The Exynos 2700 reportedly beat the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 in internal benchmarks, outscoring it in multi-core Geekbench by around 10%. However, it may have another advantage – running cooler. In a flashback to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the new Elite Extreme Gen 6 runs too hot for Samsung’s liking, according to industry insiders quoted by SEDaily.
During testing of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra, Samsung found that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 exceeded temperature thresholds and started throttling during heavy sustained loads.
Now, there are already several phones with the Extreme chip, but Chinese makers tend to use beefier vapor chambers than what Samsung typically uses.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6
Anyway, Samsung and Qualcomm are working to resolve the issue. Samsung reportedly gave the Snapdragon designer until the middle of this month to find a fix. And yes, it’s mid-October already, but rumors come out with a delay. Still, the latest information that was shared by insiders is that there was no fix yet.
This has caused Samsung to re-evaluate the Exynos 2700. Mass production for the Galaxy S27 series is supposed to start at the end of the year, so that the company will have units ready for the traditional February/March launch. This means that the decision has to be made soon.
One thing that isn’t made explicitly clear in the report is whether this could lead to a split solution – some markets get Snapdragon-powered S27 Ultras, other markets get Exynos-powered Ultras – or whether Samsung will drop the Snapdragon altogether and use its in-house chip exclusively. Presumably it’s the former, since the Ultra is the best-selling model of the S-series and it will need a large supply of chipsets.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is the first mobile chipset to crack the 5GHz barrier
An insider explains (machine translated): “It is not that the inclusion of Qualcomm APs in the Galaxy S27 Ultra model has been finally dropped. If the overheating issue cannot be resolved, alternatives must be considered to meet the mass production schedule.”
Even if it’s just the split solution, this would be a massive win for Samsung LSI, the division that designs Exynos. The local Korean market hasn’t had an Exynos-powered Ultra since 2021 and the global market hasn’t seen one since 2022.
That will bring a lot of prestige to LSI as well as a lot of much-needed revenue. It will also save Samsung DX, the division that makes the phones, some money as the top Snapdragon chips are quite expensive.
