Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 690 chipset brings 5G to the masses

As more carriers expand 5G services to more markets, demand for 5G-enabled smartphones starts to increase. In theory, that's supposed to increase prices as well, but only if there are few offerings. Qualcomm is making sure that you will no longer have to pay a fortune for a 5G smartphone going forward.

The new Snapdragon 690 chipset fully supports 5G connectivity and is meant to be embedded in mid-range devices. With the new SoC (system-on-chip), Qualcomm plans to make 5G broadly available worldwide with the help of smartphone makers.

The first companies to confirm they will launch smartphones equipped with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 chipset are Motorola, LG, HMD Global, Sharp, and TCL. Other important players in the market are likely to embrace this new piece of tech, but they'll probably wait for the first wave of devices to hit the market.

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 690 5G is the first mid-range chipset to feature 4K HDR support to capture pictures at up to 192 megapixels. Moreover, the chipset includes support for 120hz displays for very fast refresh rates.

Hardware-wise, the Snapdragon 690 chipset accommodates a Qualcomm Kryo 560 processor that should provide up to 20% performance improvement compared to its predecessor. The included Snapdragon X51 5G modem is optimized for the 6-series platform and offers blazing-fast speeds and superior 5G coverage.

Also, the chipset comes with an Adreno 619L GPU (graphics processing unit) that delivers up to 60% faster graphics rendering. Last but not least, the Snapdragon 690 is fully compatible with Qualcomm's Quick Charge 4+ technology that charges up to 4x faster than conventional charging.

If you're dying to get your hands on the new devices equipped with the Snapdragon 690 5G chipset, you'll be pleased to know that the first smartphones are expected to be commercially available in the second half of the year.