Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 and Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 chipsets for budget smartphones. The new processors target affordable devices arriving in the summer of 2026.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 trades mmWave for Wi-Fi 7
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 but drops mmWave 5G and L2 GPS. It also downgrades the USB interface to USB 2.0. The chip retains LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. Both chips are built on TSMC's 4nm process.
The Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 offers a 77% GPU performance leap, according to Qualcomm, making it the first 4-series chip capable of 90fps gaming. It also adds 4K video recording and Dual SIM Dual Active 5G support. However, it uses LPDDR4X RAM instead of LPDDR5.
Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 brings 77% GPU boost and 4K video
Qualcomm claims the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 delivers a 20% boost in app launch speeds and an 18% reduction in stutter. The first budget phones with these chips are expected from Honor, Oppo, Realme, and Redmi in the summer of 2026.
The reasons behind the downgrades on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 remain unclear. Qualcomm has not confirmed its strategy for the trade-offs.
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