Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon Insiders Phone Designed by ASUS

Qualcomm on Thursday launched its first smartphone in collaboration with Asus. Dubbed “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders,” the premium phone is designed specifically for the company's loyalty programme called Snapdragon Insiders that was launched in March.

It comes with top-notch specifications that include 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 and is preloaded with some of the major technologies developed by the San Diego-based chipmaker. Additionally, it comes bundled with true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds. With official name “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders”

Master & Dynamic Bluetooth earbuds featuring Snapdragon Sound technology QUALCOMM

The package includes the handset, along with a pair of TWS earbuds with Snapdragon Sound produced by Master & Dynamic, a bumper case, a Qualcomm Quick Charge 5.0 power adapter, and two charging cables.

On the front is large 6.78-inch Samsung AMOLED screen with 2448 x 1080 px resolution and the panel supports fast 144Hz refresh rate. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus and supports Always-on display.

There’s a 24MP front-facing camera in the top bezel of the phone. This puts it among the few premium smartphones without a punch hole or a notch these days, alongside the likes of Sony Xperia 1 III and 5 III.

Around back is a triple camera setup, fingerprint scanner, and a self-illuminating Snapdragon logo. There's a main 64MP f/1.8 camera, an ultrawide 12MP f/2.2 unit and a telephoto 8MP snapper with 3X zoom. The camera app will feature Qualcomm AI software experiences like auto zoom and AI object tracking. We expect to see more of Qualcomm’s camera features here, but the actual tuning of the cameras is done by Asus.

The fingerprint scanner uses Qualcomm’s 2nd generation 3D Sonic Sensor, just like the Galaxy S21 series. The difference here, however, is that the fingerprint scanner is not in-display and Qualcomm explains this due to its incompatibility with the rigid OLED panel that the Smartphone is equipped with.

Features of the Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders based on the Snapdragon 888 mobile SoC QUALCOMM

The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 888 chipset (non-Plus). There’s also 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. The Smartphone will come with stock Android 11 out of the box. Qualcomm hasn’t commented on the specific build of Android. We know it won’t have any bloatware and it will be near stock, but we’re not sure where the Qualcomm features will be configurable from.

There’s a 4,000 mAh battery, compatible with Qualcomm’s included Quick Charge 5.0 charger. The phone is capable of a 70% charge in 30 minutes, or a full charge in 50 minutes. The phone weighs in at 210g.

The “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders” is meant to showcase all of Qualcomm’s software features that integrate with Qualcomm hardware.

The Smartphone will be manufactured, marketed, and sold by Asus and will be available sometime in August in China, US, Germany, UK, Japan, South Korea, and eventually Other countries.

Overall, the phone and the accessories offer an attractive smartphone package. However, at $1,499, it is still a bit pricey. It may be difficult to convince consumers that already have a 5G phone and/or high-quality noise-cancelling earbuds.

July 09, 2021