The rumor mill has already revealed a lot about the Galaxy S26, with leaked CAD renders even confirming that Samsung will adopt a curvier design for its next Ultra flagship. Now, Samsung itself has teased the Galaxy S26, indicating that it would feature an Exynos AP and use newer camera sensors.
During its Q3 2025 earnings call, Samsung’s VP of Mobile Experience Division, Daniel Araujo, revealed (via Android Authority) that the Galaxy S26 will “revolutionize the user experience with user-centric, next-gen AI, a second-generation custom AP, and stronger performance, including new camera sensors.”
At a glance, you might think Araujo’s statement is just marketing speak and reveals nothing about the S26. But that’s not the case. The executive specifically referred to a “second-generation custom AP,” which pretty much confirms that Exynos will make a comeback with the Galaxy S26 series next year.
The big question now is whether Samsung will bring the chip to the Ultra or only use it on the base and Plus variants.
A recent Korean report claimed the Exynos 2600 will bring a major performance boost, packing a 30% faster NPU and 29% faster GPU. It’s supposedly even faster than the iPhone 17’s A19 Pro chipset, which is currently the world’s fastest mobile SoC.
New camera sensor, but will the primary shooter get an upgrade?
The executive also explicitly confirms that the Galaxy S26 will use newer camera sensors. Rumors suggest the company will stick to the same 200MP HP9 primary camera, but use a newer sensor for the 3x shooter. That should help improve its image quality, with the primary and 5x camera also benefiting from a faster aperture.
Ideally, Samsung should even use a newer 200MP sensor on the S26 Ultra, since the HP9 camera is now a few years old. It’s not able to deliver the same performance as its Ultra rivals, struggling in capturing motion and low-light scenarios.
Besides hardware upgrades, the Korean company will also focus on adding new AI features to its phones as a key selling point. It even plans to bring more AI features to its Galaxy Watch lineup.
