The biggest uncertainty surrounding Samsung’s highly anticipated flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra, which has lasted for months, has finally ended. The question of whether the device would be powered solely by the latest Snapdragon flagship or whether Samsung would revert to its usual Snapdragon-Exynos split has been answered thanks to a new FCC (Federal Communications Commission) filing.
Flagship to be Powered by Snapdragon
Recently, two model numbers (SM-S948B and SM-S948U) confirmed to belong to the Galaxy S26 Ultra appeared in the FCC database. The documents explicitly state the chipset name: SM8850. This code represents the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, Qualcomm’s internal name.
In other words, Samsung is signaling to users eagerly awaiting the S26 Ultra that they should expect a clear leap in performance and efficiency compared to the S25 Ultra.
The model numbers follow Samsung’s standard naming convention: the “B” variant indicates the global/unlocked version, while the “U” variant refers to the US-specific carrier version. The listing of the same Snapdragon chip for both models officially confirms previous rumors: Samsung is focusing entirely on Qualcomm for its 2026 Ultra model and will not offer an Exynos alternative for any region.
This is a continuation of a trend we’ve seen in Samsung’s high-end phones. Ultra models have leaned towards Snapdragon for the past few generations, while standard and Plus models have switched between Exynos and Snapdragon whenever possible.
However, this distinction doesn’t completely disappear across the entire series. Various leaks and performance tests suggest that the Galaxy S26 and S26+ models will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 almost everywhere, but will use Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 chipset in South Korea.
But the FCC registration for the Ultra model removes all doubt. The top-of-the-line flagship of the 2026 series will run on Qualcomm’s latest chip in every market segment.
