The new Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform is the company’s first chip not to be part of the Snapdragon platform. It comes with bare minimum specifications which are enough to modernize a feature phone. The best part is that it will barely increase the price of the mobile. With the Qualcomm 205, you will get to use 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, VoLTE as well as VoWi-Fi in a dirt cheap feature phone.
This has the potential to revolutionize the mobile industry of any developing country where feature phones still occupy a huge market share. In India, the advent of Reliance Jio will further boost up its demand. Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform is expected to make 4G LTE-enabled handsets available for as low as Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 1,500 in the country. One of the most beneficial aspects of Qualcomm 205 is that it won’t affect the battery life of feature phones. The mobiles will continue to offer the same kind of power backup as they have been providing so far. In fact, Qualcomm is claiming that the brand new chipset will return 45 days of battery life out of a meager 2000mAh cell. This insane battery backup is a boon for the remote corners of India where electricity is not readily available.
Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform Specifications
Now let’s dive into the technical details. Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform is basically a trimmed down Snapdragon 208 with connectivity upgrades. So, quite naturally it is pin compatible with Snapdragon 208 and 210 chips. However, the latest SoC is much lighter on battery and has limited capabilities. Below is the complete spec sheet of the upcoming chipset.
28 nm Manufacturing ProcessDual Core Cortex A7 CPU Up to 1.1 GHzAdreno 304 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.0 SupportQualcomm Snapdragon X5 LTE ModemDual SIM Card Support4G LTE Cat 4 (Max. Download Speed: 150 Mb/s, Max. Upload Speed: 50 Mb/s)WCDMA 3G (HSPA+), 2G GSMVoLTE (Voice over LTE) with SRVCC to 3G and 2GVoWi-Fi (Voice over Wi-Fi)11 a/b/g/n Wi-FiBluetooth v4.1GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, OTDOA (LTE-based positioning)Advanced Low Power Geofencing and TrackingCan Run Linux-based Operating SystemsSupports LPDDR2 / LPDDR3 RAM, eMMC 4.5 StorageUp to 3 MP Primary Camera, 0.3 MP Front CameraUp to 480p Video Recording at 30 fps720p @ 30 fps Video PlaybackSupports Up to VGA (640 x 480) DisplayUSB 2.0 Port Compatible
Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform Pros and Cons
By now, you must know what the Qualcomm 205 is. So, let’s dive into the pros and cons of the mobile platform.
Pros
Brings a host of advanced functionalities to the feature phoneAffordable PricingVery light on battery
Cons
Supports up to VGA displaysVideo recording limited to 480p @ 30 fpsLackluster camera support
Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform Release Date
Feature phones equipped with Qualcomm 205 is set to arrive late this year. Suspected devices include Micromax Bharat 1 and Reliance Jio’s LYF feature phones. Qualcomm claims that most of the research work and testing of the new mobile chipset is done in India itself.
Conclusion
There is not much to say in conclusion. You already know the advantages and disadvantages of the upcoming chipset. Now only the pricing will tell if feature phones equipped with Qualcomm 205 triumph or fail. However, till now it seems that the SoC has the potential to change the India’s mobile industry altogether.
