Rumor: Qualcomm comes with cheaper Snapdragon 888 variant without 5G

Qualcomm may come with a variant of the Snapdragon 888 without a 5G modem. The 5G modem is integrated in the soc, which means that the chip designer should make an effort for a variant without 5G support.

WinFuture Editor Roland Quandt says that the soc should make cheaper high-end smartphones possible without 5G. Currently, the Snapdragon 888 has an integrated 5G modem, which drives up the price: a version without 5G and also without the antennas to support 5G frequencies could yield a cheaper smartphone.

In addition to the Snapdragon 888, Qualcomm already introduced the cheaper Snapdragon 870, a souped-up version of last year’s 865. That would be intended for cheaper high-end models. It is unknown what role an 888 without 5G would play. In Europe, more expensive phones without 5G rarely appear. Many midrange models now also support 5G.

WinFuture also reports first data about the successor to the 888. The type number would be SM8450 and the code name Waipio, named after a place in Hawaii. Test devices have 12GB of Lpddr5 memory and 256GB of UFS storage, along with a camera module codenamed Leica1.