Items tagged with snapdragon x50
Qualcomm has been at the forefront of 5G development with its Snapdragon X50 modem, which began shipping in smartphone this year. The Snapdragon X50 is the modem of choice for most of today's shipping flagship 5G-enabled devices including the Galaxy Note 10 5G and OnePlus 7 Pro 5G. However, despite the obvious performance benefits of having a 5G modem in these first-generation devices, there are a few downsides to Qualcomm's current implementation. For starters, the Snapdragon X50 (and its Snapdragon X55 successor) are standalone chips. They are separate from the primary SoC, and hence take up additional space on a smartphone's PCB. Given that space in smartphones is a premium, OEMs would prefer...
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When we think of Samsung's flagship smartphones, we typically envision the Galaxy S series or the Galaxy Note. These smartphones offer the fastest SoCs, innovative display technologies and the latest and greatest features. But as we've seen recently, Samsung is more than willing to bring flagship features down to its mid-range offerings. That will apparently continue with the introduction of the Galaxy A90. According to reliable gadget leaker OnLeaks, Samsung is preparing two versions of the Galaxy A90, and both look to be impressive mid-range smartphones catering to those that like huge displays. The A905 is the standard model accordion to OnLeaks, while A908 refers to the...
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We now have a date for the official unveil of the OnePlus 7 Series of smartphones. OnePlus has been teasing the release of its next-generation flagship for the past few weeks, and now it has confirmed that it will reveal all on May 14th at 11am EST, less than a month from now. OnePlus is promising that this will be “our greatest launch event ever” and that it “marks the pinnacle of our dedication to craftsmanship and passion for creating breakthrough technologies.” The tagline for the event is “Go Beyond Speed,” so we should expect to hear quite a bit about innovative new features rather than the usual drumbeat about faster performance year-over-year (which...
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Qualcomm is wasting no time in advancing its 5G implementations for smartphone and PC platforms. The company's first-generation Snapdragon X50 modems are now shipping in the world's first 5G smartphones, and the company last week announced its second-generation Snapdragon X55, which will ship in devices next year. However, while the Snapdragon X50 and X55 bring 5G wireless tech to those willing to absorb the initial price premium, they aren't optimum solutions. Today's current 4G LTE modems are integrated into the SoC (a la the Snapdragon 855), which is ideal for devices like smartphones. The Snapdragon X50 represents a second chip that not only draws additional power, but takes up...
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In a report yesterday, we told you that LG is looking to say goodbye to touch as it embraces gesture controls in its upcoming smartphones. Today, LG is giving even more insight into what it will be showing off at MWC 2019, which is being held in Barcelona, Spain next month. LG says that its newest flagship will sport Qualcomm's brand new 7nm Snapdragon 855 SoC, which will be all the rage for devices launching this year. In addition, the smartphone will feature 5G connectivity, likely made possible by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X50 5G modem. If that wasn't enough, LG also said that it will fit the new flagship with a massive 4,000 mAh battery. For reference, the current LG V40 ThinQ with...
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Verizon Wireless and AT&T have been boasting about their 5G wireless networks, even if they are extremely limited in availability at the moment. Verizon launched its 5G home internet service back in early October, while AT&T's 5G wireless counterpart launched in late December. 5G promises greatly improved download/upload speeds, lower latency, and greater overall capacity for the growing number of internet-connected devices around the globe. But the initial tests of AT&T's 5G network show that current customers aren't really getting much greater than 4G speeds at best. In a Reddit post first spotted by PCMag, mwb6d reported on the results they were receiving in...
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Yesterday in Maui, Qualcomm provided a few brief details on its upcoming Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform SoC. The Snapdragon 855 will be powering the majority of 2019's Android flagship phones and will pair with Qualcomm's first-generation Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem and the company's all-new 3D Sonic Sensor under-the-display fingerprint reader. Today, Qualcomm is spilling nearly all the beans with respect to its new high-end SoC, and it's quite impressive. As previously rumored, the Snapdragon 855's Kryo 485 processor retains the octa-core hierarchy, but its makeup has changed. This time around, there is a single high-performance "prime" core that can be clocked up to...
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You didn't really think that AT&T was gonna sit by and let Verizon hog the limelight with 5G announcements, did you? Of course not. Yesterday, Verizon announced that it would be bringing a Samsung smartphone to market during the first half of 2019 with 5G connectivity. Today, AT&T parroted that move with an announcement of its own. Unfortunately, like the Verizon press release from yesterday, AT&T is incredibly light on details with regards to the phone and the 5G modem that will be used. However, we're confident that the smartphone in question is the unannounced flagship Galaxy S10, while these U.S. market devices will be using the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem....
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If you were expecting to purchase a 5G-equipped iPhone late next year, you're going to be disappointed. Following up on two previous reports that suggested that Apple won't release a 5G capable iPhone until 2020, another fresh report seemingly adds credence to those rumors. Bloomberg says that the delay in launching 5G smartphones is two-fold. The first issue stems from the fact that Apple is currently feuding with Qualcomm, which has traditionally been Apple's primary supplier for LTE modem chips in its iPhone and iPads. However, patent licensing issues have soured that relationship, sending Apple running into the welcoming arms of Intel. However,...
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The 5G wireless revolution is just getting started here in the United States. Verizon recently launched fixed 5G wireless service in select markets, and mobile 5G wireless networks will be operational later this month. Now, Verizon and hardware partner Samsung have announced that they will roll out "one of the first" production 5G wireless smartphones during the first half of 2019. Prior to that commercial launch, Verizon says that it will be showing off a proof of concept reference smartphone platform that will use Qualcomm's latest mobile SoC in conjunction with the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem. This demo will be on display at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit, which...
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5G is coming, and OEMs are already preparing next-generation smartphone designs that will take advantage of the follow-up to 4G LTE technology. The latest is Oppo, which has completed its initial 5G testing with a modified version of the R15 smartphone. The smartphone was fitted with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X50 5G modem, and testing was complaint with the 3GPP Release 15 NSA standard. Using this standard, the Oppo R15 with the Snapdragon X50 can access 10MHz bandwidth of LTE (Band 5) and 20Hz bandwidth 5G NR (n78 Band). With the data and knowledge that is has learned from these initial trials, Oppo says that it is on track to deliver its first 5G smartphones in 2019. Oppo isn't alone,...
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Qualcomm is the dominant silicon and solutions provider when it comes to supplying 4G LTE modems to the world's hardware OEMs, and the company is now looking to the future with 5G solutions that will power mobile devices. Today, Qualcomm announced that its Snapdragon X50 5G NR (New Radio) modem family has garnered support from a number of OEMs for products that will begin launching in 2019, with trials beginning this year. The list of partners is vast and includes a number of familiar names like ASUS, Fujitsu, Nokia, HTC, Inseego/Novatel Wireless, LG, Netcomm Wireless, Netgear, OPPO, Sony, Xiaomi and ZTE (among others). We don't see Apple anywhere on that list, of course, as you might expect,...
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