Last year, there existed only the Snapdragon 8 Elite, making it severely difficult for Qualcomm’s smartphone partners to choose anything that was not a flagship-level chipset. This year, the San Diego firm has followed in Apple’s footsteps and introduced not just the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, but also confirmed the existence of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. The latter could be the ideal addition to the Galaxy S26 FE, making it Samsung’s best ‘price to performance’ launch to date.
Since Samsung has nothing in between its upcoming Exynos 2600 and Exynos 2500, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will become the obvious choice for the Galaxy S26 FE
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is scheduled to arrive later this year, with its biggest strength not just sharing the same 3nm ‘N3P’ lithography as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, but also being treated to Qualcomm’s in-house Oryon cores, enabling better performance and efficiency from the SoC. Naturally, it will have fewer performance cores than its more powerful cousin, with the overall configuration operating at a lower frequency.
Thankfully, Qualcomm’s Group GM of Mobile, Computer, and XR, Alex Katouzian, says that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 gives ‘more choices and flexibility, while still delivering flagship features.’ In short, with a smaller price tag, Samsung will definitely want to take advantage of all the perks this chipset has to offer and add it to the Galaxy S26 FE’s internal specifications list.
Last year, the Korean giant did not have any options, as the Snapdragon 8 Elite occupied the flagship bracket, while the Exynos 2500 was already reserved for the Galaxy Z Flip 7 because it was produced in scarcity. That left Samsung with just the Exynos 2400 to use in the Galaxy S25 FE, and to remind you, it offered a negligible change compared to the Exynos 2400e powering the Galaxy S24 FE.
Furthermore, since Samsung is preparing its first 2nm GAA chipset, the Exynos 2600, and has nothing to offer between the latter and the Exynos 2500 to serve as a middle ground, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will be its best option. Despite Qualcomm and MediaTek reportedly paying TSMC up to 24 percent more for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Dimensity 9500 because of increased 3nm ‘N3P’ wafer prices, the watered-down features of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will allow the company to sell it at a competitive price.
Now all that matters is Samsung pushing for an early launch of the Galaxy S26 FE, because you can rest assured that other competitors will have their Snapdragon 8 Gen 5-powered devices ready for the market in a few months.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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