Qualcomm Announces First 5G Snapdragon 6-Series Mobile Platform

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Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced its first 5G mobile platform in the 6-series, the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 690 5G Mobile Platform. This new platform is designed to make 5G user experiences even more broadly available around the world. 

Snapdragon 690 also supports remarkable on-device AI and vibrant entertainment experiences. HMD Global, LG Electronics, Motorola, SHARP, TCL, and Wingtech are among the OEMs/ODMs expected to announce smartphones powered by Snapdragon 690.

“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,” said Cristiano Amon, president, Qualcomm Incorporated. “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.”  

The Snapdragon 690 brings many of the most in-demand premium mobile experiences to the 6 series for the first time including 4K HDR (true 10-bit) support to capture over a billion shades of color and snapshots at up to 192 Megapixels. It also supports 120hz displays for fast refresh rates and smooth UI experiences.

Plus, 5G connectivity gives gamers superior access to cloudbased, multi-player games virtually anytime, anywhere. Snapdragon 690 is equipped with the latest 5th generation Qualcomm® AI Engine, enabling smart camera and video, voice translation, advanced AI based imaging, and AI enhanced gaming experiences. Additionally, Snapdragon 690 features a Qualcomm® Kryo™ 560 CPU that delivers up to 20% performance improvement compared to its predecessor. The new Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF System is optimized for the 6-series platform to bring multi-gigabit speeds and superior 5G coverage to the 6-series for the first time. 

“Just like the Android experience on our Nokia smartphones, our take on 5G is also future proofed. Earlier this year, we were the first manufacturer to leverage the power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G 5G Modular Platform in a smartphone, delivering on our vision of a truly future-proof global 5G experience with the Nokia 8.3 5G,” said Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer, HMD Global. “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. You can expect 5G worthy experiences powered by our PureDisplay and ZEISS Imaging innovation, now at an even more affordable price. We can’t wait to share more details on this exciting product with you, stay tuned.” 

Devices based on Snapdragon 690 are expected to be commercially available in the second half of 2020.