Samsung is set to launch the Galaxy S26 series on Feb 25, and these phones will unlock next-gen performance for these flagship phones. We’ve also seen reports of the Exynos 2600 returning to the S-series in selected regions, but our focus remains on Snapdragon.

The Snapdragon team has already created hype for the Unpacked February 2026 event, officially indicating that the next-gen S-series phones will use a new Qualcomm mobile chip. That said, here are some of the key aspects of its performance side.

CPU

The Snapdragon 8 Elite has a custom-built 3rd gen Qualcomm Oryon CPU with 64-bit architecture featuring 2 prime cores up to 4.6GHz and 6 performance cores, clocked up to 3.62GHz.

With this setup, the chip deliver 20% single core, 17% multi-core, and 32% responsiveness improvements.

AI

Since Samsung will need an improved NPU for upcoming Galaxy AI features, the 8 Elite Gen 5 chip will deliver 37% NPU performance increase, up to 220 tokens per second, 64-bit memory visualization, and up to 32,000 context windows with 2-bit support.

Samsung is expected to take on a new AI content creation feature too with One UI 8.5, and the new chip will help the company deliver the optimum user experience.

GPU

The next-gen Qualcomm Adreno GPU will hike a 23% in overall performance, 25% improvemnet in ray tracing with a top speed of 1.2Gz. Furthermore, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 brings 18MB dedicated memory, 10% power efficiency, and 38% performance improvement.

Power

Combined, these segments contribute more power saving compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Qualcomm says the new chip will bring 35% CPU, 20% GPU, 16% AI, and 16% overall SoC power efficiency.

Modem

This 3nm chip is using Qualcomm X85 5G Modem-RF with 5G advanced, 5G mmWave, and sub-6 GHz, 5G standalone (SA). It will provide 12.5 Gbps download speed, and 30% faster AI inference, and 50% lower gaming latency with AI-powered Wi-Fi.

Geekbench

Besides these numbers, we’ll compare some of the early Geekbench benchmarks of the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the post-release S25 Ultra to see the performance enhancements.

In the most recent test, the Galaxy S26 Ultra (SM-S948B) has achieved 3761 points on single-core and 11454 on multi-core.

Galaxy S26 Ultra Geekbench Benchmarks

Compared to this, the S25 Ultra (SM-S938B), the device scores 3094 points on single-core and 9703 on multi-core. You should know that the results on single and multi-core flunctuates upto 100 points or more in iterative testing.

Galaxy S25 Ultra Geekbench Benchmark

Results

The Galaxy S26 Ultra delivers more than 600 points on single-core, which is around 21.56% improvement. The phone also reigns supreme in multi-core performance with 1751 points, over 18% increase in this segment.

You should know that the single-core and multi-core improvements will contribute to better app launches, web browsing, smooth UI interactions, seamless AI features, better gaming experience, and multi-tasking improvements.

Author’s take

Samsung has been using the Snapdragon chipset for years, and Qualcomm continues to polish its performance for Galaxy phones, the Galaxy S26 series will mark a new chapter in this partnership. Qualcomm will send executives to the Unpacked event to share more details about the chipset upgrade. We’ll also keep you posted on new updates that will arrive at the Unpacked event. Also, share some insights on the performance when the actual device arrives.

The post Galaxy S26 Series Performance: Chipset, Geekbench and more appeared first on Sammy Fans.