Latest Qualcomm processor to bring 5G to budget phones in early 2021

5G smartphones have started to get cheaper this year, but they're still not exactly cheap. The most affordable 5G handset on the market - the Find X2 Lite - will set you back $749, and prices just go up from there. Fortunately, this is set to change at the start of next year.

Qualcomm today announced that it will bring 5G connectivity to its 4-series chipsets at the start of next year. While we haven't seen too many 4-series devices in Australia this year, they've typically been priced under $300. For example, last year's Nokia 3.2 and Nokia 4.2 were both powered by a Snapdragon 429 processor and sold for $249 and $299 respectively.

"The Snapdragon 4-series 5G Mobile Platform is designed to exceed expectations for the mass-market segment by bringing an assortment of predominately high- and mid-tier features to a broader audience," said Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon. "It will deliver on the promise of making 5G accessible to all smartphone users."

The first devices powered by Snapdragon 4-series processors should be available in the first quarter of 2021. Motorola, OPPO, and Xiaomi have all confirmed that they are working on handsets powered by these chips.

While Qualcomm has yet to detail specifics about the Snapdragon 4-series 5G chipset, there's a good chance it will only support Sub 6 5G, not mmWave, as with its higher-end Snapdragon 690. This means devices powered by a Snapdragon 4-series chip won't be able to reach the maximum speeds 5G is capable of - potentially as high as 4Gbps.

In the short term, this won't be too much of an issue in Australia as mmWave 5G doesn't currently exist locally. Australian telcos won't be able to bid for access to the mmWave spectrum until the start of 2021, and then they'll still need to deploy a network on it. This means it is unlikely we'll see mmWave 5G connectivity in Australia until late 2021 or early 2022. And even then, it will be scarce.

Sub 6 5G, also known as mid-band 5G runs on frequencies similar to what 4G networks use now, albeit on the higher end of the spectrum. All Australian 5G networks currently rely on Sub 6 5G. And while Sub 6 5G may not be as fast as mmWave, it can still hit speeds over 1Gbps.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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