If you are looking to buy from one amongst the most affordable 5G smartphones in India, your choices include the Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G (around ₹10,499), the Poco M6 5G (around ₹9,499) and the Lava Blaze 2 5G (also around ₹10,499). For the last reported 175 million 5G users in India, as well as an estimated 800 million more 4G or feature phone users who wish to upgrade, there is still a gap. There is no 5G smartphone under the $100; or around ₹ ₹8,000. That is a scenario Qualcomm is intent on correcting, with its newest and most affordable smartphone SoC, or system on chip. But for that to come true, phone makers will need to be in sync.
Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chip, their most affordable one in the line-up at this time. It sits alongside the flagship 8 series, the mid-range powering 7-series chip, as well as the 6-series for affordable Android phones. If and when the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 is successful in carving out its own space, it’ll hope to power a new budget category for 5G smartphones in the country. This is the first time the 4-series chips in Snapdragon’s line-up, have an “s” iteration, to keep costs down.
“An aspect of our mission, one that’s very close to my heart, is to get technology into the hands of as many people as possible so that no one is left behind. We are driven by the belief that connectivity is a fundamental right,” said Chris Patrick, who is Senior Vice President and General Manager for Qualcomm’s Mobile Handset business, in a session of which HT was a part. He insists democratising 5G is the way towards digital inclusion.
The company hopes affordability will mean even lower priced 5G smartphones for current 4G users, or even feature phone users, to upgrade to. They expect this to have a positive impact on the smartphone market in more countries too, and estimate as many as 2.8 billion smartphone users may be better poised to upgrade to faster mobile internet speeds.
To that extent, there is confirmation from Xiaomi India that the company will release their first smartphone using the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 before the end of the year. “Many people have yet to experience the benefits of 5G, and thanks to Snapdragon 4s Gen 2, Xiaomi can bring 5G connectivity to a broader audience to help reshape the way the world connects and interacts,” says Muralikrishnan B, President of Xiaomi India. We will know more, in the coming weeks. Alongside, more phone makers are expected to firm up plans too.
The headline takeaways of the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chip includes gigabit or 1Gbps 5G connectivity, 2GHz peak speeds for the CPU, dual frequency NavIC support (that’ll be L1 and L5) when available, an updated image signal processor that can be deployed to capture up to 84-megapixel photos, in sensor zoom, 90 frames per second gaming on an FHD+ resolution, up to 40-watt charging speeds, the Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec and an AI based noise suppression and echo cancellation communication suite.
Qualcomm explains that the “S” iteration of Snapdragon chips completes a troika within each broader chip series – the other being the Plus and a base, iterations. The Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chip will sit below the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chip in terms of features and functionality potential, to keep costs down for phone makers. For instance, the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 peaks at 2.5Gbps downlink speeds for 5G, instead of 1Gbps. While Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 can be used by the phone’s camera to capture up to 108-megapixel photos, the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chip is limited to 84-megapixel.
The core, which should define baseline performance, remains constant. The Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chip is also a 4-namometer process architecture, and will support the faster UFS 3.1 storage standard, as well as the chip-level security features.
It is too soon to predict whether Qualcomm’s most affordable Snapdragon chip will provide enough of a foundation for smartphone makers to go lower down the price band with upcoming 5G phones. However, if it were to, the trajectory of feature phone to smartphone switch as well as a bump in 5G user base in India through 2025, will provide an indication to an extent.