Qualcomm pushed back on October 16, 2026 against reports that its Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip runs too hot. The company says the story, which came out of Korea, is inaccurate and that there are no systemic thermal issues with the processor. It matters if you are eyeing a top-tier Android phone next year, because the rumor involves Samsung’s Galaxy S27 Ultra.
What is the overheating rumor?
A Korean news outlet reported that Samsung is talking with Qualcomm about heat problems in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. According to GSMArena, Samsung’s internal tests allegedly found the chip running too hot and throttling, while its own Exynos 2700 processor performed well. As a result, Samsung is said to be weighing an all-Exynos Galaxy S27 Ultra, which is expected next year.
This is a rumor. Samsung has not commented publicly, and no outlet has been able to test a phone with the chip to confirm or disprove the claim. GSMArena says outright that it has not tested any device with the Extreme Gen 6.
How did Qualcomm respond?
In a statement reported by 9to5Google, a Qualcomm spokesperson said the recent reporting about thermal issues is inaccurate and that the company is proud of the platform. Chief marketing officer Don McGuire wrote on X the same day that there are no systemic thermal issues with the chip, adding that phone makers keep tuning their platforms as they launch products.
GSMArena sums up the company’s argument this way: each manufacturer tunes its devices to balance performance and power for different uses, so findings from one lab, such as Samsung’s, may not reflect how the chip behaves in general.
What do we know about the chip?
Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, along with the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, on September 22, 2026. 9to5Google describes the Extreme version as having two 5GHz cores and large CPU and GPU gains over the previous generation. GSMArena lists the Gen 6 line at two Prime cores running at 5.0GHz and six Performance cores at 4.0GHz, and points out that these are high clock speeds for a phone that cools itself passively.
A quick definition: thermal throttling is when a processor slows itself down to stay under a safe temperature. On a phone, you notice it as frame rates dropping in a long gaming session or video recording that loses quality over time. GSMArena also notes that sustained performance dips have shown up in stress tests since the first Snapdragon 8 Elite, so heat is a long-running topic for this chip family, not a brand-new one.
Which phones will use it?
9to5Google lists these phones as confirmed to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6:
- Motorola Signature 27
- Xiaomi 18
- Redmagic 12 Pro Plus
- Honor Magic 9 Pro Max
- OnePlus 16
It adds “more” without naming them. None of these phones has a confirmed US release date yet.
Should you wait to buy?
Neither side has put numbers on the table. Samsung, if it does have test results, has not shared them, and Qualcomm answered with a broad denial rather than temperature data. In practice, how hot a phone gets depends on the whole package: the chip, the cooling design, the thickness of the body and each maker’s software tuning. Two phones with the same processor can behave very differently.
Our take: treat this as unresolved. If you are waiting on the Galaxy S27 Ultra, the real question is which chip Samsung ships in each region, and that usually becomes clear close to launch. If you are shopping for one of the phones already confirmed, read independent reviews that include a stress test, because those show how much performance a phone holds after 15 or 20 minutes of heavy use.
For a sense of how Samsung handles its software side, see our coverage of the One UI 9 rollout for the Galaxy S24. Another new chip drawing attention is the one inside the Surface Laptop Ultra, Microsoft’s laptop with an NVIDIA processor.
