Samsung might be sticking with Exynos for the Galaxy S27 — but this time, it could actually be worth paying attention.
After years of criticism around overheating and poor efficiency, Samsung’s chip division started to turn things around with the Exynos 2600 in the Galaxy S26. It wasn’t perfect, but it was noticeably more stable in real-world use. This was thanks in part to a built-in Heat Path Block that improved heat dissipation by up to 16%.
Now, with the rumoured Exynos 2700, Samsung looks ready to take another step forward.
The big change this time is a shift to an SBS (side-by-side) memory design. Instead of stacking DRAM on top of the chip, which traps heat, the memory will sit alongside it. It’s a small architectural tweak, but it could make a big difference. Better heat management should mean higher sustained performance, improved efficiency, and potentially faster speeds thanks to reduced latency.
In other words, this isn’t just another routine spec bump. Instead, it’s Samsung trying to fix one of Exynos’ longest-running problems at a hardware level.
That said, there’s still a gap to close. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, used in the Galaxy S26 Ultra, continues to outperform Exynos chips, especially when it comes to battery life and thermal efficiency. That’s a big reason why Samsung still split its line-up this year; it reserved Snapdragon for the Ultra and select regions.
The hope is that the Exynos 2700 narrows that gap enough to make the choice less noticeable. If the new design delivers, it could finally give Samsung a chip that doesn’t feel like a compromise.
It’s still early days, and nothing is confirmed yet, but the direction is promising. After years of lagging behind, Exynos might finally be moving from “avoid if you can” to something a bit more competitive. For Galaxy S27 buyers, that’s a meaningful shift.
