What you need to know
- A report claims that Samsung's Galaxy S27 Ultra has run into extreme overheating issues with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.
- These issues have reportedly caused "throttling" in the device, lowering its performance significant; a problem Samsung has reached out to Qualcomm to solve.
- Reports say time is ticking, and if these issues aren't solved, Samsung might have to go with the Exynos 2700.
- These issues are familiar, considering Samsung's own chips have struggled in the past with overheating problems, but the Exynos 2600 tried to solve that.
While we're eagerly awaiting the next Ultra flagship from Samsung, a report states the company's run into a problem. The issue lies with its chip and its supposed performance hiccups.
A report late this week by SEDaily (Korean) claims that Samsung's run into problems with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 on the Galaxy S27 Ultra (via SamMobile). Samsung reportedly observed that the chip pushed the phone's temperatures beyond acceptable thresholds. Much like a computer, if the device begins to overheat, performance issues will occur.
Samsung has reportedly experienced "throttling" with the Galaxy S27 Ultra. This hasn't sat well with the Korean OEM. The publication reports that Samsung holds the device to the highest standards and that it must "stably run high-performance cameras, graphics, and AI features" (machine-translated).
Presently, if the S27 Ultra continues to experience issues with the SD 8 EE Gen 6, then Samsung may switch to the Exynos 2700. This is a reality that has yet to happen.
The post states that Samsung has reached out to Qualcomm about these issues. Time is of the essence; however, the OEM has given the chipmaker until "mid-October" to rectify the problems. The problem Samsung experienced is interesting, considering it mirrors the gripes consumers have had with its Exynos series in the past.
Overheating chips
Qualcomm split its flagship chips going into 2027 with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. The latter is designed to push the boundaries of mobile phone technology and targets Ultra phones. Qualcomm built the chip on a 2nm process with its new Adreno Neural Fusion technology. This leans on AI to boost graphics performance for gamers during longer sessions.
As we alluded to before, Samsung's Exynos chips were infamous for overheating. We'd like to remind you of the Exynos 2600 from 2025. This chip was a significant step for Samsung in the right direction compared to previous generations. Not only was it the world's first 2nm chip, but its CPU and GPU upgrades were also important. What's more, the company introduced a new Heat Path Block (HPB) to fix overheating and performance issues.
While these overheating fixes did well, Samsung could do better. Rumors about the Exynos 2700 say the company wants to introduce a next-generation HPB, reducing heat generation further.
Android Central's Take
This is textbook tech. If it can output graphic or whatever at a higher strength, it will generate more heat. Look at gaming PCs. Why do you think they have so many fans? Why do you think the graphics card has its own fan—or maybe two or three! There's a chance that Samsung and Qualcomm will have to reconfigure some things in the Galaxy S27 Ultra and the chip. Beyond this, there's also public perception. Samsung hesitates to drop an Ultra with Exynos in the States because it could impact sales.
Then there's overall performance. Can the Exynos 2700 go blow for blow with the SD 8 EE Gen 6?
