A Seoul Economic Daily reported on Aug. 23 that Samsung's unreleased Exynos 2700 outperformed Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 in internal tests covering CPU, GPU, AI performance, and power efficiency. The results reportedly came from Samsung's own Mobile eXperience division, making them an early indicator rather than independent proof that Exynos has overtaken Snapdragon.
The comparison included both the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and a reported higher-end Pro variant. Samsung has confirmed the Exynos 2700 is in development for flagship smartphones, but it has not confirmed the benchmark figures.
Samsung's reported benchmark advantage
On Geekbench 6.5's multicore test, the Exynos 2700 reportedly scored 19% higher than the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and 9.5% higher than the Pro variant.
The GPU numbers are potentially more meaningful for everyday use. At a reported 2.5-watt power limit, the Exynos 2700 delivered 24% higher performance than the standard Qualcomm chip and 22% higher performance than the Pro model. At peak performance, its reported advantage over the Pro chip narrowed to 5%.
If that low-power advantage carries over to retail hardware, it could translate into stronger sustained gaming performance with less heat and battery drain. The report, however, does not disclose enough about the test setup to show how closely those results would map to a finished Galaxy phone.
Samsung also reportedly tested the chips with Meta's Llama 3.1 8B AI model. The Exynos 2700 generated responses 18% faster than Qualcomm's Pro chip and processed prompts 5% faster. In a simulated real-use power test, Samsung measured current draw of 161 milliamperes for Exynos versus 185 mA for Qualcomm, a difference of about 12.7%.
Current draw alone is not a complete measure of energy efficiency without matching voltage and test duration, so that result should be treated as one specific test rather than a definitive battery-life comparison.
What Samsung's tests can't prove yet
The reported comparison leaves out several details needed to judge how meaningful the margins really are.
The report does not identify the test devices, cooling setup, clock speeds, memory configurations, software builds, or number of benchmark runs. Those variables can materially affect performance, especially during longer GPU workloads.
It is also unclear whether Qualcomm's samples represented final silicon or earlier engineering hardware. Until comparable retail phones can be independently tested under the same conditions, Samsung's reported lead remains promising rather than definitive.
Why Exynos 2700 could run cooler
Samsung is expected to manufacture the Exynos 2700 using its second-generation 2-nanometer SF2P process, with improvements in power efficiency, thermal management, and computing performance over the first-generation 2nm process used for the Exynos 2600.
The chip is also rumored to use a side-by-side package that places the processor and DRAM next to each other instead of stacking them. A Heat Path Block would help dissipate heat from both components, potentially reducing thermal throttling during demanding workloads. Samsung has not confirmed the final packaging.
There is also newer evidence that development is progressing. A Geekbench AI result uploaded Aug. 21 for a Samsung S5E9975 engineering board — widely associated with the Exynos 2700 — shows a 10-core CPU with a prime core reaching 4.24 GHz. The board was running Android 17 with 10.67 GB of usable memory.
That listing does not validate Samsung's Snapdragon comparison, but it does show that newer Exynos 2700-class hardware is actively being tested.
Why Samsung wants more Exynos chips in Galaxy phones
Samsung System LSI President Park Yong-in said in June that Exynos 2700 development was proceeding "without setbacks," with the goal of using the chip in flagship smartphones.
Samsung has not announced which Galaxy models or regions will receive it. Forecasts suggest Exynos could play a larger role in the Galaxy S27 generation, but exact model and regional allocations remain speculative.
Samsung also has a financial incentive to rely more heavily on its own silicon. The company spent 13.83 trillion won on application-processor solutions in 2025, up 26.5% from 2024, and another 7.44 trillion won in the first half of 2026 on suppliers including Qualcomm and MediaTek.
Using more Exynos chips could reduce that dependence, but buyers will care far more about whether Exynos models match Snapdragon versions in performance, efficiency, and heat management.
Why Exynos still has something to prove
Samsung's recent flagship-chip history gives buyers reason to wait for independent testing.
The Galaxy S25 series launched with Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy across the lineup after Samsung's Exynos plans for that generation fell short. The Exynos 2500 later reached commercial hardware, with Samsung confirming the Galaxy Z Flip7 uses the Exynos 2500.
That history makes the Exynos 2700 more than a benchmark story. Buyers in markets that have historically received Exynos variants have often had to pay close attention to which chip powers their Galaxy phone.
If Samsung's reported gains hold, that distinction could become much less important — or even favor Exynos.
Snapdragon's September reveal is the next checkpoint
Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit runs Sept. 22-24, 2026, giving the industry a near-term opportunity to learn more about its next flagship Snapdragon platform.
The real comparison will come later in production phones: sustained gaming performance, battery life, thermals, AI workloads, and benchmarks run under comparable conditions.
If the Exynos 2700 reaches Galaxy S27 phones, the bigger question will not be whether it wins one Samsung-run benchmark. It will be whether Exynos-equipped Galaxy buyers get the same — or better — speed, gaming performance, battery life, and thermal behavior as buyers of Snapdragon models.
Comments
Be the first, drop a comment!