Those who have been hoping the rumors of Samsung bringing all Galaxy S25 models with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip to all markets are in for some disappointment today: an Exynos-powered Galaxy S25+ has appeared on the Geekbench benchmark platform.
It's common for rumors of Samsung going all in with Snapdragon to show up every year, and the cynical ones among us know not to take those too seriously. And it's something that may never happen if Qualcomm keeps jacking up prices for its flagship Snapdragon chips.
Snapdragon chips, particularly the Snapdragon 8 Elite, are fantastic and have no equal right now, so Qualcomm can't be blamed for charging a premium. But it does mean Samsung will have to continue to depend on Exynos chips for some Galaxy S models or look to alternatives like MediaTek's Dimensity chips.
Based on this benchmark, it appears the Galaxy S25 and S25+'s Exynos 2500 chipset will anywhere between 20-40% weaker than the Snapdragon 8 Elite in single-core and multi-core performance. The performance scores may improve as Samsung optimizes the phones and software, but there may not be enough time for any major improvements, at least if Samsung plans to launch the Galaxy S25 lineup in late January.
