Traditionally, Samsung equips its Galaxy S series in an Exynos and a Snapdragon variant, depending on where you live in the world. The S23 Series was the exception, with all models getting a Snapdragon chip. That appears to be happening again for the S25 Series.
The decision to use both Exynos and Snapdragon chips is controversial. Generally, models with Snapdragon chips are considered better (read; faster and more economical). The S24 Series is somewhat the exception to the rule because the performance is similar. For 2025, however, Samsung has a problem.
This is because Samsung fails to bake large volumes of Exynos chips on 3nm, something Qualcomm can do. And that is why analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks the entire S25 series will be equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 that is based on a 3nm process from TSMC (N3E).
S25 Ultra, S25+ and S25
Normally only the S25 Ultra comes exclusively in a Snapdragon version. Should this news be true, we will also get the S25 and S25+ in a Snapdragon variant in Europe.
Future Exynos 2500
What this news means for the Exynos 2500 chip, which was supposed to compete with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, is unknown. Samsung could skip the chip to improve its own manufacturing process. Theoretically, it then has enough time to then apply the chip in the Galaxy Z series to follow later in the year. But that series already traditionally comes exclusively with Snapdragon chip. So that idea does not seem very plausible.
When Samsung fitted the entire Galaxy S23 series with a Qualcomm processor, it was rumored that this would be the end of its own Exynos processor line. That ultimately turned out not to be the case. And it does not seem to be the case (again). For now, we assume that this is another one-time outing.
