Galaxy S25 could use a MediaTek chip, wild rumor says

There's been a lot of back and forth in the media about Samsung's possible choice of chipset(s) for the upcoming Galaxy S25 series. Some rumors said the lineup will be powered exclusively by the Exynos 2500 chip. Others say unexpectedly low Exynos yields will force Samsung into a two-chip strategy again, even if the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 might be more expensive than usual. Now, a new wild rumor adds a third chip brand into the mix.

Take this with a grain of salt, but according to sources cited by Korean news outlet The Financial News, Samsung is considering adopting a three-pronged chip strategy for the Galaxy S series for the first time.

Namely, the report claims that Samsung is thinking about using not just the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Exynos 2500 SoCs but also developing a third Galaxy S25 flagship variant powered by a MediaTek Dimensity chip.

Possible pros and cons of such a strategy

Samsung has never used a three-chip strategy for its flagship phones, and adding MediaTek into the mix would be a first. What would be the benefits? And what could go wrong?

On the one hand, bringing MediaTek on board could help Samsung keep the balance of power and prevent Qualcomm from hiking Snapdragon chip prices in case Exynos fails to keep things in check. Industry watchers already say the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be 25-30% pricier than the ongoing Gen 3 chip.

On the other hand, MediaTek isn't a tried and tested chip brand for Galaxy flagships. Samsung has mainly used MediaTek chips for some of its low-cost phones, but creating not one or two but three Galaxy S25 variants split across three regions could backfire.

Plus, developing new firmware updates for three different hardware configurations might become a real burden. And chip prices going up migh be an inevitable fact of life right now, regrettable as it may be, no matter how Samsung might try to shuffle things around.

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This admittedly wild rumor doesn't specify which markets would get which chips. But if there's any truth to these ambitious claims, we're guessing the MediaTek-powered Galaxy S25 variant could be limited to very few select regions, such as China. The rest of the world would go on as usual and follow an Exynos-Qualcomm two-chip strategy.

In any case, we advise taking this rumor with a grain of salt. So far, there's been no evidence to support this fringe theory, and we're at least half a year away from the Galaxy S25's official announcement. There is a lot that can happen by early 2025.