Samsung Galaxy S27: Images, Exynos 2700 chip and Galaxy S27 Ultra battery details
Yesterday, some new CAD-based renderings of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra leaked online, and today it’s the regular Galaxy S27’s turn. The difference between the two models is immediately apparent. The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra features a new camera island design, while the entry-level model does not.
In fact, the Samsung Galaxy S27 closely resembles the Galaxy S26, particularly due to the oval camera bump in the upper left corner of the back. The S27 reportedly measures 149.75 x 71.88 x 7.25 mm, making it slightly larger than its predecessor in all dimensions.
As with the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra, even upon close inspection you won’t notice a difference of fractions of a millimeter in size. The S27 is also expected to retain the 6.3-inch screen diagonal of its predecessor.
We expect the Samsung Galaxy S27 to be released in new colors, which should make it much easier to distinguish from the S26. Otherwise, it could be difficult, as the comparison image below shows. It is still unclear whether Samsung will equip the S27 with the Exynos 2700 chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, or—depending on the market—with both.
The Samsung Galaxy S27 could use a new main camera sensor from Sony and, according to rumors, be equipped with a 4,900 mAh silicon-carbon battery. That would definitely be a welcome upgrade from the 4,300 mAh battery of the S26.
Samsung Exynos 2700 beats the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro in internal tests
According to a second leak, this very Samsung Exynos 2700 caused quite a stir in initial internal tests at Samsung LSI – the chipset outperformed Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, according to anonymous insiders. The tests were very comprehensive and included benchmarks for CPU, GPU, NPU, and energy efficiency.
Qualcomm has officially confirmed that the next generation will feature two Elite chips. They are currently designated Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro. These should not be confused with the regular Gen 6 chip. Furthermore, Qualcomm has also confirmed a price increase for its chips.
Returning to the tests – the Samsung Exynos 2700 processor reportedly achieved a 9.5% higher score in Geekbench 6.5 (multi-core) than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro and a 19% higher score than the non-Pro version.
We don’t know which benchmark was used for the GPU test, but it yielded a 5% higher result for the Samsung chip than for Qualcomm’s Pro chip. Interestingly, another test was performed, this time with a power consumption of 2.5 W – in this case, the GPU outperformed its Snapdragon competitors by 22% (Elite Pro) and 24% (Elite), respectively.
This shows that Samsung prioritizes energy efficiency. To this end, the company simulated real-world smartphone usage and found that the Exynos 2700 consumed 161 mA of power, compared to 185 mA for the Elite Pro. These days, the AI test is just as important as the other two – with Llama 3.1 8B, the Exynos 2700 reportedly delivered 18% faster results than the Snapdragon chip.
Samsung Exynos 2700 cheaper than Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6
There’s a reason we mentioned Qualcomm’s price increase above – although Samsung’s LSI (chipset design) and MX (smartphone design) divisions operate independently, MX can still buy flagship Exynos chips for less than flagship Snapdragon chips.
This encourages the use of Exynos chips wherever possible. Maeil Business shared this chart, which shows that Exynos chips are used in 16 to 18% of Samsung smartphones (bottom right). Spending on these Exynos chips has fluctuated significantly over the years (bottom left, in trillions of KRW). As you can see, MX still has a long way to go this year to reach last year’s spending – so Samsung is once again saving money by using an Exynos chip instead of a Qualcomm chip.
This means that we will most likely see Samsung Galaxy S27 models with Exynos processors next year in Korea, Europe, and possibly other regions – especially if these benchmark results prove accurate. Which of the five new foldable smartphones that Samsung is planning for next year do you think will be equipped with an Exynos processor?
Incidentally, the Exynos 2700 is reportedly to be manufactured using the SF2P process, Samsung’s second-generation 2nm Gate All-Around manufacturing process.
Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra: 7,000 mAh battery cancelled?
And there’s also news on the perennial topic of Galaxy S batteries. Back in July, the battery capacity of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra was leaked. It’s supposedly 5,534 mAh, which would correspond to a typical capacity of 5,700 mAh. That would be a significant improvement for Samsung compared to the 5,000 mAh battery of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but still seems small compared to the batteries of its Chinese competitors these days.
Today, a leaker on X surfaced a new rumor that presents us with a “what if” scenario. Apparently, Samsung tested a prototype of the Galaxy S27 Ultra with a 7,000 mAh battery, but ultimately opted for a capacity of 5,700 mAh to 6,000 mAh.
The 7,000 mAh battery sounds impressive, but the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra prototype that featured it lacked the S Pen. Since the S Pen remains one of the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra’s key features, it will definitely not be removed. Therefore, the battery capacity will have to be reduced due to the limited space inside the smartphone.
Samsung is reportedly using a minimal amount of silicon in the S27 Ultra’s battery to achieve an optimal balance between capacity and battery life. The Galaxy S27 Ultra is therefore expected to be the first phone to feature a battery with more than 5,000 mAh, although it shouldn’t be expected to directly compete with Chinese manufacturers in terms of size.
