Leak suggests Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S27 Pro faces a serious hardware identity crisis

Samsung’s rumored shake-up for next year’s Galaxy S27 flagship lineup is gaining traction, but the latest leak regarding its performance might give global buyers pause. The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S27 Pro, a new addition positioned to offer Ultra-level specifications without the S Pen baggage, could reportedly feature the unannounced Exynos 2700 processor in most markets outside of the US.

According to a report from South Korean publication Money Today (via Sammobile), Samsung is actively looking to increase the share of its in-house silicon across its smartphone portfolio. As a result, the company has allegedly decided to deploy the Exynos 2700 globally for the Galaxy S27, Galaxy S27 Plus, and Galaxy S27 Pro, except in the US, where these phones are expected to retain a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Only the Galaxy S27 Ultra will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor in all regions, with no Exynos variation in the pipeline.

Samsung already follows a similar strategy for the Galaxy S26 series. The Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus are split between Snapdragon for the US and Exynos for the rest of the world, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra uses Snapdragon exclusively across all markets.

The big question for the coming generation was whether the newly leaked Galaxy S27 Pro, expected to sit between the Galaxy S27 Plus and the Galaxy S27 Ultra, would adopt a dual-variant strategy like the Galaxy S26 Plus or a single-SoC strategy like the Galaxy S26 Ultra. This leak points to a dual-variant strategy, which may dull some of the enthusiasm for this upcoming phone among power users outside the US who want absolute top-tier performance but are okay with losing out on the S Pen and the associated cost and design decisions. If this split pans out, the Galaxy S27 Pro will not be a good non-S Pen Galaxy S27 Ultra alternative in most regions.

The Exynos 2700 is rumored to be Samsung Foundry’s second-generation 2nm mobile processor, utilizing a Side-by-Side (SBS) package design that places the application processor and DRAM adjacent to one another under a specialized Heat Path Block to manage thermal dissipation.

Beyond the processor division, the S27 series is otherwise shaping up to introduce a few notable hardware upgrades. Rumors indicate that every Galaxy S27 model could feature a Privacy Display to prevent unwanted side-angle viewing. Additionally, leaked specifications point to a long-overdue Galaxy S27 Pro and Ultra front camera upgrade, with a new 16MP sensor.