Qualcomm on Thursday announced a Snapdragon-branded smartphone, its first attempt at experimenting with the hardware but with the help of Asus. Qualcomm claims that the device, which they are calling, “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders”, will showcase Qualcomm’s technologies at the forefront, be it the chip itself, sound technology, modem, and camera prowess.
Though the smartphone has all the exemplary Qualcomm advances inside, it is Asus that has designed and manufactured the top-of-the-line smartphone. The smartphone will be commercially accessible, starting August this year, beginning with the US, UK, Japan, Korea, and China. The gadget will come to India, however, Qualcomm has not given the delivery date yet. Asus will be dealing with selling the phone through its e-shop and channel partners.
Speaking of the device, the Snapdragon-branded smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 5G chipset (but not the latest Snapdragon 888+). It has a 2.84 GHz octa-core processor and the Adreno 660 GPU. Qualcomm boasts that it has “the most comprehensive support for all key 5G sub-6 and mmWave bands” of any device available. It has WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E support with speeds of up to 3.6 Gbps. It comes with 16GB of LPDDR5 ram, paired with 512GB of storage.
On the screen front, it has a 6.78 inch AMOLED display from Samsung that has a 144 Hz refresh rate, which makes it a potential gaming phone. The screen is HDR10 and HDR10+ certified and has a peak brightness of 1200 nits. The phone has three rear cameras: a 64MP main lens, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and 8MP telephoto. It can capture video in up to 8K. The device also has a 24MP front camera and AI auto-zoom.
Qualcomm claims this is the first smartphone in the world to feature Snapdragon Sound technology. The phone natively supports 24-bit, 96kHz music streaming and ultra-low-latency for lag-free wireless gaming. To make the audio experience truly premium, the device comes bundled with high-end truly wireless earbuds from Master and Dynamic. Also, the box includes a fast charger supporting Quick Charge 5, a custom rubber bumper, and a high-quality USC-C to USB-C braided cable.
Despite the fact that its $1499 retail cost may stun a few, Qualcomm has made it clear the smartphone targets Snapdragon insiders and tech enthusiasts. There are over 1.6 million Snapdragon Insiders spread across the world. Obviously, this is certifiably not a mass-consuming smartphone, which is the reason the smartphone is getting a limited release.
