Qualcomm has officially launched its latest flagship 5G modem – Snapdragon X80. Designed for smartphones, extended reality (XR) devices, PCs, vehicles and industrial IoT devices, the X80 5G modem features a dedicated AI processor. This processor is equipped with a tensor accelerator to increase data transfer speed, coverage and performance while reducing latency.
In addition, the new modem also integrates the third-generation 5G AI Suite Gen 3 to further optimize coverage and positioning accuracy. Qualcomm claims that when the X80 is connected to a millimeter wave network, power consumption can be reduced by 10% and positioning accuracy improved by 30%.
The X80 is the first 5G modem to integrate narrowband (NB) to non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite communications support , which heralds the arrival of more flagship smartphones supporting satellite connectivity later this year.
The X80 has a peak download speed of 10 Gbps and an upload speed of 3.5 Gbps (theoretical value), and supports 5G millimeter wave (10 carrier aggregation) and sub-6 GHz (5 carrier aggregation) frequency bands. In addition, the X80 features a six-receive antenna architecture and is the first 5G modem to support 6x downlink carrier aggregation and AI-based millimeter wave range extension.
Qualcomm is currently providing samples of the X80 5G modem to partners, and commercial equipment equipped with the chip is expected to be available in the second half of 2024.
Qualcomm also released the FastConnect 7900 mobile connection system, which is the industry’s first solution to integrate Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and ultra-wideband connections into a single 6nm chip. The system supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard, with peak speeds up to 5.8 Gbps, as well as the Bluetooth 5.4 standard with spatial audio and ANT+ capabilities.