A leak has revealed the Galaxy S26’s processor: the Exynos 2600 at 2nm

A major leak has revealed the full specs of the Exynos 2600, the first 2-nanometer mobile processor that could be used in the Galaxy S26 series of smartphones.

Details of Samsung’s Exynos 2600 processor, which is expected to power part of the Galaxy S26 line of smartphones, have surfaced online.

The Exynos 2600 has already been benchmarked in Geekbench benchmarks, with results close to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It will also be the first mobile chip to use Gate-All-Around transistors, or GAAs.

Exynos 2600 has already been revealed in Geekbench benchmarks, where it has shown close results to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

In contrast to the FinFET transistors used in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, where the gate surrounds the channel on three sides, the GAA architecture uses horizontal nanolayers placed vertically. This allows the gate to surround the channel on all four sides, reducing current leakage and increasing the so-called saturation current – the amount of electrical current when the transistor is fully open.

Exynos 2600 is Samsung’s next-generation flagship SoC built on a 2nm GAA process and has already entered mass production. It is expected to power the Galaxy S26 and S26+, with a clear focus on energy efficiency, sustained performance, and on-device AI rather than peak benchmark… pic.twitter.com/KFozlBSWjO

Exynos 2600 architecture and performance

The use of GAA transistors makes processors more productive and power efficient. Samsung Foundry switched from FinFETs to GAA starting with the 3-nanometer process, and TSMC began adopting GAA in 2-nanometer production this year. Samsung expects the Exynos 2600 to deliver a 39 percent boost in CPU performance.

Exynos 2600 is a ten-core processor with a 1+3+6 configuration. It includes one performance core clocked at up to 3.80GHz, or up to 3.90GHz according to the PhoneArt insider formerly known as Ice Universe. There are also three performance cores clocked up to 3.25GHz and six energy-efficient cores clocked up to 2.75GHz.

And there are three performance cores clocked up to 3.25GHz and six energy-efficient cores clocked up to 2.75GHz.

Graphics and market distribution

A new GPU jointly developed by AMD and Samsung is responsible for the graphics in the Exynos 2600. According to PhoneArt, the GPU, codenamed Juno, runs at 985MHz. It’s the Xclipse 960, the first mobile GPU manufactured using the 2-nanometer GAA process.

An Xclipse 960 is the first mobile GPU manufactured using the 2-nanometer GAA process.

The Galaxy S26 series is expected to be unveiled in late January or mid-February next year. The Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ models in South Korea, Europe, key Asian countries and emerging markets could get the Exynos 2600. In the US, China and Japan, these smartphones will be powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S26 Ultra in all regions will come exclusively with the 3-nanometer Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.