Qualcomm’s processors power the most powerful smartphones in the world and the chip maker on Thursday has announced its first ever smartphone. A ‘Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders’, the new smartphone has been designed in collaboration with Asus and is specifically for the company’s loyalty programme called Snapdragon Insiders that was launched in March. It’s an interesting idea and a unique approach from Qualcomm.
But, I can’t say the same for the phone. Qualcomm had the technology enthusiasts at the edge of their seats when it announced the entry to the smartphone market. The device that it has actually come up with, which by the way will cost Rs 1,11,990 in India, is just another Android flagship smartphone with minor tweaks and a higher price tag.
Of course, the smartphone comes with an impressive spec sheet which includes Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC, 144Hz AMOLED display, and 512GB of onboard storage. The Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders also comes with a stock Android 11 experience, has 16GB of RAM and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus.
But, that’s what you expect from any flagship smartphone of 2021 and that’s what we have got on most smartphones including Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, OnePlus 9 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra. All these smartphones cost between Rs 70,000 and Rs 1 lakh and are more affordable than the Qualcomm device. Even the most expensive Galaxy S21 Ultra costs less than the Qualcomm phone.
Yes, none of these phones come with 16GB of RAM or have 144Hz refresh rate panel. There is one that does. That’s Asus’ own ROG Phone 5. It’s not even surprising that the Qualcomm phone has so many things in common with the ROG Phone 5. Even that costs considerably less than the Qualcomm phone.
One advantage it has though is that the phone will also come with an MW08SI active noise cancelling TWS earbuds manufactured by New York-based Master & Dynamic and is packed with a Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 charger (65W in global and 35W in India). It will also ship with custom rubber bumper, and two USB Type-C to USB Type-C braided cables.
An interesting choice that Qualcomm has made is to equip the smartphone with Snapdragon 888 processor which is almost six month old now. The decision is more surprising because the chip maker has already announced a more powerful, next-gen Snapdragon 888 chip. It could have tried to justify the whopping price tag by at least using the latest processor. It would have also given the best of Qualcomm to the ‘insiders’.
Another disappointing is the 4000mAh battery pack which is too modest for a phone that boasts of power draining specs like 144Hz refresh rate panel.
There is nothing exceptional on the camera front as well. In fact, the lenses used will once again remind you of the Asus smartphones. The main camera features a Sony IMX686 64-megapixel image sensor which was used on last year’s Zenfone 7 Pro. There is a 12-megapixel secondary sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The front features a 24-megapixel front-facing camera.
The smartphone seems to solve the purpose of providing a device that showcases Qualcomm’s capabilities and provides a unique user experience but, honestly with the number of really good options in the Indian market, it will be a hard sell at that price. . It will initially be available in China, Germany, Japan, Korea, US, and UK, followed by India.
