One of the biggest problems with 5G is the impact it has on phone prices, often increasing the cost of current devices by about $ 100 or more compared to standard 4G phones. But with the launch of its new Snapdragon 480 chip, Qualcomm is looking to make 5G phones much more affordable.
Despite being part of the Qualcomm 400 series mobile chip family, the Snapdragon 480 not only supports sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G, but also has an eight-core processor composed of two high-performance Cortex A76 cores along with six Cortex A55 cores for greater energy efficiency. This means that the Snapdragon 480 can offer similar levels of performance to the Snapdragon 730G chip used in phones like the $ 350 Pixel 4a, but with additional support for high-end cellular networks. That is something that will be of great help to any phone manufacturer looking to create affordable 5G devices.
When it comes to wireless connectivity, the Snapdragon 480 uses an integrated X51 modem that Qualcomm claims can achieve download speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps or uploads of up to 660 Mbps over 5G or maximum download speeds of up to 800 Mbps when connected a regular one 4G LTE network. And in addition to 5G, Snapdragon 480 also supports Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6.
And while designed to be an entry-level chip, the Snapdragon 480 can also offer some state-of-the-art features previously found only on more premium phones, such as support for 120 Hz monitors (in FHD + resolutions), photo capture up to three cameras to one (at up to 13 MP each), triple simultaneous video capture (at up to 720p) and up to 70% better AI performance compared to the previous Snapdragon 460 chip.
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ANDxcitement on new mobile chips can be a bit muted, even when we’re talking about flagship SoCs, like the next ones Snapdragon 888but with Qualcomm targeting the Snapdragon 480 chip for use in $ 250 gadgets and several device manufacturers, including Oppo, HMD and OnePlus, already committing to make New devices that use the chip, the Snapdragon 480 is about to be a very important piece of silicon.
This is doubly true for the US, because, unlike other countries like China, which largely depend on the sub-6GHz spectrum for the initial 5G deployment, the major US operators (mainly Verizon and AT&T) invested a lot of resources in building its mmWave 5G spectrum as well. This means that in the US, it will be increasingly critical to have devices in all price ranges that can support sub-6Ghz and mmWave 5G, especially as we move towards the end of the year and 2022, when operators will start converting part of their older 3G networks on a newer, faster 5G coverage.