Qualcomm 5G

Qualcomm has solved a big problem for a certain

variation of 5G: getting the chips small enough to fit in

handheld devices.

On Monday, Qualcomm unveiled its new QTM052

millimeter wave and QPM56xx sub-6GHz radio frequency

antenna module families. They work alongside the

company's Snapdragon X50 5G to bring superfast network

speeds to smartphones . The modules will let phone makers

cover the gamut of 5G airwaves, including the shorter-range

but faster millimeter wave spectrum and the more reliable but

slower sub-6GHz airwaves.

The modules will show up in mobile hotspots later this year

and in smartphones in the first half of 2019. The potential peak

download speed could be up to 5Gbps for the millimeter wave

variant, though the more realistic speed you'll see in phones is

closer to 1.4Gbps, Qualcomm said. That's much faster than today's

4G, which is about 70Mbps, and even faster than the sub-6GHz's

expected speeds of 400Mbps to 500Mbps, the company noted.