Samsung Exynos 2500 in Galaxy S25+ Falls Short of Snapdragon 8 Elite

Samsung has faced persistent challenges with the first and second-generation 3nm GAA manufacturing processes, significantly impacting the viability of its flagship Exynos 2500 chipset. However, this has not stopped Samsung from testing the Exynos 2500 on many Galaxy S25 models. And according to a recent Geekbench 6 listing, there’s already a Galaxy S25+ prototype out in the wild that is powered by this chipset. The listing, discovered by the tipster Jukanlosreve, lists a 10-core CPU configuration that would feature a peak core clock of 3.30GHz. However, performance data remains more limited.

Exynos 2500 Spotted in Galaxy S25+ Prototype, Trails Snapdragon 8 Elite in Benchmarks

The Exynos 2500 is running on state-of-the-art 3nm GAA technology for better energy efficiency but still ranks as one of the fastest benchmarks behind its competition. The single-core and multi-core scores it reached were 2,358 and 8,211. In single-thread performance, the Exynos 2500 is around 37% slower than Qualcomm’s work in the Snapdragon 8 Elite and is 78.34% behind in multi-thread operations. It’s faster than the Google Tensor G4 out of the box, but overall benchmark scores are still showing a pretty big gap compared to other flagship rivals.

This Galaxy S25+ prototype features not only the Exynos 2500 but also 12GB of RAM and is running Android 15 – an indication of Samsung’s efforts in fine-tuning its device. Meanwhile, Exynos 2500’s lower benchmark scores imply that users might not be at their best as the same line continues to include Snapdragon 8 models Elite. If they got a Galaxy S25 with an Exynos chipset who knows, customers might think twice, if at all.

With that being said, the performance gap between Qualcomm and Apple chips would certainly drive away potential customers even if Samsung does end up finding a solution to its apparent yield issues and achieves mass production of the Exynos 2500. Samsung could turn to MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 for the US versions. However, Samsung might also have Snapdragon 8 Elite-exclusive plans for the launch of the Galaxy S25 series, given Qualcomm’s market position dominance. The move would help to please customers and position the highly popular smartphone category again, the report noted.

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