What you need to know
- All four Galaxy S27 models have reportedly appeared in an import-export database, revealing their expected chipsets.
- The Galaxy S27 Pro could use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 instead of the more powerful Extreme variant found in the Ultra.
- The Galaxy S27 Pro could feature a 6.5-inch display, sitting between the 6.3-inch S27 and 6.9-inch S27 Ultra.
We’re slowly inching toward the new year, which means it’s almost time for Samsung’s next-generation Galaxy S flagship phones. And now, a new leak suggests that the upcoming Galaxy S27 Pro could miss out on Qualcomm’s most powerful flagship chipset.
Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S27 lineup in Q1 next year. As leaked renders have already revealed, the company appears to be taking some inspiration from Apple’s iPhone, with the Galaxy S27 Ultra reportedly moving away from its familiar vertical camera layout in favor of a horizontal camera plateau.
There’s also expected to be one more addition to the Galaxy S27 lineup in the form of the Galaxy S27 Pro. The new model will reportedly bring several Galaxy S27 Ultra features, including Privacy Display, to a smaller form factor without the S Pen. However, it looks like the Pro could still fall behind the Ultra in one important area: the chipset.
As spotted by Notebookcheck, all four Galaxy S27 models have reportedly appeared in the NBD import-export database. The listings mention the Galaxy S27, Galaxy S27 Plus, Galaxy S27 Pro, and Galaxy S27 Ultra, alongside details about the chipsets expected to power them.
According to the listings, the Galaxy S27 and Galaxy S27 Plus will be powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 2700 chipset. The Galaxy S27 Ultra, meanwhile, is expected to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processor. That’s not particularly surprising, considering Samsung has traditionally reserved Qualcomm’s most powerful flagship chipsets for its Ultra models.
What’s interesting, however, is that the Galaxy S27 Pro is reportedly listed with the regular Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 rather than the more powerful Extreme variant.
When Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 series earlier this year, the company introduced two versions of its flagship chipset, one with the Extreme branding and another without it. The Extreme variant sits at the top of Qualcomm’s lineup, offering clock speeds of up to a whopping 5GHz.
But it looks like the Galaxy S27 Pro could miss out on that top-tier processor. Instead, Samsung may use the slightly lower-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, although the chipset is still built on the same 2nm process architecture.
One possible reason could be thermal management. Since the Galaxy S27 Pro is expected to offer many of the Ultra’s features in a smaller body, Samsung may have opted for a slightly lower-clocked chipset to keep temperatures under control. However, that’s just speculation for now.
The base Galaxy S27 will reportedly retain its 6.3-inch display, while the Galaxy S27 Plus will continue with a 6.7-inch screen. The Galaxy S27 Ultra is expected to feature the same massive 6.9-inch display, while the new Galaxy S27 Pro could sit somewhere in between with a 6.5-inch panel.
That would make the Galaxy S27 Pro a pretty interesting addition to Samsung’s flagship lineup, especially for people who want some of the Ultra’s features without carrying such a large phone.
Of course, we’re still a few months away from the Galaxy S27 series launch, and plenty could change before Samsung makes everything official. But if this leak turns out to be accurate, the Galaxy S27 Pro may not be quite the smaller Galaxy S27 Ultra that some buyers were hoping for.
