Leaked firmware files reveal that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will likely launch with the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s successor next year and will ship with One UI 8.5 based on Android 16 out of the box.
This appears to be in line with a recent report by Ice Universe revealing a shift in Samsung’s software update strategy that gives the foldables the latest One UI iteration and polishing it for the Galaxy S series.
The firmware file has been found on Samsung’s server, which means the tech giant is already working on developing One UI 8.5 for its future S26 lineup.
The firmware reads PMK8850 serial number, which likely refers to Qualcomm’s next-generation flagship chipset. Given that the S25 Ultra ships with Snapdragon 8 Elite, also referred to as 8750 in its own firmware, it’s probably safe to assume that the S26 Ultra will continue to use Qualcomm’s chip.
That doesn’t mean all three Galaxy S phones will be powered by the Snapdragon, though. The S26+ and the vanilla S26 will likely feature the company’s upcoming Exynos 2600 SoC, which promises solid CPU and GPU performance. Also, another recent report claims that Samsung has found a way to keep the Exynos 2600 cooler.