Continued rumors regarding the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, which chips will power the phones, and when the devices are expected to launch seem to reveal indecision at Samsung.
The latest report gives a little more insight into the brand’s current plan, along with bad news on the wait before the S26 phones arrive.
Qualcomm and Exynos power
Around 70% of the Samsung Galaxy S26 phones expected to ship will be powered by a Qualcomm processor, leaving the remaining 30% to get an Exynos processor, according to industry sources speaking to ETNews.com.
It seems the top Galaxy S26 Ultra phone will solely be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, as per previous reports, but it’s not clear exactly where the models with an Exynos chip will be sold.
The report states Galaxy S26 phones destined for the U.S. market will likely be all Qualcomm-powered, and speculates other regions, including Europe and South Korea, will use Exynos chips for the non-Ultra models.
Which Exynos?
Samsung has apparently chosen the Exynos 2600 for its Galaxy S26 phones, but the chip has not been made official yet. It’s likely to be one of the first built using a 2nm process, putting it ahead of the 3nm Exynos 2500 found inside the Galaxy Z Flip 7.
A source speaking to ETNews said the Exynos 2600 had not arrived with the Galaxy S25 series due to overheating problems, but this has since been solved by using a Heat Pass Block (HPB), which is a copper heat sink layered in the chip stack.
This has apparently lowered the yield, making it impossible for Samsung to produce enough Exynos 2600 chips for all Galaxy S26 phones even if it wanted to, the anonymous source indicated to the publication.
When is the release date?
Much of what ETNews’s sources state has been echoed by other publications recently too, giving the information further credibility. It also wouldn’t be the first time Samsung has used both Exynos and Qualcomm processors for its top Galaxy S-series phones.
The other conversation dominating rumors about the Galaxy S26 is the potential launch date. We’ve seen talk of dates in January and February 2026 already, and it appears it’s going to be the later of the two for Samsung to show off the new phones.
February 25, 2026 is the date stated by ETNews, citing changes to the the S26 line-up as the reason for the delay. Again, this is not the first time we’re hearing about a delay, which has apparently been caused by a change from an S26 Edge to an S26 Plus model.
