Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 could be a massive breakthrough for 5G phones

Qualcomm has announced its new Snapdragon 690 5G Mobile Platform, which should expand the availability of 5G smartphones.

The latest addition to the 6-Series platform is the first to offer 5G and already has commitments from LG, Motorola, TCL and HMD Global, who are expected to launch smartphones running the Snapdragon 690 within the next few months.

There’s more to this mid-range chip than just 5G though. It’s the first time a 6-Series chip has supported 4K HDR video, while 120Hz display rates are also supported. While it’s unlikely to ever be maxed out, the platform supports still camera sensors up to 192-megapixels.

Related: 5G in the UK

Smartphones rocking the new platform, which is based around a Qualcomm Kryo 560 CPU (20% faster than the Snapdragon 675) and the X51 5G modem, will arrive in the second half of the year.

The platform replaces the Snapdragon 675 which powers phones like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro, Samsung Galaxy A70s, Moto Z4 and the Nokia 8.3. That should give you an idea of the handsets you can expect from the Snapdragon 690 moving forwards.

Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer for HMD Global, said: “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.”

Sergio Buniac, the president of Motorola Mobility says: “We’re committed to expand 5G into our portfolio and we will rely on the new Snapdragon 690 Mobile Platform to continue to do it. It’s incredibly important, especially now, for us to make 5G accessible to even more consumers around the world. As networks expand, so are our offerings.”