Qualcomm pledged to take 5G to the mainstream last year when they teased an upcoming 5G-capable Snapdragon 4-series chip. That chip is the newly announced Snapdragon 480 5G, the first in the series with 5G support. Snapdragon 480 5G will power budget Android phones as has been the case for previous Snapdragon 4-series chips.
The chip stocks an integrated Snapdragon X51 modem under the hood for 5G, and it includes support for both mmWave and sub-6GHz bands. Qualcomm Snapdragon 4-series chipsets tend to power phones that go for less than Ksh 30,000. And according to Qualcomm’s President Cristiano R. Amon, expect to see this chip in smartphones with prices ranging from $125(Ksh 13,500) to $250 (<Ksh 30,000).
Despite the laggardness in the 5G rollout by Kenyan telcos, you may finally have a 5G capable phone before the network arrives.
Aside from 5G support, Snapdragon 480 5G also promises massive performance leaps from its predecessor, Snapdragon 460.
Qualcomm says Snapdragon 480 can perform twice as faster as the 460 in both the CPU and GPU. Such claims are not surprising, considering the chip is the first to use the 8nm process in the series. As such it also includes a number of new features trickled down from more powerful chips that power mid-range phones.
Due to the fabrication architecture changes, the 480 will be the first to support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4 Plus and 120Hz refresh rate panels at FHD+. Besides, it will also allow budget Snapdragon-powered phones to shoot 64MP images.
Expect to see budget 5G-capable devices powered by the chip before the end of March. A few companies lined up to use the chip include Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Nokia.
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