Exynos 2600 vs Exynos 2500: Which improvements does the new chip bring?

Samsung announced the Exynos 2600 chip earlier today. It is the world's first 2nm smartphone chip and is expected to be used in the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26+. Besides being a 2nm chip, the Exynos 2600 brings improvements to the CPU, GPU, image signal processor (ISP), and NPU when compared to the Exynos 2500.

Let us compare the features and specifications of the Exynos 2600 and the Exynos 2600 to see exactly what has improved.

The Exynos 2600 is a 2nm chip made by Samsung Foundry and is projected to be 25-30% more power-efficient compared to the 3nm Exynos 2500 that was launched just six months ago (June 2025). The newer chip is based on Arm's new Lumex platform, and has a 10-core CPU, the Xclipse 960 GPU, a built-in ISP, and a powerful NPU.

CPU

The Exynos 2500 has one Cortex-X925 prime CPU core clocked at 3.3GHz, two Cortex-A725 CPU cores clocked at 2.74GHz, 5x Cortex-A725 CPU cores running at 2.36GHz, and two power-efficient Cortex-A520 CPU cores clocked at 1.8GHz.

In comparison, the Exynos 2600 uses one C1 Ultra prime CPU core clocked at 3.8GHz, three C1 Pro high-performance CPU cores running at 3.25GHz, and six C1 Pro high-performance CPU cores clocked at 2.75GHz. This is the first time Samsung hasn't used any power-efficient CPU cores in an Exynos chip. All its CPU cores are prime or high-performance cores, similar to recent flaghship chips from MediaTek and Qualcomm.

Thanks to the newer architecture, a newer process node, and higher clock speed, the Exynos 2600 offers 39% improved CPU performance compared to the Exynos 2500.

GPU

The Exynos 2500 features the Xclipse 950 GPU, based on AMD's RDNA3 architecture, running at 999MHz. The Exynos 2600 has the Xclipse 960 GPU clocked at 985MHz, but Samsung hasn't revealed whether it uses RDNA3 or RDNA4 architecture.

The newer GPU is said to be 2x faster in compute performance and has 50% better ray-tracing performance. Moreover, it uses the Exynos Neural Super Sampling (ENSS) system that uses AI for frame generation and upsampling, offering smoother gameplay.

Both chips can drive up to 4K or WQUXGA resolution displays at up to 120Hz. They also support HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG video playback and can run games in HDR and high refresh rate.

RAM and storage

Both chips are compatible with LPDDR5X DRAM. The Exynos 2500 supports UFS 4.0 storage, while the Exynos 2600 supports UFS 4.1 storage.

ISP

The image signal processors (ISPs) inside the Exynos 2500 and the Exynos 2600 support up to 320MP camera sensors. They can capture 108MP images with zero shutter lag or 64MP+32MP dual-camera simultaneous image capture with zero shutter lag. They can record 4K 120fps or 8K 30fps videos in HDR with electronic image stabilization.

The ISP inside the Exynos 2600 features AI-based Visual Perception System (VPS), which can recognize a variety of detailed elements in the frame in real-time. It can even understand the blink of an eye so that it adjust frame capture to remove it. The new ISP also uses 50% less power to do the same task compared to the previous chip. Its Deep learning Video Noise Reduction (DVNR) system reduces noise in low-light videos while reducing power consumption.

Overall, the new ISP inside the Exynos 2600 might look the same on paper, but it can recognize more things to process each element differently, reduce noise by consuming less power, and uses less power overall while capturing photos and videos.

NPU

While the Exynos 2500 and the Exynos 2600 both have powerful built-in NPUs with 32,768 Multiply-Accumulate (32K MAC) units, the one inside the Exynos 2600 improves Generative AI performance by 113% and has lower latency and power consumption.

The NPU inside the Exynos 2600 is also the first NPU integrated into a mobile chip that has built-in virtualization security and hardware-backed hybrid Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) for better security.

Connectivity

This is one area where the Exynos 2500 handily beats the Exynos 2600. The Exynos 2500 has a built-in 5G modem, NTN satellite connectivity (for emergency calling and messaging), GNSS (BDS, Galileo, GPS, QZSS), Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4.

The Exynos 2600 doesn't have a built-in modem or GNSS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connectivity. It appears that Samsung will use a separate connectivity chip in combination with the Exynos 2600 in the Galaxy S26 series.

Heat dissipation

The Exynos 2500 uses the Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging (FOWLP) for better power efficiency and enhanced heat dissipation. With the Exynos 2600, Samsung has used the industry-first implementation of a new technology called Heat Path Block (HPB), which improves heat dissipation through a High-k EMC material, allowing the chip to sustain high performance for a long time even under high load.

Overall, the Exynos 2600 uses a more advanced chip fabrication technology (2nm GAA), a faster CPU, a much more powerful GPU, more efficient AI processing, improved camera performance, and more importantly, much better heat dissipation system than the Exynos 2500. The Exynos 2500 has a built-in 5G modem, direct satellite connectivity, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.