One of the biggest problems with 5G is the impact it has on phone prices, often increasing the cost of current handsets by about $ 100 or more compared to standard 4G phones. But with the introduction of its new Snapdragon 480 chip, Qualcomm aims to make 5G phones much more affordable.
Despite being part of Qualcomm’s entry-level family of 400 series mobile chips, the Snapdragon 480 not only supports both sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G, but also features an eight-core processor made up of two powerful Cortex A76 cores together with six Cortex A55 cores for more energy efficiency. This means that the Snapdragon 480 could offer similar levels of performance to the Snapdragon 730G chip used in phones such as the $ 350 Pixel 4a, but with additional support for next-generation mobile networks. That is something that will be of great help to all phone manufacturers looking to make cheap 5G handsets.
When it comes to wireless connectivity, the Snapdragon 480 uses a built-in X51 modem that Qualcomm claims can achieve download speeds of up to 2.5Gbps or uploads of up to 660Mbps on 5G, or maximum download speeds of up to 800Mbps when connected to a regular customer 4G LTE network. And in addition to 5G, the Snapdragon 480 also supports Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6.
And while it’s designed as an entry-level chip, the Snapdragon 480 can also deliver some high-end features previously only found on premium phones, such as support for 120Hz displays (at FHD + resolutions), photo recording with up to three cameras on one (up to 13 MP each), triple simultaneous video recording (up to 720p) and even 70% better AI performance compared to the previous Snapdragon 460 chip.
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E.excitement over new mobile chips may be somewhat muffled, even if we’re talking flagship SoCs like the upcoming Snapdragon 888, but with Qualcomm targeting the Snapdragon 480 chip for use in $ 250 gadgets and multiple device manufacturers including Oppo, HMD and OnePlus already committed to new devices using the chip, the Snapdragon 480 is poised to become a very important piece of silicon.
This is doubly true for the US because unlike other countries like China, which largely rely on sub-6GHz spectrum for early 5G deployment, the major US carriers (most notably Verizon and AT&T) have also invested a lot of resources in building their mmWave 5G spectrum. That means it will become increasingly important in the US to have devices in every price range that can support both sub-6Ghz and mmWave 5G, especially as we move into the latter part of the year and 2022, when providers will start converting some of their older 3G networks to newer and faster 5G coverage.