LIVE FROM QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON TECH SUMMIT 2019, HAWAII: Qualcomm teased a pair of new 7-series 5G chips it said will help bring next-generation capabilities to the mass market, as it unveiled a new Snapdragon 865 platform for flagship devices.

While detailed specifications have yet to be released, Qualcomm said Snapdragon 865 will come with the company’s fifth generation AI engine and support 15 trillion operations per second. It will also enable advanced camera capabilities, supporting 8K video capture and up to a 200MP camera.

The lower-tier Snapdragon 765 and Snapdragon 765G gaming variant will feature the same AI engine and offer download speeds of up to 3.7Gb/s.

Snapdragon 865 will be paired with Qualcomm’s X55 5G modem and the 7-series chips its X52 modem.

Alex Katouzian, SVP and GM of Qualcomm’s mobile division, said 5G will make its way to the company’s 6-series platform in the second half of 2020.

Vendors
Hailing broad support for the new platforms, Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon predicted “2020 will be the year of scale for 5G”.

Indeed, a series of smartphone OEMs including Motorola, Xiaomi, Oppo and HMD Global took to the stage to announce forthcoming devices based on the new Snapdragon lineup.

Xiaomi tapped Snapdragon 865 to power its yet-to-be released Mi 10 smartphone, one of more than ten 5G devices company president Lin Bin said the vendor planned to launch in 2020.

Oppo also opted for the 865 for its forthcoming flagship, while Motorola and HMD Global both teased phones based on the 7-series chips, due in 2020.

HMD Global chief product officer Juho Sarvikas noted Snapdragon 765 will help the company serve a key segment of the market, as “not everyone is willing to, or able, to pay over $1,000 for their first 5G smartphone”.

Qualcomm paid for travel to this conference. This article reflects honest reporting on the event.