Your next Android flagship phone could be much cheaper

Your side by side Android flagship phone could be much cheaper — here'due south how

(Image credit: Qualcomm)

Qualcomm has a new idea that could, in theory, lower the cost of future flagship phones. You'd simply need to be willing to give up 5G to make it happen.

A lot of Qualcomm's fries already characteristic 5G connectivity as standard, especially with the flagship 8-series. But that might change this yr, because the Snapdragon 888 may get-go offering a version without 5G baked in.

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This is co-ordinate to WinFuture's Roland Quandt, who claims Qualcomm has a low-end version of the Snapdragon 888 chipset in the works. A chipset that does not feature the integrated 5G modem that's present on existing Snapdragon 888 chips.

Qualcomm has a lower terminate derivate of the Snapdragon 888 (SM8350) in the works. SM8325 is the model number and there seems to be NO integrated 5G modem on this i. #CheapFlagshipPhonesMarch 8, 2021

The new SM8325 variant would still feature all the same processing power as the standard Snapdragon 888 chip, just without the 5G. It would be an odd decision for Qualcomm to make, especially given how it'southward been pushing 5G adoption over the by few years. Y'all can even get built-in 5G on the 6-serial chips now, which are designed for cheaper mid-range handsets.

Merely by giving phone makers the option to scrap 5G, it could theoretically make some flagship devices cheaper.

No thing how much the phone manufacture likes to hype upwards 5G, there are still a lot of areas that become nil coverage. 5G phones are useless for people living in those places, and the prospect of saving a few dollars past sticking to 4G may exist rather appealing.

Of class, that's reliant on phone companies actually taking advantage of Qualcomm's stripped downward chipset. Because some companies may not want to dedicate the time and resources to manufacturing a carve up variant that's only distinguishable by its lack of a 5G modem. After all, 5G phones notwithstanding piece of work perfectly well in 4G networks.

Still, the modem-less Snapdragon 888 may accept uses across smartphones. Slashgear points out that the fries could be used to ability ARM-based laptops, even if Qualcomm already has a dedicated Compute Platform for this purpose.

For manufacturers, in that location was a 5.7% drop in smartphone sales throughout 2020 due to the Covid-xix pandemic. The economical impact plus the high price of some flagship phones made it hard for users to upgrade. Information technology'south why the latest Samsung Galaxy S21 line saw a dramatic toll drop in 2021. Snapdragon is likely making a modem-less 888 processor to meet requests from manufacturers wanting to cut costs.

Tom is the Tom's Guide's Automotive Editor, which ways he tin can ordinarily be establish articulatio genus deep in stats the latest and best electric cars, or checking out some sort of driving gadget. It's long way from his days every bit editor of Gizmodo Britain, when pretty much everything was on the table. He's usually plant trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining that Ikea won't let him buy the stuff he actually needs online.