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Samsung Galaxy S26 series could debut in the next two years with a next generation 2nm chip, according to an ETNews report. 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 is yet to launch a smartphone with a 3nm Exynos chip — the current Galaxy S24 lineup that was introduced earlier this year runs on 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 that is expected to debut on the Galaxy S26 series of smartphones in early 2026. The smartphone maker’s advanced chip is reportedly codenamed ‘Thetis’. Rival chip manufacturer TSMC is also said to be working on its on 2nm node, but there’s no word from both companies on when they will be ready for production.
If these claims are accurate, the Exynos 2600 will compete against the supposed Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, MediaTek Dimensity 9500, and Apple’s A19 Pro chips. It could also arrive as the successor to the Exynos W1000 chip that is said to power the successors to the Galaxy Watch 6 series that is likely to launch later this year.
We can speculate that the rumoured Exynos 2600 chip will be equipped with a Cortex X6 ‘Prime’ core from Arm, which could also arrive on the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip — Apple and Qualcomm use customised 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 purported Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC. It is currently unclear whether Qualcomm’s next flagship mobile processor will be built on a 3nm node. Meanwhile, the same report also said the Galaxy Watch 7 would also arrive with a 3nm Exynos W1000 chip.
When Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series was launched earlier this year, gaming tests revealed that the gap between flagship Exynos and Snapdragon chips was closing. The test involved popular games including Fortnite, Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, PUBG New State, and Call of Duty: Mobile. Both the Exynos 2400 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 on Samsung’s flagships offered similar performance in those tests, according to the report.
