The Samsung Galaxy S26 series could debut in the next two years with a next-generation 2nm chip, according to a report from ETNews. The South Korean publication reports that Samsung is working on a 2nm node for a new Exynos chip that could enter mass production in the second half of 2025. The company has yet to launch a smartphone with a 3nm Exynos chip, the current Galaxy S24 lineup that was introduced earlier this year and is powered by 4nm Exynos 2400 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips in different markets.
According to the ETNews report (in Korean), Samsung is developing a 2nm node for a chip expected to debut in the Galaxy S26 series of smartphones in early 2026. According to reports, the The smartphone maker's advanced chip is called “Thetis”. Rival chipmaker TSMC is also said to be working on its 2nm node, but there's no word from either company on when they'll be ready for production.
If these claims are accurate, the Exynos 2600 will compete against the alleged Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, MediaTek Dimensity 9500 and Apple's A19 Pro chips. It could also arrive as a successor to the Exynos W1000 chip that is said to power the successors to the Galaxy Watch 6 series likely to launch later this year.
We can speculate that the rumored Exynos 2600 chip will be equipped with a Cortex X6 “Prime” core from Arm, which could also make it to the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip: Apple and Qualcomm use custom chip cores.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Samsung plans to launch its Galaxy S25 series of smartphones next year with a 3nm Exynos 2500 chip that could offer better performance than the alleged Snapdragon 8 SoC Gen 4. It is currently unclear whether Qualcomm's next flagship mobile processor will be built on a 3nm node. Meanwhile, the same report also said that the Galaxy Watch 7 would also arrive with a 3nm Exynos W1000 chip.
When Samsung's Galaxy S24 series launched earlier this year, gaming tests revealed that the gap between flagship Exynos and Snapdragon chips was closing. The test included popular games such as Fortnite, Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, PUBG New State and Call of Duty: Mobile. According to the report, both the Exynos 2400 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in Samsung's flagships delivered similar performance in these tests.
