Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 778G, New 5G Modems

Qualcomm today announced its Snapdragon 778G System on a Chip (SOC) for mid-range smartphones, offering a 40 percent performance boost, plus a new mmWave-compatible Snapdragon X65 5G chipset and 10 gigabit 5G M.2 reference design.

“Snapdragon 778G was developed to address the growing demand by global [hardware makers] for more platform options in the high-tier,” Qualcomm vice president Kedar Kondap says. “Snapdragon 778G brings many of the latest premium technologies and features into the high-tier to help make next-generation experiences more broadly accessible.”

The Snapdragon 778G is built on a 6-nanometer process and it provides up to a 40 percent performance improvement in both CPU and GPU over its predecessor. This new chipset also includes a Triple ISP that enables phones to take three photos or videos at once and combine the results into the best possible output, the latest 6th generation Qualcomm AI Engine with 2X performance improvements, gaming features like Variable Rate Shading (VRS) and Qualcomm Game Quick Touch, and an integrated X53 5G modem with both mmWave and sub-6 5G capabilities. Honor, iQOO, Motorola, OPPO, Realme, and Xiaomi have all committed to using the chipset in new mid-level handsets this year.

The 5th-generation Snapdragon X65 5G modem builds on its predecessor and also supports 10-gigabit speeds and improved power efficiency. It also supports a wider range of mmWave-compatible carriers, including most crucially those in China.

And the Qualcomm Snapdragon X62 5G M.2 reference design is aimed at accelerating 5G adoption across various industries, including PCs, Always-Connected PCs (ACPCs), laptops, Customer Premises Equipment (CPEs), XR, gaming, and other mobile broadband (MBB) devices. As suggested by its name, it uses the common M.2 expansion slot and has the same basic features as the standalone X65 chipset.