5G for the masses with the Snapdragon 480

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I've said all along that there's little point in choosing a smartphone based on whether it supports '5G' or not - all new phones from 2020 to about 2022 will just 'have' 5G built-in anyway. This week Qualcomm announced their latest budget smartphone chipset and, yes, 5G is built-in. Expect to see the Snapdragon 480 in sub-£200 handsets over the next 12 months.

480

From the Qualcomm announcement article:

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 480 5G Mobile Platform, the first 4-series mobile platform equipped with 5G. Snapdragon 480 continues to help drive further proliferation of 5G, allowing users access to truly global 5G connectivity and series-defying performance to power in-demand productivity and entertainment experiences. The Snapdragon 480 5G Mobile Platform offers the most advanced 4-series capabilities to date:

  • 5G and Connectivity: Snapdragon 480 features the Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF System to support mmWave and Sub-6 GHz 5G; Standalone (SA) and Non-standalone (NSA) modes; Time Division Duplexing (TDD), Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD), and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) for top mobile performance and connectivity. The Snapdragon X51 enables multi-gigabit 5G connections for near instantaneous uploads and downloads and supports multiple frequencies for flexibility and accessibility. With Qualcomm® FastConnect™ 6200, Snapdragon 480 also offers 2x2 Wi-Fi (dual Wi-Fi antennas) with a set of key Wi-Fi 6 features, such as 8x8 sounding with multi-user MIMO, for significant range and performance improvements, in addition to Bluetooth 5.1 and advanced wireless audio capabilities. Snapdragon 480 features additional trailblazing wireless technologies such as support for Dual-frequency GPS and NavIC for accurate location positioning.
  • Performance and Battery: Snapdragon 480 allows smartphone users to stay productive longer and recharge faster. The platform, based on 8nm process, features the Qualcomm® Kryo™ 460 CPU with up to 2.0 GHz, Qualcomm® Adreno™ 619 GPU, and Qualcomm® Hexagon™ 686 Processor to deliver up to 100% performance improvement in CPU and GPU, and up to 70% AI performance improvement compared to the previous generation. Snapdragon 480 also supports Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 4+ technology, a first in a 4-series.
     
  • Camera: Capture stunning photos and videos with Qualcomm Spectra™ 345 ISP – the first triple ISP in a 4 series. Capture from all three cameras simultaneously.  Triple 13MP photo capture can deliver an image from the ultrawide, wide and telephoto camera all at once or capture triple 720p videos simultaneously.
     
  • Entertainment: The Snapdragon 480 upgrades streaming and gaming user experiences. The 120fps FHD+ display support provides incredible content clarity and quick, smooth graphics rendering. The platform offers fully immersive entertainment with Qualcomm® aptX™ audio, optimized gaming experiences across popular titles, seamless streaming for HD content, and faster application load times.

In addition to the usual 5G low latency and high data speeds, the 120fps screen refresh support and triple-camera capture are impressive given the price point at which 480-running smartphones will ship. As ever, smartphones continue to get faster and more battery-efficient - and that's always good for users. In this case, for smartphones for one's partner, perhaps, or for your teenage kids leading up to 2022.

Source / Credit: Qualcomm