- We may have another preview of the Galaxy S26 designs
- There is also a new rumor about the Samsung Exynos 2600 chip
- We expect three flagship Galaxy S26 phones next year
We’re expecting three new contenders for our best Android phones list when Samsung unveils the Galaxy S26 series early next year, and a couple of new leaks have given us a better idea of what to expect from these devices.
First of all, as Android Authority discovered, there are images of the Galaxy S26 phones hidden in the yet-unreleased code for Samsung One UI 8.5, the major software update set to launch in 2026 at the same time as the new flagship phones.
We get clear renders of the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus, and Galaxy S26 Ultra, which are the three phones expected to launch in January, February, or March (it has been reported that there won’t be a Galaxy S26 Edge next year).
These images align with previously leaked images of the phones, with vertically stacked cameras located on their own island and curved corners. It looks like there won’t be a huge number of design changes regarding the Samsung Galaxy S25 phones.
A tale of two pieces
Our second leak comes from South Korean outlet IT Home (via GSMArena): Apparently Samsung’s plan is to simply use its own Exynos 2600 processor in its home country of South Korea, and use Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets in everyone else.
Current production issues and previous technology issues have contributed to the decision, according to the IT Home article. It’s worth noting that none of the Galaxy S25 phones included the Exynos 2500, although it does appear on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7.
It would be a surprise if the Exynos 2600 was ready to go in time and only appeared in models sold in South Korea. Samsung has already launched its own chips to more markets, and was rumored to do so again in 2026.
Still, Samsung’s Exynos plans are notoriously difficult to predict and change year after year (as we’ve seen in 2025). For models and markets where the Exynos 2600 is not used, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will almost certainly be implemented.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
