New Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra leak is good news for gamers, but will it be enough to beat the iPhone 17 Pro Max?

After months of rumors, it looks like we finally know what processor is powering the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and it’s a relief for anyone hoping for serious firepower from the Android flagship. According to a new certification listing, the S26 Ultra packs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, Qualcomm’s latest and greatest mobile chip, and that applies to all regions the phone is launching in.

For those who don’t know, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor is an absolute beast, powering high-end performance in the top pick from our guide to the best gaming phones, the REDMAGIC 11 Pro. I reviewed that phone myself, and I know from experience that the Snapdragon processor packs a real punch, enabling you to turn the in-game performance settings up as high as they’ll go, even in demanding games like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail.

These new details are courtesy of an FCC listing, as first spotted by Sammobile, which seems to point to the S26 Ultra. It comes after speculation that Samsung might use its own Exynos 2600 to power the flagship.

Now it appears that the tech giant is only using its own processor in Korea, and just for the S26 base model and S26 Plus. For the rest of us, it looks like all three of the new Samsung phones utilize the Snapdragon Elite Gen 5, which means you shouldn’t necessarily have to pick up the premium, and most expensive, flagship for a top-tier gaming experience.

The decision to go with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 makes sense from Samsung’s point of view, as it’s one of the few chips on the market capable of going toe-to-toe with the A19 Pro processor inside the iPhone 17 Pro Max. If Samsung stands any chance of chipping away at Apple’s global smartphone dominance, it needs to offer the most powerful hardware possible, especially in a year where we’re expecting the iPhone Fold to finally launch, which could eat away at Samsung’s success in the foldable niche.

In terms of when Samsung might introduce us to the S26 series, the brand usually unveils its new flagships in January, but it could be as late as March this time, according to some reports. As for how much the new phones are going to cost, we’re not expecting any major changes this year.

For context, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra launched at a starting price of $1,299 earlier this year, so it’s fair to assume a similar price point for the S26 Ultra. As ever, we’ll be keen to get our hands on the new flagship to see if the Snapdragon chip can give it the edge it needs to beat the iPhone when it comes to gaming performance.