GoKawiilOne thing I’ve wanted to find out since the launch of the Galaxy S26 series is just how well Samsung’s new Exynos 2600 chip and its Xclipse 960 GPU stack up when playing the latest Android games. The brand is clearly positioning it as a top-tier gaming platform, especially with its dual-chip strategy for non-Ultra flagships — some customers receive Exynos variants, while the US and select markets use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy — but can it really compete with Qualcomm’s fastest chip in the business?
Samsung’s overclocked ‘for Galaxy’ Snapdragon proved to be a marginal benchmark topper, leaving the Exynos 2600 with a lot of work to do if Samsung wants to offer comparable performance and gaming experience across its entire lineup. To see exactly where Samsung’s new Exynos flagships stack up, I grabbed my Snapdragon-powered Xiaomi 17 Ultra, OPPO Find X9 Pro with a MediaTek Dimensity 9500 onboard, and Google’s Tensor G5-equipped Pixel 10 Pro XL.
A quick look at benchmarks suggests the Exynos chip may trail the top Snapdragon and MediaTek competitors in peak performance, but should still outperform Tensor-based hardware. However, real-world gaming performance often tells a different story.
Exynos Galaxy S26 gameplay performance test
The first game in my usual rotation is Genshin Impact. The open world, with all options set to the maximum available configuration and the frame rate set to 60fps, was once a significant stress test for high-end phones. However, most of today’s flagship handsets handle this setup with a tightly locked frame rate, and the Exynos-equipped Galaxy S26 Plus is no exception.
However, Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL and its Tensor G5 chip struggle more noticeably. Its Imagination Technologies PowerVR DXT-48-1536 GPU just can’t keep up with the fastest Adreno, Mali, or Xclipse graphics units found in comparably priced flagship phones, with gameplay barely hitting 45fps on average.
To further differentiate performance, I turned to a high-refresh-rate title: Call of Duty Mobile. The game’s Battle Royale mode combines open-world geometry with a maximum 120fps cap and fast-paced, demanding action, making for a heavy workload. However, in this test scenario, Samsung’s Exynos flagship is capped at 60fps, with no way to unlock the ultra setting, even when graphics are turned down, despite being several months post-launch.
Performance still feels smooth, but for competitive, first-person gameplay, you can actually achieve a higher frame rate on Google’s comparatively low-end Tensor G5, which holds closer to 80fps. That’s not a huge difference in smoothness, but it shows that GPU driver identification and chipset configuration lists can have a significant impact on the graphical and performance experiences available.
Based on the Genshin Impact results, I would expect the Exynos chip to easily pull in a steady 90fps in this test, and it’s entirely possible it could reach close to, if not lock, 120fps as well.
Per game GPU/handset optimizations can leave performance on the table.
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