Will Germany Get the Inferior Galaxy S26 Again?

Adrian Mühlroth

February 27, 2026, 7:44 am | Read time: 3 minutes

Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy S26 series. With the base and Plus models, the company is moving away from a change made in previous versions. Instead of exclusively using SoCs (System-on-Chip) from the U.S. manufacturer Qualcomm, Samsung’s own Exynos chips are being used again–at least in certain markets. Initial measurements already show a significant difference in the performance of the two variants.

Snapdragon Leads in CPU Benchmarks

While Samsung exclusively uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy in the most expensive Ultra model, the S26 and S26 Plus in Europe have to make do with the Exynos 2600. Tech influencer Tomi Adebayo has already compared the S26 Plus with Exynos and the S26 Ultra with Snapdragon, posting the results on X (formerly Twitter). The popular benchmark tool Geekbench, which can assess both processor (CPU) and graphics performance (GPU), was used for the measurements.

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The result is quite clear. In the CPU test, the Exynos 2600 achieves a single-core score of 3,105 points. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, on the other hand, scores 3,670 points–a substantial increase of 18.2 percent. The multi-core test also shows an advantage, albeit slightly smaller. The Exynos scores 10,444 points, while the Snapdragon reaches 10,981 points, representing an increase of 5.1 percent.

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Exynos Impresses with GPU Performance

However, the conclusion in the “Snapdragon vs. Exynos” comparison is not as clear-cut as in previous Galaxy S generations. Samsung has an ace up its sleeve with the Exynos 2600. The integrated Xclipse-960 graphics unit is based on AMD’s RDNA4 architecture. In Geekbench’s OpenCL test, this gives the Samsung chip a slight edge.

Here, the Exynos scores 24,240 points, just ahead of the Snapdragon, which scores 24,152 points. The Vulkan API, which would provide a better picture of actual graphics performance, was not tested by Adebayo. In previous comparisons, the Exynos was faster in the OpenCL test but slower in the Vulkan test, as reported by Wccftech.

How Meaningful Are the Results?

Geekbench 6 measures performance in short load phases. Therefore, statements about sustained performance under longer loads are only partially possible. In this regard, the Exynos 2600 potentially has another advantage. Samsung designed the chip with a heat-pass block–a copper heatsink that sits directly on the chip to dissipate heat more quickly. This design can stabilize performance under continuous load. However, specific values for sustained performance are not yet available.

Apart from that, synthetic benchmarks are only partially comparable to everyday performance. Most users are unlikely to notice a difference between the Exynos and Snapdragon variants in normal use. It may only become apparent in demanding 3D games. It should also be noted that there are no tests on power consumption yet. In the past, Snapdragon variants of Galaxy S smartphones were often more energy-efficient and could thus last longer on a single battery charge.

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of TECHBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@techbook.de.