The chipset we expect to see in the Samsung Galaxy S26 and many more of next year's best Android phones should be coming in two versions. And the one that Samsung will use could give its new phones a big early advantage.
This info comes from Digital Chat Station on Weibo (via Tarun Vats on X), and concerns the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. That's the currently unconfirmed successor to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, that almost every premium Android phone has used this year. And, yes, we're just as confused about where that name came from as you.
DCS explains in their post that there will be a pair of 8 Elite Gen 5 chips on offer: one with a main frequency of 4.61GHz, and another with 4.74GHz. That'll be exclusive to Samsung at first, with other companies getting access later.
Galaxy S26: How much faster will it be?
Qualcomm has been launching two versions of its flagship chip for the past few years. There's a basic version available to any manufacturer from the launch of the chip. There's also a faster version, which debuts on the latest Samsung Galaxy S series early in the new year, and then by other companies a few months later. This is usually marketed as the "Leading Version" of the silicon.
If we compare the alleged 4.61GHz and 4.74GHz clock speeds of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 to the 4.32GHz and 4.47GHz editions of the current Snapdragon 8 Elite, we can easily see the increased speed between generations for both versions.
Hopefully, this will translate to a nice performance increase for the phones which use it, while also improving power efficiency of devices equipped with it.
But which Galaxy S26 phones will get it?
But whatever benefits the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 may offer, it may not apply equally to all of Samsung's next-gen flagships. It's been tipped that Samsung could equip at least some of its 2026 Galaxy S models with the Exynos 2600.
This in-house chip comes from a line that has often been a disappointment in terms of performance and efficiency, but Samsung seemingly isn't willing to give up and install Snapdragon chips to all S26 models, like it has for older Galaxy S generations.
With an expected release window of January 2026, there's still time for more S26 details to emerge and explain which of these rumors are accurate or not. For now, our Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Ultra and Galaxy S26 Edge rumor hubs will take you through everything we've learned to date.
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