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(Image credit: Future) |
Samsung's forthcoming Galaxy S25 smartphones are expected to be released in the first few months of the upcoming year, with the last four models arriving in January or February, if past performance is any indication.
While there are a ton of leaks and speculations regarding the Samsung Galaxy S25 currently available, a recent report reveals some intriguing information about its replacement. According to a leaker in China, which Phone Arena quotes, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor, which is expected to power premium smartphones in 2026, would have a significant power gain over current models.
A brief health caution regarding smartphone leaks from social media platforms before we get into the details. The veracity of any particular leak cannot be trusted, even though they have frequently shown to be accurate in the past. This is especially true when the poster in issue lacks a solid track record that may be consulted. Phone Arena notes that the leaker in issue, The Undead on Weibo, has a "unknown" track record, so proceed with caution while reading the following.
After clearing it up, the article describes how the performance cores of the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 can achieve up to 5GHz, but the efficiency cores will only reach 4GHz.
Although the specifications of Qualcomm's chip for this year are still unknown (we're assuming 4GHz), we do know that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, which powers the Samsung Galaxy S24, has core speeds of 2.26 to 3.39 GHz, which would be a significant increase in just two years.
Again, for the time being, it's probably wise to approach this with some suspicion. Even in the unlikely event that the (still theoretical) processor achieves these speeds, it might not be useful when housed within cellphones. Even with the expected increases in efficiency brought about by the 3nm manufacturing process, cooling space is still restricted.
The problem is that a near-50% speed bump may feel like overkill for a smartphone that many consumers already find to be more than quick enough. However, for two areas—high-end mobile gaming and on-device AI—faster is always preferable. Since every smartphone manufacturer is placing a large bet on the latter, those advancing cutting-edge generative AI capabilities in the next years will undoubtedly welcome additional speed.
Of course, we still have the Samsung Galaxy S25 to look forward to before the Galaxy S26. Leaked benchmarks point to a 25–30% increase in performance, along with additional RAM and significant camera upgrades for the S25 Ultra variant.