Qualcomm announces Snapdragon X55 5G modem that will enable sleeker 5G smartphones

While we are still waiting to try out first generation 5G devices, Qualcomm today announced the Snapdragon X55 5G modem, its 2nd generation 5G New Radio (NR) modem. This new 5G to 2G multimode 7nm modem can support up to 7 Gbps download speeds and 3 Gbps upload speeds over 5G. And this modem will support all major frequency bands including mmWave or sub-6 GHz.

Another great thing about this modem is that it is engineered to support spectrum sharing between 4G and 5G. This will allow network providers to accelerate 5G roll-out using their existing 4G spectrum holdings to deliver both 4G & 5G services dynamically.

The Snapdragon X55 5G modem pairs with the newly announced 5G mmWave antenna module (QTM525), a new single-chip 14nm RF transceiver for 5G sub-6 GHz and LTE, and sub-6 GHz RF front-end modules.

The QTM525 5G mmWave antenna module reduces the height of the module to support smartphone designs that are less than 8 millimeters thick. In addition to smartphones, the Snapdragon X55 will bring 5G Always Connected PCs, laptops, tablets, extended reality devices, and more.

You will be able to find Snapdragon X55 modem in commercial devices by late 2019.

Source: Qualcomm (1), (2)