Exynos 2500 chip shows disappointing results in benchmarks

It’s no secret that Samsung will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip in all Galaxy S25 models worldwide. The low yield rate issues of Samsung Foundry’s 3nm wafers made the implementation of its own Exynos 2500 SoC unfeasible. That said, it seems that even the performance of the latest Exynos flagship chipset is below expectations. A benchmark of an Exynos 2500-powered Galaxy S25 Plus prototype points in that direction.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is without a doubt the most powerful chip in the Android industry today. Benchmarks even put it above the latest Apple A18 Pro chip in terms of multi-core performance. This implies that it’s normal for its competitors to show slightly lower raw power. However, it seems that the gap between the Exynos 2500 and Qualcomm’s latest flagship mobile SoC is larger than expected.

An Exynos 2500-powered Galaxy S25 Plus prototype tested on Geekbench

Tipster Jukanlosreve (via Wccftech) has spotted a listing for a Galaxy S25 Plus prototype on Geekbench 6. However, the Exynos 2500 chip powers the device. This is normal, as Samsung has not ruled out developing the hardware yet. Leaks even say that the South Korean giant will implement it in its foldable phones in 2025. Therefore, Samsung is still testing the SoC.

According to Geekbench, the performance of the Exynos 2500-powered Galaxy S25 Plus prototype is up to 37% below the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. The tested device features 12GB of RAM and runs Android 15. This configuration scores 2,358 and 8,211 points in the single-core and multi-core performance tests, respectively. The hardware’s performance also falls behind the Apple A18 Pro chip.

This considerable raw power difference renders launching regional versions powered by the Exynos 2500 unfeasible. Fans of the brand would be disappointed by getting models with much lower performance than other regions. While the company has launched Exynos and Snapdragon variants with differences in performance in the past, the gap has never been so wide.

10x CPU cores are not enough to compete with the best

Geekbench also confirms that the Exynos 2500 has a 10-core CPU with a maximum clock speed of 3.30 GHz. For reference, the Snapdragon 8 Elite reaches a speed of 4.32 GHz on its most powerful core. On the other hand, the Apple A18 Pro has a maximum clock speed of up to 3.78 GHz. It is possible that the difference in clock speed influenced the results. However, perhaps Samsung planned to compensate for it with more cores, and it has not worked out well.

Anyway, Samsung has months ahead to improve the performance of the chip. The company is also actively working to enhance the yield rates of its 3nm wafers for the chip’s mass production.