Cheap Samsung rivals are about to make a major phone upgrade in just months with a big camera boost

CONSUMERS may no longer have to pay top dollar for premium cameras and gaming on their next smartphone.

Technology giant Qualcomm has unveiled brand new technology to boost upcoming budget devices with the latest AI features normally reserved for expensive handsets.

The company’s best chip is currently in mobile phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which tend to have a higher price tag.

That’s why Qualcomm has come up with a new version – called Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 – to bring some premium features to the cheaper end of the market.

It is expected to appear on future handsets from the likes of Honor, iQOO, realme, Redmi and Xiaomi in the coming months.

So if you’re considering buying an expensive new smartphone because of all the new AI features, you might want to wait a little longer.

We’ve already seen how Snapdragon – Manchester United’s new shirt sponsor from the start of the 2024/25 season – has led the way in the arrival of massive new AI tools.

These include advanced photography features, like the ability to magically expand a photo you’ve already taken beyond what the lens can see.

Many of these tricks are performed on the device.

This means you don’t have to be online and none of your data has to go to the cloud, making things like AI voice assistants a lot more secure.

Qualcomm claims the new chip boosts audio capabilities with lossless high-definition sound and hyper-realistic mobile gaming.

With new devices launching within the next few months with the new chip on board, we won’t have to wait long to find out if the upgrade will pay off.

“We are excited to introduce the latest addition to our premium Snapdragon 8 lineup, our most premium mobile offering, bringing a host of exceptional, curated capabilities to more consumers,” said Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile phones. at Qualcomm Technologies.

The announcements come just a few weeks after Qualcomm unveiled a mega upgrade for Wi-Fi connectivity and faster 5G for upcoming smartphones.

A new system known as X80 5G Modem-RF uses AI to improve 5G speeds.

But that’s not all, as Qualcomm claims it will rid your phone of other common issues like service quality and coverage.

When can we expect 6G?

There is already talk about when the successor to 5G, 6G, will launch.

5G only landed in Britain in 2019 and is still not available everywhere.

And on top of that, 3G just started switching off in Britain this year.

John Smee, SVP Engineering at Qualcomm, explains that 6G is still a long way off, but plenty of research is being done.

“So 5G itself started in 2019/2020, so it will take us until 2030,” he told The Sun.

“The reason these Gs happen every ten years or so is because there is a tremendous amount of cumulative research that is being embedded and incorporated into the next generation.”

For now, we don’t know exactly what to expect from 6G, except that it will undoubtedly be faster for much larger data-hungry products like cars, and will also perform a lot smoother.

Mobile networks are evolutionary: you don’t really take out 4G to put in 5G, but the kit is gradually upgraded.

Right now, 5G is being upgraded to something called 5G Advanced, which has much greater capacity and coverage.