Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 480, the first chipset for really cheap 5G phones.
Prepared as a response to the low-cost solutions offered by MediaTek, the first 5G chipset in the Snapdragon 400 family is intended for smartphone products priced close to $ 250.
But the new Snapdragon 480 is interesting not only because it includes 5G connectivity, but also because it brings significant performance improvements on several levels. For example, the presence of an octa-core processor equipped with two Cortex-A76 cores at 2.0GHz raises the performance standard for millions of users who need to be satisfied with low-cost smartphone products. However, the performance in multi-thread mode does not increase as much, the six Cortex-A55 cores coming with a rather conservative frequency of 1.8GHz.
Other improvements are made to the GPU (Adreno 619) and the AI processor (Hexagon 686). Qualcomm promises no less than doubling 3D performance (compared to its predecessor SD 460) and 70% more speed in processing AI algorithms.
Instead, to keep costs under control, the RAM interface still uses LPDDR4X chips, with a slightly increased frequency of 2133 MHz.
Snapdragon 480 specifications
5G connectivity is given by the Snapdragon X51 modem, supporting connections in the sub-6GHz + mmWave band. The promised speeds are up to 800Mbps in download tasks, respectively 200 Mbps upload. Combined, using sub-6 + mmWave bands, speeds can reach 2500Mbps / 660 Mbps (download / upload)
Snapdragon 480-based phones can have screens with FHD + resolution (up to 1080 × 2520 pixels) and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The camera can have a single 64MP sensor, two 25MP + 13MP sensors, or 13MP + 13MP + 13MP in triple-camera mode.
The chipset made using the 8nm manufacturing process also supports Quick Charge 4+ technology, eliminating a major shortcoming of the SD 400 series.
The first 5G phones equipped with Snapdragon 480 could be announced before the end of January 2021.
