Early 2020 high-end smartphones offered 5G as one of their main differentiators to older devices, tempting those thinking about upgrading, despite the costs to jump from 4G to 5G speeds.
But! No longer will 5G be a thing for elite high-end users as Qualcomm has just announced the new Snapdragon 690, a much more mainstream, low-cost SoC that will likely bring 5G to our pleasured Tecno and Infinix devices.
Not really YET!
However, one thing pretty obvious is that there will be widespread 5G adoption, almost by default rather than a feature you need to pay more for.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 690: What is new?
According to Hadlee from DGit tech news site, “Qualcomm’s new chipset delivers an X51 5G modem, supporting NSA and SA modes, dynamic spectrum sharing, and downlink speeds of up to 2.5Gbps.
The Snapdragon 690 doesn’t seem to support mmWave 5G, which is the faster but more temperamental 5G standard in terms of coverage. So you’re left with sub-6GHz 5G, used by the vast majority of networks around the world.”
Going contrary to conspiracies that have long headlined its introduction, missing mmWave 5G is a big cost-saver, and it will hurt the very very few people who are able to get mmWave 5G.
As Hadlee points outs, sub-6GHz, or low-band 5G offers far more city block and wider regional coverage, even if it’s not quite as fast.
However, this marks the first processors with the Cortex-A77 CPU in the mid-range Snapdragon 700 series or Snapdragon 600 series family. It’s all on an 8nm process which should provide better power efficiencies.
Furthermore, graphics should be boosted further on the Snapdragon 690 5G with Qualcomm claiming the Adreno 619L GPU could offer over 60% boost in graphics rendering over the Snapdragon 675, and now supports a 120Hz refresh rate at FHD+ resolution.
Other features include support for Wi-Fi 6-ready connectivity, Bluetooth 5.1, and Quick Charge 4+ technology, plus 192MP snaps and 4K HDR video recording.
When to expect Snapdragon 690 5G in Smartphones
Reports point to the first value smartphones with a Snapdragon 690 during H2 2020, or in the coming months, with Qualcomm saying HMD Nokia, LG, Motorola, Sharp, and TCL all have smartphones in the works with the chip. (The Pixel 4a is meant to get a 700-series Snapdragon, reportedly the 730).
However, the huge curiosity here is that by 2021, we could be getting 4G-only phones which doesn’t bode well for smartphone users in this part of the world.
The only saving grace(somewhat) is that 5G licensing is still reportedly expensive, so smartohone OEMs might continue making 3G/4G phone variants as they continue to adjust to costs.
Originally Posted On NaijaTechGuy
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