The forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Ultra smartphones might not be quite as impressively specced out as we were hoping for.
Starting with the Galaxy S26, established tipster Jukanlosreve has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to claim that Samsung’s next mainline flagship phone will revert to the company’s own Exynos chip.
While Samsung attracted praise for going all-in with Qualcomm’s brilliant Snapdragon 8 Elite processor across the Samsung Galaxy S25 range, the new phone (and presumably the Galaxy S26 Plus) will reportedly pack Samsung’s own Exynos 2600.
What this Samsung Galaxy S26 spec leak means
According to the tipster, the limited volume of this new chip indicates that Samsung will be returning to a split provision.
This likely means that the US and China will once again run on Qualcomm’s latest chip – let’s call it the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for now – while the rest of us get the Exynos 2600.
Without any knowledge of how either chip with run, it’s impossible to say for sure which region is getting a raw deal here.
All we know is that in every prior instance of such a split provision taking place (including the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S22), it’s the Qualcomm-powered models that came out faster and more energy efficient.
We would assume that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will still run on the faster Qualcomm chip, regardless of region, as has previously been the case.
Luke Baker
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra camera leak
However, Samsung’s next uber-flagship handset has its own potential spec disappointment to deal with.
According to leaker PandaFlash , the Galaxy S26 Ultra will only have the one 200MP camera – not the two 200MP sensors that have been reported in some quarters.
Whatever the chip the Galaxy 26 Ultra is set to employ, it apparently won’t be up to the job of running two 200MP cameras side by side.
This means one of two things: either Samsung is going to roll back the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 200MP main sensor to a 50MP unit, or it’s not going to go with a cutting edge 200MP periscope telephoto camera after all.
The latter has been tipped as one of the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s main hardware advancements. Some would see it as Samsung playing catch-up with similar provisions in the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and the Honor Magic 7 Pro .
If Samsung goes with the former approach, it may be perceived as a downgrade – though of course, fewer pixels doesn’t automatically equate to less quality.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Author: Jon Mundy, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Jon is a freelance journalist who got his start covering mobile games at the dawn of the App Store. He has since covered everything from smart home tech and laptops to food and culture, but always seems to return to his fascination with smartphones.
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