The X20 Gigabit LTE modem baked into Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 845 SoC is pretty fast, hitting download speeds as fast as 1.2 Gbps. Hardware partners looking for even more performance can choose the just-announced discrete Snapdragon X24 LTE modem. Qualcomm says the X24 is the first announced Category 20 LTE modem supporting up to a whopping 2 Gbps of downstream bandwidth.
The new modem supports 7x carrier aggregation on its downlink and 4×4 MIMO on up to five aggregated LTE carriers. On the upstream side, the modem supports 3×20 MHz carrier aggregation and 256-QAM for upload speeds up to 316 Mbps.
The Snapdragon X24 is the first product of its type built on a 7-nm FinFET manufacturing process, which means all that speed could arrive in a smaller package than the X20. The company didn't say who was fabricating the chips, but the modem maker has a strong relationship with Samsung. The X24 is Qualcomm's eighth-generation LTE modem altogether and the company's third-gen Gigabit LTE unit.
Qualcomm will show off the Snapdragon X24 LTE modem in live demonstrations at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of the month. The company has already started sampling chips to its partners and expects commercial products on the market before the end of the year. The early partner list for the X24 includes Ericsson, Telstra, and Netgear.