Qualcomm's Fix For Faster 5G, AI And Wi-Fi Could Supercharge Your Next Smartphone

Qualcomm is kicking off its presence at 2024's Mobile World Congress (MWC) by announcing new network products, including the new Snapdragon X80 modem, alongside upgraded Wi-Fi and Bluetooth components. These will be integrated as part of Qualcomm's cornerstone chipsets, which are expected to launch later in the year and grace smartphones and ultra-portable laptops early next year.

Qualcomm does not limit these solutions to just smartphones or laptops, and emphasizes the same picture of a connected future we have been sold for nearly a decade now. The newest touch to this vision is AI, which will now make your 5G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connections more secure and less spotty. In addition, it plans to optimize many AI models to run directly on mobile devices, and make them available for developers to integrate them into apps.

Here's everything from Qualcomm's MWC announcement, and how it plans to improve your smart devices in the coming years.

The Snapdragon X80 is Qualcomm's newest modem-RF system, and marks an upgrade over the X75 predecessor, which drives cellular connections on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 phones including the OnePlus 12 and the Galaxy S24 series.

On the latest X80, likely to be available on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, Qualcomm is focusing on improving communications using AI. While it uses the same dedicated AI accelerator chip — the Qualcomm 5G AI Processor Gen 2 — as the X75, Qualcomm says this is the first time AI is leveraged to extend the range of 5G connections. This is also the first chip to support 6X carrier aggregation in downlink streams.

The main highlight of the new Snapdragon X80 modem is native support for satellite-based connection for emergency communications. This isn't the first time Qualcomm mentions ground-to-satellite connectivity: In 2023, it announced satellite connectivity would arrive on phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processors starting later in the year, but instead abandoned the project due to reluctance from phone makers.

Qualcomm doesn't specify what's different this time except for the new mention on Narrowband. Qualcomm claimed connectivity across the globe for the previous version, surpassing the limitations of the iPhone 14 and 15 series, which are currently the only phones supporting satellite-based services. The fate of satellite connectivity on Android phones is still unclear, but it's expected to take several months before it's implemented in newer handsets.

Qualcomm has also announced the new FastConnect 7900 system, which will serve as a single chip for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and UWB (ultra-wideband) connections. The integrated system is designed for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 — the same as the earlier FastConnect 7800 launched in 2022. What changes this time is the more compact footprint, with a chip manufactured on a 6nm process instead of 14nm.

UWB — the technology used by trackers such as Apple's AirTags or Samsung's SmartTags — is set to become more commonplace with the new system. In the Android realm, select Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy flagships support UWB, but its addition to FastConnect 7900 will likely bring it to almost every Android phone, laptop, or other computing device running Qualcomm's flagship chips. As per Qualcomm, some practical applications of UWB include finding your earphones, or auto-unlocking cars.

Like the modem, the FastConnect 7900 system also gets an AI treatment. Qualcomm says the system will optimize range and connectivity using AI based on specific environments and use cases. On the technical front, there aren't any other improvements, especially in terms of transfer speeds.

The system is expected to launch in the second half of 2024, and will be available on chips for laptops and mixed reality headsets — besides those meant for smartphones.

AI is significantly reshaping how we interact with our phones and laptops — the Galaxy S24's AI features set an admirable example. To ensure the features are not limited only to a few flagship devices, Qualcomm is announcing a new tool that will allow developers to import and deploy AI models on their applications to run on a wider range of devices — anything running on any Qualcomm or Snapdragon computing platform.

Qualcomm's new solution, called "AI Hub," offers over 75 predefined AI models, including big names such as Stable Diffusion and Whisper, which can be directly deployed on a variety of devices with a Qualcomm chip inside. The brand says these models have also been optimized for on-device AI processing and better memory and processing power utilization.

Besides a dedicated website that Qualcomm hosts, these models will also be available on Hugging Face and GitHub. Qualcomm also says they will be routinely updated with the newest features. It does not specify which chips or specific devices will be capable of running these models, but we presume a dedicated NPU will be required at the very least.