Qualcomm introduces Snapdragon X35 5G modem for premium smartwatches, XR glasses: Check details

Qualcomm today unveiled a new 5G modem dubbed as the Snapdragon X35 5G. Instead of using the traditional 5G technology, the newly introduced Qualcomm Snapdragon X35 5G, uses a new class of 5G, that is, NR-Light. Qualcomm says that this class of 5G fills the gap between high-speed mobile broadband devices and extremely low-bandwidth NB-IoT devices and that it will enable device makers to device a class of mid-tier 5G devices that are smaller, more cost-efficient, and provide longer battery life than traditional mobile broadband devices.

“Snapdragon X35 is poised to power the next wave of connected intelligent edge devices and empower a wide spectrum of uses. We look forward to working with industry leaders to unleash what’s possible with a unified 5G platform,” Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, cellular modems and infrastructure, Qualcomm Technologies, said on the occasion.

As far as usage is concerned, the Snapdragon X35 5G modem is designed to power a new generation of use cases and applications from entry-level to premium, such as entry-level laptops and Chromebooks, routers, connected smart home devices, premium smartwatches, smart cameras and mixed-reality glasses. Talking about availability, Qualcomm said that the customer sampling of Snapdragon X35 is expected to begin in the first half of 2023 and commercial mobile devices are expected to be launched by the first half of 2024.

Qualcomm Snapdragon X35 5G modem specifications

As far as specifications are concerned, the Snapdragon X35 5G modem offers a maximum download speed of 220Mbps and a maximum upload speed of 100Mbps. It has two receiver antennas and one transmission antennas and it supports a bandwidth of up to 20MHz. It supports TDD, FDD, and Half Duplex FDD (HD-FDD) bands, and for modulation, this modems supports DL 256 QAM and UL 64 QAM techniques. In addition to this, the Snapdragon X35 5G modem features support for idle and connected mode mobility, VoNR and VoLTE. For power saving it has Qualcomm QET5100 Envelope Tracking, Qualcomm Smart Transmit Technology and Qualcomm 5G PowerSave Gen 4.

Coming to features, Qualcomm says that its newly introduced modem supports Multi-Mode NR Sub-6 GHz SA, and LTE Cat4. Additionally, it is equipped with advanced modem-RF technologies, which the company says are aimed to significantly reduce power consumption, enhance 5G coverage, lower latency, increase battery life, and improve uplink speeds. These technologies are — Qualcomm QET5100 Envelope Tracking, Qualcomm Smart Transmit Technology, Qualcomm 5G Ultra-Low Latency Suite, and Qualcomm 5G PowerSave Gen 4.

The Snapdragon X35 also supports dual-frequency GNSS (L1+L5) to offer precise positioning suited to enable new industrial use cases and applications.