Qualcomm announced the 5G-capable Snapdragon 690 over the summer. Doing so brought 5G capabilities to mid-range smartphones that used Snapdragon 6-series chips. Now, Qualcomm is announcing plans to bring 5G to its lower-end Snapdragon 4-series SoCs. Qualcomm is planning to launch 5G capable Snapdragon 4-Sies trips sometime next year.
Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s CEO and founder said the company will be one of the first manufacturers to launch a phone that uses the new Snapdragon’s 4-series 5G-capable chips. Also, OPPO and Motorola made statements in support of Qualcomm’s new mobile platform.
The still fledgling 5G network is available on over 80 networks spread across 35 countries so far. Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s president, said, ‘Our Snapdragon 4-series is expected to address regions that currently have approximately 3.5 billion smartphone users combined.’
Smartphones equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8-series chipsets generally cost the better part of $1000. Costing a little less, Snapdragon 7-series phones, which are also 5G capable, are $500 or more. So, you can expect phones with the new 5G-capable Snapdragon 4-series chipsets will cost even less. We estimate the new chips will make 5G phones in the ~$200 range possible.
It’s important to note that the new 4-series chipsets will likely only work with sub-6 5G, not mmWave. That means that these cheaper 5G phones probably won’t work with Verizon. According to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association, only around 30 % of currently available 5G phones support mmWave networks.
