600 benchmark delivers Apple M5-like performance

Samsung is working hard on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. It's also working on the upcoming Exynos 2600 chip, which may or may not be in the upcoming smartphone. Those hoping Samsung would use a Qualcomm chip for the extra power might need to adjust their expectations, as the Exynos 2600 reportedly generates M5-like benchmark scores on Geekbench.

If the reports are accurate, that would make Samsung's 2nm chipset among the more powerful mobile APs on the market. The impressive numbers posted by lafaiel on X are a single-core score of 4,217 and a multi-core score of 13,482.

It's important to take this rumor with a grain of salt, as the results are no longer listed on GeekBench's website. That could mean one of several things: the test results were deleted after lafaiel took the screenshot, the numbers are made up and the image is doctored, or the benchmark test never occurred and the image is completely fake.

If these numbers are legitimate, the single-core result is close to Apple's M5 chip and the fastest smartphone SoC in the single-core category so far. Just as impressive, the Exynos 2600 score surpasses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5's single-core and multi-core scores of 2,865 and 9,487, respectively.

According to the latest rumors, the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ will feature the Exynos 2600 chip in several markets. However, with the extra power, Samsung could utilize it in the S26 Ultra in Europe and South Korea.

In the U.S., we expect Samsung to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for the Galaxy in all models. However, if the new Exynos is as powerful as these rumored benchmarks suggest, buyers in the United States might wish they had the Exynos 2600 chip under the hood. That statement would have been absurd just last year, but the improvements offered by the 2nm process make it completely viable.

Aside from the M5-like benchmarks, the Exynos 2600 features are said to be more powerful and energy efficient than other chips, which could explain why Samsung might choose to use it in the Galaxy S26 Ultra in select regions.

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