Quick summary
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 could have a mixture of Snapdragon and Exynos hardware.
It's expected to divide hardware by regions, having formerly used Exynos in all models of the Galaxy Z Flip 7.
Samsung could return to its split hardware strategy for the Galaxy Z Flip 8, expected to be announced on 22 July. That could see some versions of the phone equipped with Snapdragon, while others will get the latest Exynos chip.
This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has been following Samsung's phones over the years, but in 2025, Samsung made a departure from the norm and equipped all versions of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 with the Exynos 2500.
That was out of character, especially for buyers in the US, where the phone is typically sitting on a Snapdragon platform. For those in the Europe and India, Exynos is much more typical.
Now it seems that this flip phone will be returning to a split hardware offering. That's said to see some devices using Snapdragon, while others take the Exynos 2600. The Exynos 2600 sits on a 2nm process, while Qualcomm is yet to move its Snapdragon from 3nm.
The report (via SamMobile) points to a leak from a Japanese carrier suggesting that it will get Snapdragon, while other regions – including Korea and Europe – will get Exynos.
While it's fairly predicable that Samsung will use the Exynos 2600 for the device, it's currently not clear what it will use from the Snapdragon range. Currently it's suggested that it will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, but there's more hardware for Samsung to choose from.
Samsung typically uses a "for Galaxy" version of Snapdragon hardware, clocked slightly higher to boost performance of phones like the Galaxy S26 Ultra. While performance in this flagship phone is paramount, for folding devices the same level of power might not be needed.
That, potentially, opens the door to the 7-core version of the hardware, or indeed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, both of which drop the performance for intensive tasks slightly, while offering better endurance. That might suit a folding phone better.
Meanwhile, Samsung's biggest rival, the Motorola Razr 70 Ultra, comes packed with the older Snapdragon 8 Elite from 2024, so there's some precedence here to avoid top-tier hardware.
The price of phones is also increasing, with component prices like RAM and storage soaring fuelled by demand from AI companies, and that could see Samsung making decisions to keep the price under control.
With the phones expected to launch at a Galaxy Unpacked event on 22 July, there's not long to go before the Galaxy Z Flip 8 will be revealed in all its glory.
