Qualcomm is launching it’s first ever smartphone, “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders”. A ‘Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders’, the new smartphone has been designed in collaboration with Asus and is specifically for the company’s loyalty programme called Snapdragon Insiders that was launched in March. It’s an interesting idea and a unique approach from Qualcomm.
The smartphone comes with an impressive spec sheet which includes 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, has 16GB of RAM and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus.
But, that’s what you expect from any flagship smartphone of 2021 and that’s what we have got on most smartphones including Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.
The phone will also come with an MW08SI active noise cancelling TWS earbuds manufactured by New York-based Master & Dynamic and is packed with a Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 charger (65W). It will also ship with custom rubber bumper, and two USB Type-C to USB Type-C braided cables.
An interesting choice that Qualcomm has made is to equip the smartphone with Snapdragon 888 processor which is almost six month old now. The decision is surprising because the chip maker has already announced a more powerful, next-gen Snapdragon 888 chip. It could have tried to justify the whopping price tag by at least using the latest processor. It would have also given the latest and best of Qualcomm to the ‘insiders’.
Another disappointment is the 4000mAh battery pack which is too modest for a phone that boasts of power draining specs like 144Hz refresh rate panel.
There is nothing exceptional on the camera front as well. The main camera features a Sony IMX686 64-megapixel image sensor and there is a 12-megapixel secondary sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The front features a 24-megapixel front-facing camera.
“This is the ultimate extra, built for you, our Snapdragon Insiders community,” the company said.
“It’s a connectivity powerhouse (think the fastest, truly global 5G available, super-fast Wi-Fi 6/6E, and of course, Bluetooth) so you can stay in touch from virtually anywhere. And no matter what you’re into, we’ve got you covered with a curated collection of Snapdragon mobile platform experiences.”
Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders will initially be available in China, Germany, Japan, Korea, US, and UK for £1,500.
