Your next Android smartphone will have even faster 5G, better battery life, thanks to Qualcomm

From CNET: The chip that will power most high-end 5G phones next year is here: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. And for the first time in its ultra high-end lineup, Qualcomm has integrated its 5G modem on the same chip as the brains, AI and other processor features, likely giving 5G phones a boost in battery life.

Smartphones need a lot of components to operate, but two key parts that make a phone a phone are the application processor that acts as the brains of a device and a modem that connects it to a mobile network. The first 5G devices needed standalone modems that worked alongside the main computing processor. That was because 5G technology was so new, it was too difficult to combine it with the brains.

Last year's Snapdragon 865 also had a standalone modem, while Qualcomm integrated 5G connectivity with the processor system on its midrange Snapdragon 765 and 765G systems on a chip, or SoCs. Many people expected Qualcomm's highest-end chip to be the first Snapdragon SoC to have an integrated modem, but the company at the time said if it didn't pare back the modem or the app processor features, the resulting chip would be too big and too power hungry for high-end smartphones. Qualcomm chose not to compromise on either feature for its high-end phones but was willing to make some compromises for its midrange chip lineup.

The Snapdragon 865 paired with the X55 modem to power the majority of high-end 5G phones released in 2020, starting with Samsung's Galaxy S20 lineup.

With the Snapdragon 888, Qualcomm gets back to its SoC strengths, and phone users will benefit. The biggest advantages of SoCs are better battery life and lower cost. Instead of two chips taking up room in a phone, there's just one, resulting in thinner, sleeker phones or more room for bigger batteries. Having an integrated chip also enables device makers to quickly develop phones for essentially any 5G network in the world, and it makes 5G handsets cheaper for consumers.

View: Full Article