Get your salt shakers ready as there's a new rumor in town! Following rumors of Sony shutting down the digital store of its older platforms and details on a 4K-ready Nintendo Switch, news are now circulating about Qualcomm's plans to enter the gaming market with a device of its own. According to an exclusive report by Android Police that cites details obtained from "a source familiar with the company's strategy", this upcoming device will bear similarities to the Nintendo Switch based on non-final images the outlet could view but not share.

The report details that the handheld console "resembles a thicker, bulkier smartphone" with detachable controllers on each side, packs a 6000mAh battery equipped with Quick Charge technology, features an SD card slot, runs on Android 12 with "full support for Google's suite of Play apps and services" and supports display-out capabilities. It will also feature 5G support and include sensors such as Bluetooth, GPS, accelerometers and dual-zone haptics. However, Android Police does not believe that the device will have telephony features.

Qualcomm apparently plans to launch the device for $300 in Q1 of 2022 as a means to showcase its latest Snapdragon chipset (whether it's a customized chip design or an off-the-shelf solution is not known). According to Android Police's source, Qualcomm "doesn't have any delusions of unseating Nintendo". Rather, this device might serve as a reference design of sorts to "inspire its partners to explore new form factors as the line between "mobile" and "console" gaming increasingly blurs".

Where it gets interesting is that XDA's editor-in-chief, Mishaal Rahman, corroborated this report, saying that it "clear to me that it'd end up being a device for consumers". He gave some addition details of his own from his own source, saying that the device uses Qualcomm's latest chipset, the Snapdragon 888 and the model name is GRD8350P (with GRD assumed to mean "Game Reference Device" and "8350" referring to "SM8350", the 888's part number). Rahman also heard that it will pack a 6.65" Full HD+ display, a 6000mAh battery and support a fan but apparently doesn't even have a rear camera.

My source didn't think this was going to be a commercial product, as it would make sense for Qualcomm to simply build a reference design for a gaming phone given how popular they've become in China.

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) March 23, 2021

​

Rumor or not, would you like to see such a device from Qualcomm?

SOURCE

 

[TheSpearGuy]

I can just see the foolish CEOs who point at the switch and say "make us one of these, ours will surely sell just as much!".

Did anybody even read the article ?

Qualcomm "doesn't have any delusions of unseating Nintendo". Rather, this device might serve as a reference design of sorts to "inspire its partners to explore new form factors as the line between "mobile" and "console" gaming increasingly blurs".

 

[Guido-01]

Interesting. I have been watching Qualcomm's stock. Maybe it's time to invest if the rumors are true? Though, I am not a fan of mobile gaming, in fact, I hate it. Haha, but that doesn't mean other people won't like it.

 

[Rafciu]

Nintendo needs competition in handheld market, because they get little lazy. Android needs more AAA titles. Right Android is home for knockoff version of "big" games. Thats not enough to fight with Nintendo. Some gamepad can turn Your phone into Switch like handheld, without great Nintendo titles.

 

[SimisFul]

I don't get why conpanies keep making "android gaming products" again and again year after year, android has never been good enough to justify buying a device just for its games.

 

[Jevil_DS]

View attachment 253813​

Get your salt shakers ready as there's a new rumor in town! Following rumors of Sony shutting down the digital store of its older platforms and details on a 4K-ready Nintendo Switch, news are now circulating about Qualcomm's plans to enter the gaming market with a device of its own. According to an exclusive report by Android Police that cites details obtained from "a source familiar with the company's strategy", this upcoming device will bear similarities to the Nintendo Switch based on non-final images the outlet could view but not share.

The report details that the handheld console "resembles a thicker, bulkier smartphone" with detachable controllers on each side, packs a 6000mAh battery equipped with Quick Charge technology, features an SD card slot, runs on Android 12 with "full support for Google's suite of Play apps and services" and supports display-out capabilities. It will also feature 5G support and include sensors such as Bluetooth, GPS, accelerometers and dual-zone haptics. However, Android Police does not believe that the device will have telephony features.

Qualcomm apparently plans to launch the device for $300 in Q1 of 2022 as a means to showcase its latest Snapdragon chipset (whether it's a customized chip design or an off-the-shelf solution is not known). According to Android Police's source, Qualcomm "doesn't have any delusions of unseating Nintendo". Rather, this device might serve as a reference design of sorts to "inspire its partners to explore new form factors as the line between "mobile" and "console" gaming increasingly blurs".

Where it gets interesting is that XDA's editor-in-chief, Mishaal Rahman, corroborated this report, saying that it "clear to me that it'd end up being a device for consumers". He gave some addition details of his own from his own source, saying that the device uses Qualcomm's latest chipset, the Snapdragon 888 and the model name is GRD8350P (with GRD assumed to mean "Game Reference Device" and "8350" referring to "SM8350", the 888's part number). Rahman also heard that it will pack a 6.65" Full HD+ display, a 6000mAh battery and support a fan but apparently doesn't even have a rear camera.

https://twitter.com/MishaalRahman/status/1374448185377058821​

Rumor or not, would you like to see such a device from Qualcomm?

SOURCE

1 of 2 things will happen, either a homebrew community prospers and the platform lives on like the nvidia shield or raspberry pi or it will flop and end up like the ouya or PSTV.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Don't forget the WLL.

Or the WiWi.

 

[ganons]

Another underpowered Android device. Pass.

Where did you see the specs to make a bundling statement. What are you comparing it to?

 

[the_randomizer]

Where did you see the specs to make a bundling statement. What are you comparing it to?

I just see too many of them in general and usually see videos of people running outdated crappy emulators on said devices. So... *shrug*

 

[Veho]

I just see too many of them in general and usually see videos of people running outdated crappy emulators on said devices. So... *shrug*

"Underpowered" is relative. This is supposed to showcase Qualcomm's newest chipset, so it will (likely) be more powerful than any other Android device on the market. Underpowered compared to a home console, yes. Underpowered compared to other handhelds? No.

Or the WiWi.

Or the Wü.

 

[the_randomizer]

"Underpowered" is relative. This is supposed to showcase Qualcomm's newest chipset, so it will (likely) be more powerful than any other Android device on the market. Underpowered compared to a home console, yes. Underpowered compared to other handhelds? No.



Or the Wü.

Yeah I'm gonna shut my mouth about this. Ciao.

 

[pedro702]

"Underpowered" is relative. This is supposed to showcase Qualcomm's newest chipset, so it will (likely) be more powerful than any other Android device on the market. Underpowered compared to a home console, yes. Underpowered compared to other handhelds? No.



Or the Wü.

the thing is android is not an os designed for gaming, it hogs way too many recources and runs alot of threads on the background, so even if its way more powerful than the switch it will barely play any games like the switch.

 

[Veho]

the thing is android is not an os designed for gaming, it hogs way too many recources and runs alot of threads on the background, so even if its way more powerful than the switch it will barely play any games like the switch.

It's true that a general purpose OS is bogged down by a whole ton of other services and software overhead, and will be a resource hog compared to a basic firmware dedicated to running games only (Windows is a good example, the OS alone takes up 1GB of RAM).
That being said Qualcomm wants to showcase their new chipset to mobile phone manufacturers, so it's important to show how it will perform on Android. Android is not designed for gaming, but with billions of Android devices out there, it would be silly not to develop games for them.

 

[pedro702]

It's true that a general purpose OS is bogged down by a whole ton of other services and software overhead, and will be a resource hog compared to a basic firmware dedicated to running games only (Windows is a good example, the OS alone takes up 1GB of RAM).
That being said Qualcomm wants to showcase their new chipset to mobile phone manufacturers, so it's important to show how it will perform on Android. Android is not designed for gaming, but with billions of Android devices out there, it would be silly not to develop games for them.

they do develop millions of games for them, but they are not games that would push android devices to the max, because like you said, most of them are phones, so the games cant be very complex due to the lack of controller options or demanding since phones get hot fast and then they start throttling down cpu/gpu to not overheat, you can see many phones much better than the switch and after like 5 minutes of playing a game on max setting they get hot and start to throttle down hard and cant maintain that.

Developers make games for android with this in mind, so they dont make very advanced or heavy games because they know most android devices cant handle the heat of running such games.

And to be honest i dont see anyone making amazing next gen android games that would only work on 1% of android devices tbh,

 

[Goku1992A]

People fail to realize gaming handhelds are only relevant to the Nintendo Switch... there's no need to copy the Switch what works good for Nintendo will not work good for you, If you consider android phones you can buy controllers to play on your phone and lets not forget you can use Remote Play or Game pass Ultimate to Stream PlayStation or Xbox games on your phone. I have a controller that I had bought in 2016 that still works good on my Galaxy S10 and I can play all the emulators really well... it's better gaming experience than the lame games on the play store.

Better stick to improving the Graphics on the Phones so atleast the phones can have a better performance in emulators such as the PS2 and the Wii U.