The chipsets on our smartphones used to mostly power things like the operating system and apps. However, our phones have become more complex these days. We’re looking at new power-hungry features like AI. This is why the upcoming Samsung Exynos 2600 is particularly exciting, especially with the potential for 5x faster AI processing on devices .
Exynos 2600 could offer 5x faster AI
We know that Samsung’s Exynos series of chipsets don’t always receive the warmest of welcomes. However, the Exynos 2600 could be a different story, especially if there is potential for 5x faster AI.
This is because the Exynos 2600 is expected to be based on Arm’s new Lumex architecture. For those unfamiliar, chipsets from Qualcomm, Apple, MediaTek, and Samsung are all based on Arm’s architecture. The company releases updated CPU and GPU architectures every year, and Lumex is the company’s latest creation .
So, how does this apply to Samsung and the Exynos 2600? The new Lumex platform features the C1 CPU cluster. It doesn’t come with a dedicated NPU. Instead, Arm uses AI accelerators integrated into the CPU cores. It uses Scalable Matrix Extension 2, which is based on the Arm v.93 instruction set. This, apparently, will boost AI performance by a factor of five. It is also said to offer 3x better power efficiency.
This means that when it comes on-device AI processing, it should see a substantial increase in speeds. On-device AI processing is much preferred due to its speed and privacy. Think of it like accessing files stored on your computer versus that in the cloud. If Samsung wants to hit its goal of 90% AI by 2030 , this looks like a step in the right direction.
What else can we expect?
Of course, in addition to faster AI processing, the new architecture should offer performance improvements as well. Like we said, Lumex features a C1 CPU cluster. This consists of dual C1-Ultra cores, which offers 25% faster performance than the Cortex-X925 cores from 2024. It also boasts the use of six C1-Pro cores, an improvement over the Cortex-A75.
Lumex also comes with a new GPU, the Mali-G1 Ultra. According to Arm, it promises 20% better graphics performance than the Immortalis-G925. It will also consume less power, 40% more frame rates in ray-tracing capabilities, and support for native upscaling.
Samsung has not confirmed the details of the Exynos 2600 yet. However, recent benchmarks have shown major improvements over the Exynos 2500. A recent report also claims Samsung is already preparing for mass production and we should be able to look forward to the new chipset in 2026’s Galaxy S26 series.
