Samsung’s Galaxy S26 is still months from launch, but the rumor mill isn’t slowing down. Just as fresh battery details surfaced earlier today, a new leak is now shedding light on what’s likely powering Samsung’s next-gen flagship.
According to frequent tipster Ice Universe, the upcoming S26 lineup will run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, and more specifically, a custom-tuned “For Galaxy” version of it.
Samsung and Qualcomm have been collaborating on these exclusive Galaxy-only variants for a while now, often resulting in slightly better performance compared to the standard chips used in other Android flagships.
A 4.47GHz SoC
So what’s new this time? For starters, the chip’s prime core is rumored to hit 4.74GHz, a noticeable jump from the 4.47GHz peak found in the Galaxy S25’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
The standard version of the 8 Elite 2 is expected to top out at around 4.4GHz, and both variants will be manufactured on TSMC’s third-gen 3nm process. That’s projected to offer a 4% performance boost and 9% lower power consumption compared to the previous gen, even without touching the clock speeds.
As for the phones themselves, Samsung is reportedly prepping the Galaxy S26, S26 Edge, and S26 Ultra for an early 2026 debut. The Ultra model is said to retain the same 5,000mAh battery as last year but could bump up its wired charging speeds from 45W to 65W.
Still, Samsung may not be first out of the gate with Qualcomm’s new silicon. The Xiaomi 16 series is expected to be the first to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. Samsung will launch the device much later in January, mostly after its Chinese competitors announce their respective flasghips.
For now, this latest round of leaks adds to the growing picture of what to expect from the Galaxy S26 series.
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