EDITORIAL. The saga of Samsung processors continues. After months of rumors about the abandonment of the Exynos in favor of the Snapdragon, a new discovery on Geekbench has reshuffled the cards for the Galaxy S25. But European consumers are not fooled.
Samsung's Galaxy S25 series is making headlines again, and not necessarily for the right reasons. While many experts thought the exclusive use of Snapdragon 8 Elitea recent discovery on Geekbench sows doubt. The model number SM-S936B, corresponding to the Galaxy S25+, was spotted with an S5E9955 chip — codename for the Exynos 2500.
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A strategy that divides
This revelation reignites a debate that has agitated the tech community for years. Samsung persists in its strategy of geographical differentiation, the Korean manufacturer offers Snapdragon processors in certain markets (notably American) and Exynos in Europe. A practice that has often been criticized, the Exynos versions show lower performance compared to their Snapdragon counterparts.
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The choice is all the more surprising given that recent articles have pointed out the low production efficiency of the Exynos 2500 chips. These technical difficulties could – or should – have pushed Samsung to abandon this dual strategy, in favor of a uniform solution with Snapdragon.
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Samsung, listen to customers
At a time when Apple is offering a uniform experience across the world with its in-house processors, Samsung continues to artificially create two categories of users. This approach is becoming increasingly difficult to defend against an increasingly informed clientele.
The Exynos versions of the Galaxy S depreciate more quickly on the second-hand market. An economic reality which penalizes European consumers doubly.
Furthermore, each new generation that perpetuates this pattern further erodes user confidence. Forums and social networks are full of testimonials from European users who rightly feel considered second-class customers. Especially since Oppo, Xiaomi, Honor… they use the Snapdragon 8 Elite. They are ahead of Samsung in many aspects, including autonomy, heating and overall performance.
Fortunately, a glimmer of hope remains for very high-end enthusiasts: the Galaxy S25 Ultra should benefit from the Snapdragon 8 Elite in all markets.
Moreover, this seems to be an admission: Samsung recognizes the superiority of the Qualcomm processor, but refuses to make its entire premium range benefit from it.
It's time for Samsung to make a courageous decision: either invest heavily to close the performance gap between Exynos and Snapdragon, or adopt a uniform approach with Snapdragon across all of its flagships. The current half-measure is not acceptable. European consumers are not fooled.
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