Samsung’s Exynos 2500 has returned to the spotlight with new Geekbench 6 results showing a decent bump in performance-but it’s still playing catch-up. The flagship chip, built on Samsung’s ambitious 3nm GAA process, now scores 2,356 in single-core and 8,076 in multi-core tests-roughly 17% and 6.7% improvements respectively over its previous benchmark appearance.
That sounds promising, but here’s the catch: it still lags behind heavyweights like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 (or Elite), Dimensity 9400, and Apple’s A18 lineup. 
Even with these improvements, the Exynos 2500 doesn’t quite threaten the top tier of mobile silicon.
What’s holding it back? Insiders point to poor yields from Samsung’s 3nm GAA process, rumored to hover around just 20-40%. That low yield likely means Samsung has to dial things back to ensure stability-sacrificing performance potential in the process.
Despite the underwhelming raw performance, it’s worth noting that the Exynos 2500 is a marked upgrade over the 2400
. It’s more efficient, and the upcoming Xclipse 950 GPU might surprise us in graphics benchmarks, especially if Samsung nails thermals and battery optimization.
For most users, these improvements could be more than enough. After all, real-world usage isn’t just about raw scores-it’s about thermal management, battery life, camera processing, and day-to-day reliability. Until Samsung can crack its 3nm issues, though, it may continue trailing behind Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Apple on the performance front.
We’ll keep an eye on how the Xclipse 950 performs once GPU benchmarks drop. Until then, Samsung fans might have to settle for “almost flagship” silicon-again.