After months of speculation, it looks like the exclusive Qualcomm-Samsung partnership is finally bearing fruit. A new Geekbench listing has revealed what could be our first real look at the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Galaxy and the performance numbers are definitely turning heads.
A mystery Samsung device with the model number SM-S947U has surfaced, scoring 3,393 in single-core and a whopping 11,515 in multi-core. For some perspective, that’s more than 1,000 points higher than last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite in multi-core performance a significant jump by any standard.
Now, if you’re wondering what this phone might be, the clues are stacking up. Considering the Galaxy S25 Edge carried the model number SM-S937U, this new one is likely the upcoming Galaxy S26 Edge. It’s running Android 16 with One UI 8, and the test unit seems to have 12GB of RAM possibly the base model.
What’s really interesting is the chipset setup. The listing shows a 2+6 core configuration, with the main cores clocked at 4.74GHz and 3.63GHz. That’s seriously fast. However, this benchmark run only pushed it to 4.0GHz, so it’s not even hitting its full potential yet. Even so, it already edges out the Exynos 2600 and outperforms the regular Snapdragon 8 Elite about 10% faster, despite being capable of up to 30% more performance once fully unlocked.
There’s more happening under the hood, too. The Galaxy version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 might be built on Samsung’s new 2nm GAA process, while the standard variant could be based on TSMC’s 3nm node. That’s a major shift in semiconductor manufacturing and potentially a big win for Samsung if performance and efficiency hold up.
We’re expecting to hear a lot more at the Snapdragon Summit, set for September 23 to September 25, 2025. Qualcomm is also rumored to be working on a more budget-friendly flagship chip, possibly the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, and even laying early groundwork for next year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite 3.
Not to be outdone, MediaTek is also getting ready to launch its Dimensity 9500 series, rumored to feature a 3nm TSMC-based chip and a major GPU upgrade.
All signs point to a hotly contested end of the year in the flagship SoC space. We’ll be keeping a close eye on all these developments and will share hands-on tests and comparisons as soon as we get our hands on the new chips.
Stay tuned the smartphone performance race is just heating up.
