Exynos 2600 Tipped to Dominate Android Gaming with Unmatched Ray Tracing Power

The upcoming SoC Exynos 2600, expected to be at the heart of the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, is shaping up to be the top platform in the Android market for GPU performance in ray tracing workloads. Recent tests using the Basemark In Vitro 1.0 Ray Tracing benchmark show Samsung’s platform not only taking the top spot but also creating a significant gap between it and its rivals. This development could signal a major shift in the competitive landscape of high-end mobile processors, where Samsung’s Exynos has often been seen as trailing behind Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series.

Benchmark Breakdown: A Clear Lead

In the specialized Basemark In Vitro test, which evaluates a GPU’s ability to handle complex, realistic lighting through ray tracing, the new Xclipse 960 GPU in the Exynos 2600 achieved a score of 8,321 points. In comparison, the Adreno 840 GPU in the competing Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 scored 7,649 points. This places the Exynos 2600 approximately 8.8% ahead of its primary competitor in this specific, forward-looking metric. The MediaTek Dimensity 9500, another key player, lagged further behind with 7,075 points, making Samsung’s chip about 17.6% faster.

The generational improvement is even more striking. The Xclipse 950 GPU in the previous top-tier Exynos processor scored only 5,734 points, meaning Samsung has managed to boost performance by nearly 50% in a single generation.

Architectural Leap with AMD’s RDNA 4

This impressive performance gain is not surprising given the underlying architectural changes. Firstly, Samsung has reportedly doubled the number of GPU compute units. Secondly, and more critically, the Xclipse 960 is the first mobile GPU to be based on AMD’s RDNA 4 architecture, which features powerful, dedicated Ray Tracing (RT) cores. This collaboration allows Samsung to leverage cutting-edge graphics technology from the PC gaming world and adapt it for mobile, a strategy that appears to be paying off significantly. The new chip is also the first to be built on Samsung’s 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process, which promises greater power efficiency and performance.

Market Context and Future Outlook

For years, many users, especially gamers, have favored the Snapdragon variants of Samsung’s flagship phones over the Exynos versions due to perceived performance gaps. This decisive win in a key graphics benchmark could change that narrative. While CPU performance between the Exynos 2600 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 appears to be closely matched in other benchmarks, this GPU advantage could make the Exynos-powered Galaxy S26 a more attractive option for mobile gamers.

Of course, it’s important to maintain perspective. Ray tracing in mobile games is still an emerging technology, with only a handful of titles currently supporting it. Therefore, it is crucial to await tests in games running in traditional rasterization modes to get a complete picture of the Xclipse 960’s capabilities. However, by building such a powerful ray tracing engine, Samsung is future-proofing its devices. As more game developers adopt advanced graphics technologies like Unreal Engine 5 for mobile, hardware-accelerated ray tracing will become increasingly important for delivering console-level visual experiences. This positions the Galaxy S26 not just as a powerful device for today, but as a platform ready for the next generation of mobile gaming.