Exynos 2600 is fundamentally different than Samsung's previous in-house chips

Samsung recently unveiled its next-generation flagship smartphone chip, the Exynos 2600. It is the world's first smartphone chip that is made using a 2nm fabrication process. But that isn't the only thing that makes it fundamentally different from previous-generation chips. It lacks an important feature that was present in Samsung's previous chips.

The Exynos 2600 doesn't have an integrated cellular modem. All previous Exynos chips that Samsung released over the past few years have had built-in modems. For example, the Exynos 2400 has the Shannon 5153 integrated modem, while the Exynos 2600 has the Shannon 5163 integrated 5G modem. This makes the Exynos 2600 fundamentally different from previous Exynos chips.

The new Exynos chip also lacks built-in GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, and NFC connectivity. So, Samsung will have to use an external modem and an additional connectivity chip in combination with the Exynos 2600. According to tipster @erenylmaz075, the Exynos 2600 will be paired with an external Samsung modem called the Shannon 5410. It could have 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, and NTN (direct satellite) connectivity. The company could unveil the features and specifications of the Shannon 5410 chip in the next few days.

Usually, a smartphone system-on-chip with a built-in cellular modem is considered to be better, as that allows smartphone manufacturers to fit in more components within the same area. But not every brand uses chips with integrated modems. For example, Apple still uses separate modem and wireless connectivity chips in iPhones and iPads.

The Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26+, which are expected to use the Exynos 2600 chip, could use the unannounced S6568 chip that features Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.1.

It is rumored that Samsung decided not to integrate a modem inside the Exynos 2600 to reduce heat generation and use that area for other intellectual property (IP) blocks, such as the CPU, GPU, NPU, and ISP. Since other IP blocks get to use more surface area of a chip, they could pack in more transistors, resulting in higher performance than previous Exynos chips.

The newer 2nm process node, improved CPU and GPU cores, simplified design (no integrated cellular modem), and the Heat Path Block (HPB) solution for better heat dissipation could significantly enhance the Exynos 2600's performance. This is particularly beneficial under sustained high-load conditions.

However, real-world testing will ultimately determine if it is an improvement over Samsung's previous in-house chips and whether it can match the performance and efficiency of chips from Apple, MediaTek, and Qualcomm.