Samsung’s 2nm Exynos 2600 confirmed, could finally put Exynos back in flagship race

By G.S Vasan

Published On: 1 Aug, 2025

The Exynos 2600 will replace the 2500 as Samsung’s flagship mobile chip for 2026. Ahead of its release, the company has confirmed that Exynos 2600 will be the world’s first smartphone SoC built on a 2nm process. According to IDC analyst Bryan Ma, the company shared this during a Q&A session following its Q2 2025 earnings call, confirming that the chip will be built using Samsung Foundry’s 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process. Exynos 2600 could power the standard Galaxy S26, and we have some early benchmark results of the chip.

A shift from a 3nm process used in Exynos 2500 to a 2nm process that the new chip will be using could bring improvements in terms of performance and energy efficiency. Samsung has told Mr Ma that “(Exynos) 2600 offers a significant improvement in NPU performance versus the prior version, with enhanced support for on-device AI functionality”. This could enable faster on-device AI tasks like voice recognition, photo editing, and LLM-powered features.

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Samsung reportedly began prototype production of the Exynos 2600 in June. Current industry estimates suggest that Samsung’s 2nm yields are around 30 per cent and will reach 70 per cent by year-end. If successful, the Samsung Foundry could secure potential orders from clients like Qualcomm. It already has a Tesla AI chip deal that would be based on this process node.

Samsung is yet to disclose the Exynos 2600 specifications officially. But one of the Exynos 2600 engineering samples (model S5E9965) has already surfaced on Geekbench 6. It packs a 10-core CPU in a 1+3+6 layout: 1 prime core at 3.55GHz + 3 performance cores at 2.96GHz + 6 efficiency cores at 2.46GHz. In the test, the chip scored 2,810 points in the single-core test and 9,301 points in the multi-core test. For comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip7 with Exynos 2500 scored 2,064 and 7,609 in the Geekbench single-core and multi-core benchmark scores, respectively.

According to the South Korean publication ET News, Samsung is also utilising advanced thermal solutions, such as ‘Heat Pass Block’ (HPB) and ‘Fan-out Wafer Level Packaging’ (FOWLP), in the Exynos 2600 to manage heat and improve sustained performance.

The Exynos 2600 is expected to debut commercially in the Galaxy S26 series in early 2026. According to Bloomberg, Samsung may use the Exynos 2600 in the standard Galaxy S26 and S26 Edge globally. If Samsung optimises the chip and offers competitive performance and power efficiency, the company could become a viable alternative to Snapdragon and MediaTek flagship chips.

While other chipmakers plan to launch 2nm chips in 2026, announcing Exynos 2600 as the first 2nm flagship SoC gives Samsung a marketing advantage and a chance to rebuild confidence in its silicon roadmap. The real test will be whether it delivers on architecture and thermals.

If you’re planning to buy the Galaxy S26 next year, the Exynos 2600 could bring better battery life, improved AI features, and more consistent performance, assuming Samsung delivers on its promises. A more powerful and efficient Exynos chip also means you won’t necessarily have to go for the Snapdragon variant to get flagship-grade performance. If Samsung executes well, the chip could re-establish Exynos as a viable flagship-tier brand.