Qualcomm on Tuesday announced its first 5G enabled 6-series platform, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 690. The company said that the new platform has been developed to “make 5G user experiences even more broadly available around the world.” According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon X51 5G modem has been optimised for the 6-Series platform and that introduces multi-gigabit speeds and 5G coverage to the 6-series. The Snapdragon 690 also supports 120Hz displays and 4K HDR video capture. Qualcomm said that the new platform could power several mid-range and budget devices including those from Nokia, LG and Motorola in the upcoming months.
Qualcomm Unveils 5G Enabled Snapdragon 690
The company said that the Snapdragon 690 platform features Kryo 560 CPU capable of providing 20% improvement in performance as compared to its predecessor. “Driving the expansion of 5G into the Snapdragon 6-series has the potential to make 5G accessible to more than 2 billion smartphone users around the world,” Cristiano Amon, president, Qualcomm Incorporated, said in the release. Additionally, the company said that the new platform is armed with the fifth generation Qualcomm AI engine, offering “advanced AI based imaging, and AI enhanced gaming experiences.” “With over 375 5G designs launched or in development to date using Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G solutions, we are driving the proliferation of 5G across multiple tiers to make the next generation of camera, artificial intelligence, and gaming experiences more broadly available,” Amon said in the release. Qualcomm had previously enabled 5G experiences to its flagship Snapdragon 865 platform along with the Snapdragon 765, 768G platforms. However, the Snapdragon 690 platform supports only the Sub-6Ghz frequencies and not the faster mmWave standard that are found on the company’s other 5G enabled platforms.
Snapdragon 690 Based Devices to Launch in Second Half of 2020
Qualcomm said that the devices based on the Snapdragon 690 are likely to arrive in the second half of the year. Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer of HMD Global said that the users can expect 5G devices from Nokia at an even affordable price. “Now with the Snapdragon 690 Mobile Platform, we are excited that our vision of future-proof 5G and global 5G roaming can be made more accessible to even more fans of Nokia phones,” Sarvikas said in the release. Similarly, LG, Motorola, Sharp, TCL and Wingtech committed to introducing 5G devices based on the Snapdragon 690 platform. “It’s incredibly important, especially now, for us to make 5G accessible to even more consumers around the world,” Sergio Buniac, president of Motorola Mobility, said in the release. “As networks expand, so are our offerings.”
