After years of being a hot mess, Samsung’s Exynos division finally delivered a respectable flagship chip with the Galaxy S26’s Exynos 2600 this year. Older Exynos SoCs were infamous for overheating and high power consumption. While the Exynos 2600 fares much better than its predecessor, there’s still room for improvement. With next year’s Galaxy S27 and its Exynos 2700 chip, Samsung aims to take another major step to address this problem.
For the Exynos 2600 inside the Galaxy S26, Samsung uses a Heat Path Block, directly integrating a heat sink into the chip to improve heat dissipation. Samsung claims this reduces thermal resistance by up to 16%, enabling the heat to quickly move away from the chip. The benefits are evident in real-world usage, with the Exynos 2600 not running as hot as previous Exynos chips.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, found inside the Galaxy S26 Ultra, still fares much better, delivering higher performance in a lower thermal envelope.
To further push the barrier, Samsung will reportedly use an SBS design on the Exynos 2700 (via SamMobile).
Instead of stacking the DRAM on top of the SoC, which exacerbates heat issues, the memory will sit next to it. This change should significantly improve heat dissipation while also shortening the signal path, reducing latency, and boosting overall performance.
A higher thermal ceiling will also enable Samsung to push for higher clock speeds, leading to better performance.
Exynos is improving, but Snapdragon still dominates
Despite all the improvements the Exynos 2600 brings, Samsung only used it on the base and Plus S26 models.
The S26 Ultra exclusively uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in all markets, while only select markets get the non-Ultra S26 with the Snapdragon chip. That’s because there’s still a major real-world gap between the two chips, with tests showing the Snapdragon chip destroying the Exynos in the battery life department.
If the SBS design proves effective in the Exynos 2700, it could mark a breakthrough for Samsung’s Exynos division. The company has struggled for years to deliver true flagship-level chips, falling behind competitors in efficiency and thermal performance.
