Exynos Galaxy S26 gameplay performance test
One thing I’ve wanted to find out since the launch of the Galaxy S26 series is just how well Samsung’s new Exynos 2600 chip and its Xclipse 960 GPU stack up when playing the latest Android games. The brand is clearly positioning it as a top-tier gaming platform, especially with its dual-chip strategy for non-Ultra flagships — some customers receive Exynos variants, while the US and select markets use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy — but can it really compete with Qualcomm’s fastest chip in the business?
A quick look at benchmarks suggests the Exynos chip may trail the top Snapdragon and MediaTek competitors in peak performance, but should still outperform Tensor-based hardware. However, real-world gaming performance often tells a different story.
Exynos Galaxy S26 gameplay performance test
The first game in my usual rotation is Genshin Impact. The open world, with all options set to the maximum available configuration and the frame rate set to 60fps, was once a significant stress test for high-end phones. However, most of today’s flagship handsets handle this setup with a tightly locked frame rate, and the Exynos-equipped Galaxy S26 Plus is no exception.
However, Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL and its Tensor G5 chip struggle more noticeably. Its Imagination Technologies PowerVR DXT-48-1536 GPU just can’t keep up with the fastest Adreno, Mali, or Xclipse graphics units found in comparably priced flagship phones, with gameplay barely hitting 45fps on average.
To further differentiate performance, I turned to a high-refresh-rate title: Call of Duty Mobile. The game’s Battle Royale mode combines open-world geometry with a maximum 120fps cap and fast-paced, demanding action, making for a heavy workload. However, in this test scenario, Samsung’s Exynos flagship is capped at 60fps, with no way to unlock the ultra setting, even when graphics are turned down, despite being several months post-launch.
Should gamers buy an Exynos phone?
Robert Triggs / Android AuthorityPlaying a small selection of games on the latest Android flagships has left us with quite a few things to mull over. One of the major sticking points through this test has been the impact that per-game optimizations and configurations have on the gameplay experiences available, regardless of how much theoretical graphics grunt your phone has.
Despite being very capable, the Exynos 2600 and Dimensity 9500 were capped at 60fps in at least one title, where they could have performed even better. Snapdragon was not. 60fps is smooth, of course, but when you’re paying for top-tier performance, you want to at least have the option to go full pelt when you want. This occasionally plays into Pixel’s hands, which, while clearly inferior in benchmarks, can often fall much closer to the artificially limited performance of other chips.
Pinning the blame here is difficult. On the one hand, game manufacturers tweak their settings to ensure that consumers aren’t disappointed by cranking the settings up too high, but this then puts an additional burden on game developers and vendors to keep their lists up to date.
