Samsung abandons Exynos in Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2, opting for Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2, announced July 22, 2026, replace the in-house Exynos chipset with Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite — an AI-wearable-first platform unveiled at MWC 2026. The shift aligns Samsung's wearable stack with Qualcomm's roadmap and could simplify cross-vendor Wear OS development. The trade-off: Samsung cedes silicon differentiation in a category where vertical integration remains contested.