Qualcomm on Wednesday launched a new mobile chip as it looks to cater to the growing demand for premium mid-range smartphones. The move ramps up Qualcomm’s efforts to challenge the dominance of Apple, which continues to sell older flagships at slightly lower prices in emerging markets like India.
The company’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is still considered a premium-tier chipset, joining the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which was announced in September and powers high-end smartphones from brands such as OnePlus and Xiaomi. However, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 targets the premium mid-range segment, appealing to consumers who don’t want to buy flagship phones but still want premium features at more accessible price points.
OnePlus will be one of the first companies to launch a smartphone with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor. Motorola, iQOO and Vivo will also launch smartphones featuring Qualcomm’s new chipset in the coming months.
Qualcomm’s goal is to trickle down premium features to more accessible price points while still delivering a premium experience. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 brings Qualcomm’s in-house Oryon central processing unit for more power and efficiency over older silicon from Arm. Compared to last year’s mobile chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 CPU offers 36 per cent better performance and 76 per cent better web browsing responsiveness. Meanwhile, an updated Adreno GPU brings increased clock speeds (up to 3.8GHz) and an 11 per cent graphics performance boost, while a Hexagon NPU delivers a 46 per cent improvement in performance.
OnePlus, Vivo and IQOO, among others, will be the first brands to launch smartphones with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
Qualcomm suggests these improvements along with the use of its Snapdragon Sensing Hub could enable more personalised AI that continues to learn about the user over time.
On the camera side, Qualcomm highlights the Spectra Triple AI ISP paired with the Hexagon NPU to enable advanced computational photography. Users will benefit from 4x greater dynamic range, offering richer detail and contrast across varying lighting conditions as well as AI-driven capabilities such as Night Vision 3.0 and real-time tone adjustments. These features will “intelligently optimize skin tones, skies, and now vegetation for more lifelike images and video.” For gaming, Qualcomm lists support for 165 fps (whenever a game supports it), improved multi-threaded performance, and support for Mesh Shading.
The 8 Gen 5 uses the X80 modem, which enables phones to better utilize signal bandwidth in a carrier’s network, build out satellite connectivity, and improve 5G home internet performance.
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Qualcomm is launching a new mobile chip at a time when consumers are holding onto their phones for longer than they did a decade ago. The average consumer now keeps their smartphone for at least 24 months, and that cycle is getting even longer. Qualcomm and its partners need to convince consumers that they should upgrade to a new device, although many fear that with phone prices increasing, it will be difficult to sell newer models in major markets like the US and Europe, where the economy is stagnant and job losses due to AI are a real concern.
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