Just a day after its global unveiling at Galaxy Unpacked, the Samsung Galaxy S26 series is already being put through its paces. And as expected, the Snapdragon vs Exynos debate is back — though this time, the gap doesn’t look quite as dramatic as in previous years.
It’s also worth noting that the Exynos 2600 is Samsung’s first chip built on its 2nm GAA process, while the Snapdragon variant continues to rely on TSMC’s mature 3nm node. In a way, these early results aren’t just about Qualcomm vs Exynos — they’re also an early indicator of how far Samsung Foundry’s next-gen manufacturing has come.
Post-launch Geekbench 6 scores are starting to surface, and they paint a pretty clear picture on the CPU side. The Galaxy S26 Ultra posted single-core scores of 3,670 and 3,724 in two separate runs, with multi-core results reaching 10,981 and 11,237. These are strong numbers and in line with what you’d expect from Qualcomm’s tuned “for Galaxy” variants with slightly higher clocks, tighter optimization, and aggressive performance scaling.
Meanwhile, the Exynos 2600 inside the Galaxy S26+ recorded 3,105–3,197 in single-core and 10,444–11,012 in multi-core tests. That puts Snapdragon ahead by roughly 10 to 18 percent in CPU performance when it comes to single-threaded workloads. In practical terms, that could translate to slightly snappier app launches and better responsiveness under lighter loads.
But the GPU story is more interesting this year. In OpenCL testing, the Exynos 2600 actually posted a marginally higher score — 24,240, compared to the Snapdragon’s 24,152. It’s a tiny difference, but symbolically important.
That’s notable because historically, Exynos variants have struggled to keep up with Qualcomm not just in CPU efficiency but also in GPU stability and sustained output. If these early numbers hold up in long gaming sessions and real-world thermal tests, Samsung may finally have narrowed the performance perception gap.
Of course, these are still early post-launch benchmarks. Sustained performance and battery drain under load will matter more once full reviews drop.
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