For a long time, it seemed like the debate between Samsung‘s Exynos chips and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series was over. Most fans liked the Snapdragon better due to its performance and thermal efficiency combo. But as we get closer to the Galaxy S26’s official launch on February 25, 2026, a new leaked benchmark suggests that Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 chip might finally be ahead of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in a key aspect: graphics.
Exynos 2600 beats Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in ray tracing-based graphics benchmark
The latest buzz comes from the Basemark database, specifically the “In Vitro” benchmark. This one measures how well a mobile chip handles complex ray tracing. In this test, a device identified as the standard Galaxy S26 (SM-S942B) powered by the Exynos 2600 scored 8,262 points. This figure is about 10% higher than that of Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered phones.
The new Xclipse 960 GPU is mostly to blame for this performance boost. This graphics unit was made with a modified version of AMD’s RDNA 4 architecture, and it seems to be able to handle lighting and reflections more accurately than previous generations.
As we already know, benchmarks only show one part of the picture. Still, beating the top-tier Snapdragon in any graphics category is a significant milestone for Samsung’s engineering team.
The secret Sauce: 2nm and better cooling
The Exynos 2600 isn’t just a minor refresh. It is the first smartphone processor built on Samsung’s 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process. This advanced manufacturing technique allows the chip to run at lower voltages while maintaining high speeds. In other words, the hardware should be more efficient.
Samsung also worked hard to prevent the overheating issues that plagued previous Exynos chips. The company designed a new thermal management system called Heat Pass Block (HPB). The chip uses a copper heatsink that makes direct contact with the processor, reportedly reducing thermal resistance by 16%. If this works as promised in real-world conditions, users might finally enjoy high-end gaming sessions without the phone becoming uncomfortably warm. According to reports, even third-party chip designers are adopting this system.
What this means for the Galaxy S26
As is tradition, Samsung plans to split its processor usage geographically. The Exynos 2600 will likely power the base Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus in Europe and other regions. Meanwhile, the US market and the premium S26 Ultra will stick with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Many users historically feared getting the “wrong” chip depending on where they lived. However, these early numbers suggest that the gap is closing. If the Exynos 2600 can maintain this lead in graphics while matching Qualcomm’s efficiency, the “Exynos vs. Snapdragon” rivalry might finally become a fair fight. For now, we only have these leaked benchmarks to go on, but the upcoming “Unpacked” event will soon reveal if the Exynos 2600 is truly the graphics monster it appears to be.
The post European Galaxy S26 Users Might Get the Faster Graphics Chip This Year appeared first on Android Headlines.
