Qualcomm says reports that its Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 overheats are inaccurate. A Qualcomm spokesperson gave 9to5Google that statement on October 17, 2026, a day after a Korean report claimed Samsung had asked the company to fix heat problems in the chip. If you plan to buy a Galaxy S27 Ultra next year, the argument is really about which processor ends up inside it.
TL;DR: A Korean report says Samsung wants Qualcomm to fix thermal problems in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 by the end of October, or it may use its own Exynos 2700 in the Galaxy S27 Ultra. Qualcomm calls the claim inaccurate. The report relies on unnamed sources, so nothing is settled yet, and the answer will show up in which chip Samsung announces.
What Qualcomm actually said about the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6
Qualcomm told 9to5Google that recent reporting about thermal issues with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is “inaccurate.” The spokesperson also said Qualcomm continues to work closely with its partners on the flagship platform.
That is a flat denial of the premise, not a promise to fix something. It is also a short statement with no test data behind it, so for now it is one side of a disagreement.
The denial only makes sense once you see what it answers.
The report behind the denial
The claim comes from Korea’s Seoul Economic Daily, which says Samsung asked Qualcomm to resolve overheating in the chip by the end of October. According to its unnamed sources, the chip repeatedly exceeds temperature limits and slows down under heavy, sustained workloads.
The same report says the chip is slated for the Galaxy S27 Ultra, which Samsung plans to unveil early next year. If Qualcomm misses the thermal target, Samsung may use its in-house Exynos 2700 instead, built on Samsung Foundry’s 2-nanometer SF2P process. The sources say the Exynos 2700 outperformed the Qualcomm chip in closed internal tests.
A switch would put Exynos back in the Ultra line for the first time in five years. The report also notes that Exynos has been criticized for overheating in the past.
That history is why many Galaxy buyers will read this story with some suspicion in both directions.
Why a thermal fight matters to a phone buyer
Sustained heat is what you feel during a long navigation session, a game, or a 4K video recording, when a phone stops being fast and starts being warm. A chip that throttles under that kind of load can look great in a short benchmark and disappoint on a long afternoon.
Qualcomm’s chip is built for peak speed. 9to5Google notes that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 has two 5GHz cores, the kind of design where cooling decides how long that speed lasts.
Samsung’s side of the equation is money as well as comfort. The report puts its spending on outside processors at 7.4383 trillion won, about $5.2 billion, in the first half of this year, so building more of its own silicon would also cut that bill. Costs like that tend to reach shelf prices, as our look at rising phone prices explains.
The money angle explains why Samsung has more than one reason to keep Exynos in the conversation.
What is confirmed and what is not
| Claim | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung asked Qualcomm to fix overheating by end of October | Seoul Economic Daily, unnamed sources | Unconfirmed |
| Galaxy S27 Ultra may use Exynos 2700 | Seoul Economic Daily, unnamed sources | Unconfirmed |
| Exynos 2700 beat the Qualcomm chip in internal tests | Seoul Economic Daily, unnamed sources | Unconfirmed |
| Thermal reporting is inaccurate | Qualcomm spokesperson to 9to5Google | Official denial |
Neither side has published thermal data, and Samsung has not commented in anything we reviewed. Both versions of the story are therefore still claims, not measurements.
That gap is the detail most coverage will skip, and it is why waiting is the sensible position.
What to watch before the Galaxy S27 Ultra
The report sets an end of October deadline, so the next few weeks are the window to watch. If Samsung confirms a chip choice for the S27 Ultra, or if independent testing of the first phones with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 appears, that will say far more than either statement does today.
9to5Google says it is too early to tell whether overheating would be widespread. Until real phones are in reviewers’ hands, treat the story as an open question, not a verdict on either chip.
What this means for your next upgrade
Nothing about your current phone changes today. If you are eyeing a Galaxy S27 Ultra, the useful move is to wait for reviews that run long, sustained tests, not just short benchmarks.
Whichever chip Samsung picks, the proof will be a phone that stays comfortable in your hand after twenty minutes of heavy use.
