5G coming to the Snapdragon 4-Series
Qualcomm announced at IFA 2020 that it’s extending 5G Ultra-Wideband connectivity, previously available to its Snapdragon 8-Series, 7-Series and 6-Series, to the Snapdragon 4-Series of chips.
The Snapdragon 4-Series is often described as Qualcomm’s entry-level chipset and it powers some smartphones, but also IoT devices like smart-speakers, and smartTVs.
While no specific devices were announced today, Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm Inc., did mention that more Snapdragon 4-Series 5G devices are in the pipeline.
Extended Reality and ANC
Qualcomm also highlighted not just regular wearables (Snapdragon’s chips are very common in Wear OS products), but also specifically extended reality and announced the Qualcomm XR2 5G chip for that application. No details no the products themselves yet, but Qualcomm did highlight their work with big names like Microsoft and Oculus whose products are powered by Qualcomm today, so you can expect the XR2 to likely come to devices from those manufacturers.
Qualcomm also spoke about their evolving active noise cancellation technology that aims to improve ANC devices through technology that will ensure the best noise cancellation experience for the most users possible.
Laptops
Qualcomm invited Acer’s Co-COO Jerry Kao onto their virtual stage to show off a new Acer laptop powered by the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G-capable chip. They say the laptop will have days of battery life and will be both always on and always connected so users don’t have to wait when they need it.