Qualcomm launches mobile processors with built-in support for India's NavIC

The Snapdragon 720G, Snapdragon 662 and Snapdragon 460 are budget and midrange mobile processors, aimed at enhancing user experiences across connectivity, gaming and entertainment

American telecom equipment maker Qualcomm on Tuesday launched the Snapdragon 720G, Snapdragon 662 and Snapdragon 460 mobile system-on-chip in India. The three new system-on-chips are budget and midrange mobile processors, aimed at enhancing user experiences across connectivity, gaming and entertainment. 

These new mobile platforms enable fast 4G connectivity speeds, deliver key Wi-Fi 6 features and offer integrated Bluetooth 5.1 with advanced audio via the Qualcomm FastConnect 6-series subsystems.

“While we see a fast adoption of 5G across geographies globally, we do recognise the phenomenal boost that 4G has given towards enabling broadband connectivity for Indian consumers. 4G will continue to remain a focus area for Qualcomm Technologies for regions like India, where it will stay a key technology for connectivity,” said Rajen Vagadia, vice president and president, Qualcomm India. 

The SoCs support Dual-Frequency (L1 and L5) GNSS to improve location positioning accuracy, and these are the first mobile processors to support India’s navigation satellite system -- Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).

“ISRO is satisfied with the efforts of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. towards incorporating NavIC and we urge original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to leverage it for future handset launches in India," said Dr K Sivan, chairman, ISRO.

He said, "The availability of NavIC across multiple mobile platforms will help enhance the geolocation capabilities of smartphones in the region and bring the benefits of this indigenous solution to Indian consumers for their day-to-day use.”

While the new mobile processors are expected to power upcoming smartphones launches in 2020, Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi expressed that the company will be among the first to bring the Snapdragon 720G-based smartphone to India.

“We have worked closely with Qualcomm Technologies to ensure that the Snapdragon 720G Mobile Platform enables our customers to unlock this potential and experience high-performance seamlessly at faster speeds. I am happy to share that we will be one of the first brands globally to launch a smartphone based on the new Snapdragon 720G. This is another step forward in our long-standing collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, that allows us to deliver best-in-class technologies to our Mi Fans,” said Manu Jain, global vice president, Xiaomi and managing director, Xiaomi India.

Realme, another Chinese mobile phone brand, also expressed interest in the Snapdragon 720G SoC for its upcoming smartphones.

“We are happy to work closely with Qualcomm Technologies who, not only provides us with constant support, but also helps us to continuously deliver cutting-edge and high-quality features, first to our Indian customers. Following our brand dictum of dare to leap, realme along with support of Qualcomm Technologies, has achieved many firsts in the Indian market. We were the first brand to launch a smartphone based on the Snapdragon 665 with the realme 5 series in India. We are further excited for our upcoming smartphone launches in 2020 which will feature the brand-new Snapdragon 720G Mobile Platform to help meet the emerging consumer demand.” said Madhav Sheth, chief executive office, Realme India.