A new smartphone modem from Qualcomm has launched, boasting speeds of up to 2Gbps and giving us a glimpse of the 5G future we can expect to see rolling out on phones from next year.
The Snapdragon X24 LTE modem is not only the first modem to offer 2Gbps speeds, it's also the first to use the 7nm FinFET process. That means it's smaller and more efficient than the previous seven generations of the chip.
Qualcomm says that the fiber-like internet speeds that the X24 LTE modem is capable of will give us "mobile experiences such as immersive 360-degree video, connected cloud computing, rich entertainment and instant apps".
5G future
The Snapdragon X24 also offers a glimpse of our 5G future, where the internet connection to our smartphones and other connected devices is faster, more stable and available in more places.
It's not a true 5G chip though, with the firm's already announced X50 chip capable of speeds up to 5Gbps, but it's likely to arrive in phones later than the X24.
The first smartphones packing the Snapdragon X24 LTE modem are expected to arrive in the first half of 2019, which means handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy S10, HTC U13, OnePlus 7 and Sony Xperia XZ3 could all be in line for some seriously speedy connections.
More information about this next generation mobile modem will be revealed at MWC 2018 in Barcelona at the end of February, and TechRadar will be reporting live from the show to bring you all the latest.
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