Qualcomm introduced Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders last month, soon after it launched the Snapdragon Insiders program for Snapdragon enthusiasts back in March. The limited-edition smartphone has been created in partnership with ASUS, so it has almost similar specifications as the ROG Phone 5. We got to check it out. Here we have the unboxing and first impressions of the phone.
Box Contents
- Qualcomm Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders with 16GB RAM, 512GB storage
- Premium Earbuds by Master & Dynamic
- 65W charger with Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 Technology
- Braided Type-C to C and Type-A to C Cables
- Custom Rubber Bumper for reinforced edge protection & anti-slip feature
The main highlight of the phone is its 6.78-inch (2440×1080 pixels) Full HD+ AMOLED 10-bit HDR display with 144Hz/1ms refresh rate, 300Hz touch sampling rate, 111% DCI-P3 and 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. It has 20.4:9 aspect ratio and is easy to access when gaming. You can change the refresh rate between 60Hz, 120Hz and 144Hz or set it to auto.
It still has the bezels on the top for the perfect gaming experience. There is a 24MP front camera on the bezel. There is also a notification LED that is hardly visible when it’s off. It has an AAC SLS0916A-04 Front Firing Speaker and an AAC 1216SLS Side Firing bottom Speaker that are powered by WDA8835) Smart amplifier. The phone is powered by Snapdragon 888 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage. It has vapor chamber and extensive graphite sheets for much better and more even heat dissipation.
Coming to the button placements, the power button in red colour, microphone and the volume rockers are present on the right side. There is nothing on the left. There is a microphone on the top. The dual SIM slot, primary microphone, USB Type-C port and a speaker grill are present on the bottom.
It has a 64-megapixel main camera with Sony IMX686 sensor, a 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 125˚ ultra-wide camera that supports 4cm macro and a 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, up to 12x total zoom, 4-axis, optical image stabilization. It also has 8k video recording at 30 fps, 4k at 60fps, slow-motion 4K at 120 fps and 1080p at 240fps. The phone offers High Dynamic Range (HDR) audio recording, thanks to 4 premium high SNR microphones that enables studio quality recordings in ultra-high and low SPL scenarios. Check out some camera samples.
You can see red accents around the camera module. You can also see the Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 fingerprint sensor on the back, which is quick to unlock the phone. The back has a smooth finish. There is a white LED light with Snapdragon logo which you can customize to let it always on, use it as a breathing light or turn it off from the settings. Since it has a huge phone, it is 9.55mm thick and weighs 210 grams. The phone packs a 4000mAh battery. With the bundled Quick Charge 5.0 charge, it can charge up to 70% in 30 minutes and 100% in 52 minutes.
The Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders is already available for pre-order for $1499 (Rs. 1,11,222 approx.) in the US and China and will ship later this month. Qualcomm already confirmed that it will be available in UK and Germany in coming weeks, with more regions soon.
Disclosure: Qualcomm Technologies has sent us a review unit of the “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders” for review purposes.