Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite

Snapdragon 8 Elite may bring UWB to a lot more Android phones

Ben Schoon | Oct 22 2024 - 6:55 am PT

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite looks like a stunning chipset for future Android phones, and it’s coming up pretty soon. And, from the looks of it, Snapdragon 8 Elite will usher in a new wave of UWB-supported smartphones.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is full of powerful hardware, as well as upgrades throughout. One of those upgrades comes in the connectivity, with Qualcomm making ultra-wideband (UWB) standard on its flagship chip. Android Authority points out that the FastConnect 7900 connectivity platform brings UWB directly into the chip, rather than leaving it for manufacturers to add on.

A Qualcomm representative explained:

FastConnect 7900 is a single-chip 6nm solution. OEMs do not need to add any extra UWB hardware.

UWB isn’t widely used on Android, primarily because it’s not widely available on phones, but can work for close-range tasks such as a digital car key in Google Wallet. It’ll also work with Find My Device trackers… eventually.

The addition of UWB directly on the Snapdragon 8 Elite likely points to more broad support in the future through Android devices, at least the ones powered by Qualcomm’s flagship chip. In theory, that could mean seeing the tech in devices that would have lacked it before, like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 and Flip 7. But what remains to be seen is how Android manufacturers will support this new tech, and Snapdragon 8 Elite as a whole. We’ve seen MediaTek’s latest flagship, Dimensity 9400, more broadly used already in place of Qualcomm’s chip.

At the very least, we’re glad to see this happen, and hopefully it’ll mark the start of seeing UWB used much more often.

Update: Qualcomm has clarified that UWB is still optional, and the OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15 which are powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite do not support UWB.