Samsung Galaxy S25 could ditch Exynos for Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 — with a huge 30% price hike

We're still quite a ways from actually seeing the Samsung Galaxy S25 phones in the wild, but the rumor mill is never idle. 

Despite reports that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset is going to drive prices up for many Android flagship phones, a new report from Android Police, suggests that Samsung is going all-in on the next-gen Qualcomm chips for the S25 series.

Previously, it was claimed that Samsung would utilize its in-house Exynos processors. Supposedly, the 3nm Exynos 2500 chips will be coming in 2025, and may be the next chips in the S25 series, at least outside of the United States.

Currently, the S24 series uses Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips in some markets and the Exynos 2400 in the S24 and S24 Plus in other regions. No matter where it's sold, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in all regions.

However, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said on X that Qualcomm will be the "sole supplier" for the S25 series. He claims that the Exynos 2500 may not ship at all due to Samsung struggling with the 3nm manufacturing process. 

This wouldn't be a huge surprise for Samsung, as they've done this before. The S23 models featured Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in all the Galaxy S23 phones.

Based on Kuo's report, it seems like Samsung is struggling to produce enough working 3nm Exynos chips. Qualcomm is more than likely already at work on the next generation of Snapdragon 8 chips. We'll expect to see the company announce the new chipset this September or possibly in October. 

For many, an upgrade to the Qualcomm chips will be a good thing. The Exynos 2400 consistently underperformed against the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in our benchmark tests. Qualcomm's processors provided greater performance and efficiency compared to Samsung's Exynos chips.

Unfortunately, choosing to go all-in with Qualcomm's next chips could boost the price of any phone they get installed in. Ming-Chi Kuo has said the price could go up between 25% and 30%.  And that's not to mention that the S25 might need larger batteries to run the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chips. 

This year's Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra launched with prices of $799, $999 and $1,299 respectively. The S24 Ultra was the only one to see a price hike from the S23 Ultra, but it's looking more and more like the whole lineup will get more expensive.

More from Tom's Guide

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• Samsung Galaxy S25 and other future Android flagships may get XL batteries