No-one wants their phone to start shaking and crying when they give it a proper challenge, like the latest games from Hoyoverse and Tencent. Thankfully Samsung has made performance a priority with their new handset, and with the most comprehensive AI support* available, the Galaxy S26 is well placed to give you the best possible experience.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy

Sure, Snapdragons might technically be plants you’re likely to find in your aunt’s garden’s rock bed, but that’s where the similarity ends. In the hands of Samsung, a single Snapdragon (albeit the latest “8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy” processor variant) is a technical powerhouse, offering a 19% improvement to its CPU, 24% to the GPU, and a massive 39% faster NPU, compared to its previous iteration.

That’s quite the list of numbers and letters, but why do you care? Well, that CPU is going to give you better system responsiveness, higher performance and faster loading times, so your games are going to load quicker, and play better. The GPU can better handle higher frame rates and resolutions, render things faster, and handle complex effects like raytracing with ease. And the NPU is going to manage it all behind the scenes, keeping everything more consistent and smooth, with additional support for AI-driven features like upscaling.

In short, that processor is going to make your game’s graphics look beautiful. Like a Snapdragon! Coincidence? Probably, but who cares!

Image credit: Samsung

Exclusive ProScaler** and Precision mDNIe

Item two on the agenda and it’s another jumble of letters, but an important one. mDNIe stands for “mobile Digital Natural Image engine”, which is the mobile phone version of Samsung’s “DNIe” (you can work out what that is yourself) originally used in their TV sets. All you need to know is it offers a 4x improvement to colour depth processing precision so, again, without you having to do anything, your games are going to look more colourful, more moody, more vibrant than they ever have before.

Meanwhile, the S26’s exclusive ProScaler will use that NPU’s AI powers to upscale everything you see - smoother textures, sharper text, and visible improvements to any older titles with lower-resolution assets.

Image credit: Samsung

Vapor Chamber

The other main thing hidden under the hood is the S26 Ultra’s new expanded Vapor Chamber. With a 21% improvement to thermal performance over the previous iteration, your handset’s going to be as cool as you are for even longer.

And that stuff matters. Overheating devices will soon get throttled, meaning all those other components will start to slow down to alleviate the pressure being placed on them by the cutting edge games you’re throwing at them. That means poorer responsiveness, stuttering framerates, and a broader degradation to performance. None of that will cause you a problem on the S26, with all of these things working in synergy to ensure you get the best performance, for as long as possible. Even when the optimised battery finally begs for a meal, the new faster charging*** means you can get a 75% charge back in for round two in around 30 minutes. Just enough time for you to grab a snack and an energy drink to recharge yourself too.

Of course, you can spend time tinkering with in-game and handset settings to make sure things are exactly how you prefer them, but the beauty of the Galaxy S26 is that with all of this AI-driven support you really don’t have to. So much is taken care of ‘under the hood’ that you can just focus on what’s really important: playing. Plus, with the S26 Ultra’s new groundbreaking Privacy Display**** that stops everyone nearby from seeing your screen, you’re not going to have people on the bus shoulder surfing while you do it.

Image credit: Samsung

DISCLAIMERS

* Samsung account login is required for certain AI features. Galaxy AI features are provided for free. Future releases may include additional advanced features that are offered as part of a paid subscription plan. Different terms may apply for AI features provided by third parties.

** ProScaler available on Galaxy S26 Ultra and Galaxy S26+ models only.

*** 60W Power Adapter sold separately

**** Requires manual activation in settings to function. Privacy Display feature is not AI-powered.