Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon’s gave a stupendous opening IFA 2020 keynote where he divulged the company’s upcoming plans for its wide range of mobile, laptops, and audio products. Though product specifics weren’t revealed, by 2021, one can expect more affordable 5G phones, and more Snapdragon-powered Windows equipped laptops, and better noise cancellation efficiency for wireless earbuds.
First ever 5G Snapdragon 400 series processor
5G capabilities have already been incorporated in mid-tier smartphones, with the help of the Snapdragon 765. Now, devices’ prices are likely to be more affordable once the Snapdragon 690 devices hit the market soon. But the budget 5G handsets powered by Qualcomm will soon come out with the first-ever 5G-enabled Snapdragon 400 series processor. Qualcomm estimates that it may eventually incorporate another 3.5 billion users into the 5G ecosystem with its affordable product range.
Qualcomm snapdragon 5G
As there is no update on the specifics of the first 5G Snapdragon 400 chipset yet, there can’t be any comparisons to the 5G Dimensity 720 SoC by MediaTek, which is probably the cheapest 5G option that is at present available on the market. Typically, the Snapdragon 400 series chipsets will have stripped-down features and come with older performance parts that would fit into sub-$200 markets.
Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2
In terms of 5G, the new Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 is the latest update for the premium connected laptop market. However, the SoC boosts the existing Snapdragon 8cx architecture instead of revamping the design. The new SoC is based on the same 7nm process, though Qualcomm is touting a more significant performance wins over the 15W and 7W TDP Core i5 chips by Intel in the PC Mark 10 segment.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor
The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 highly boasts 4K HDR video support, dual 4K60 external display in a single USB-C connector, Qualcomm Aqstic audio backed by echo and noise suppression, FastConnect 6800 chip having Wi-Fi 6, and 9 TOPS of AI performance. The has an integrated Snapdragon x24 4G modem, but it can be paired up with a Snapdragon X55 for enhanced 5G support. The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 overall can be stated as a minor but welcome upgrade of Qualcomm’s flagship laptop chipset.
When it comes to talking of products, Acer will launch its first-ever Windows on the Snapdragon PC. HP is also on board, though it hasn’t announced anything yet. These companies follow Microsoft and Samsung to transition to Arm-based Windows laptops and make familiar x86-powered products.
Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation
The third announcement by Qualcomm is the Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) for wireless earbuds. This improves the quality of ANC for small earbuds even when the earbuds aren’t correctly fitted. The upgrade aims to reduce the time spent on messing with different ear tips and making adjustments for acceptable cancellation. The Qualcomm’s technology also supports an efficient automatic environment adaptation with smooth transitions and is customizable by partners to support new product features.
Qualcomm boasts of up to 20dB of low-frequency background attenuation with an inferior fit as its worst-case scenario. This is reasonably a decent upgrade, especially for small buds. The Adaptive ANC by Qualcomm is supported on the 514X series of Bluetooth SoCs and will be available on products to be launched in 2021.
