Samsung’s next flagship phones may once again be a mixed bag under the hood. The Galaxy S27 family is now tipped to combine Exynos 2700 and Qualcomm’s yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 lineup, with the Ultra and Pro models likely getting the faster Snapdragon option across all regions.
That split would not be a surprise. Samsung has been dividing its top-end phones by chipmaker for years, partly to balance supply and partly to keep regional pricing and performance targets in check. The bigger shift here is that Qualcomm’s next premium silicon is being described as a two-tier family, not a single flagship part.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Gen 6 Pro specs
The leak says both chips will be built by TSMC on its 2nm process. The standard model carries the SM8950 model number, while the Pro version is labeled SM8975. Both are said to use two prime CPU cores, three high-performance cores, and three efficiency cores, but the non-Pro chip may run at lower clock speeds.
The differences keep piling up from there:
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6: 16MB of L2 cache, 6MB of system-level cache, Adreno 845 GPU with six slices and 12MB graphics cache
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro: 8MB of system-level cache, Adreno 850 GPU with up to 18MB graphics cache
- Memory support: quad-channel 24-bit LPDDR6 or quad-channel 16-bit LPDDR5X on the Pro, LPDDR5X on the standard chip
- Storage and connectivity: UFS 5.0, integrated 5G modems, sub-6GHz and mmWave support, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, and USB Type-C data speeds up to 10Gbps
If that sounds like overkill, that is because it is. Qualcomm appears to be creating more separation between ”very fast” and ”absolutely everything” for the next wave of Android flagships, which gives Samsung room to reserve the top bin for the models it wants to sell as the performance halo.
Which Galaxy S27 models get which chip
According to the report, the Galaxy S27 and Galaxy S27+ should use the 2nm Exynos 2700 in most markets. Canada, China, and the US may instead get Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 or the Pro variant. The Galaxy S27 Pro and Galaxy S27 Ultra are expected to use Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro globally.
There is one catch: earlier reports suggested Samsung Foundry might build at least some of these chips, but this latest claim says otherwise. If TSMC keeps the contract, Samsung loses more than bragging rights; it also loses a chance to tie its own flagship phones more tightly to its manufacturing arm. That would be a familiar story, and not a flattering one for Samsung’s chip ambitions.
Samsung’s chip split is still not settled
Nothing is locked in yet, and that is the only honest way to read this leak. Qualcomm has not announced these processors, Samsung has not confirmed the Galaxy S27 lineup, and foundry decisions can shift before launch. For now, the smart money says next year’s Galaxy flagships could arrive with a more complicated chip story than the usual Exynos-versus-Snapdragon shorthand.