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

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

SOURCE

 

[pedro702]

this will never work, android games are not enough to use a dedicated gaming machines, and most android games run fine in just any phone since they are designed for phones first and controllers last, so the amount of games worth on the android phone for a dedicated gaming console is tiny.

 

[kristianity77]

and what is there to play on Android besides Emulators? Lol.

Whilst this is true its also the point. I mean, if it is an 888 snapdragon or anything near it, this thing would literally play any game, from any console or handheld, without breaking a sweat, from the beginning of gaming up until what.....the mid 2000s? The library it could have access to is vast and goes beyond anything else available bar a pc or a top end phone that is just undesirable to many for a gaming device.

If this thing released at the 300 price point and carried top end android hardware, I'd be in day one. It would just be a one and all emulation device you can take on the go, or plug onto a tv

 

[Bladexdsl]

i bet his banking on people will use this for only emulation and will want to play them portable. because there is fuck all android games worth playing that aren't P2W/Paywalls

 

[xatzimi]

Is anyone really interested in this? There's already android gaming handhelds, and it's not even a good OS for gaming anyway

 

[the_randomizer]

Another underpowered Android device. Pass.

 

[ChibiMofo]

Whilst this is true its also the point. I mean, if it is an 888 snapdragon or anything near it, this thing would literally play any game, from any console or handheld, without breaking a sweat, from the beginning of gaming up until what.....the mid 2000s? The library it could have access to is vast and goes beyond anything else available bar a pc or a top end phone that is just undesirable to many for a gaming device.

If this thing released at the 300 price point and carried top end android hardware, I'd be in day one. It would just be a one and all emulation device you can take on the go, or plug onto a tv

You know how much research and development went into making the Gameboy and variants, and then the DS, and then the 3DS. Even then, Nintendo didn't get that product right until the N3DS XL. And then they made the Switch. So you really think Qualcomm with zero experience in this industry is going to make a $300 product that you'd be in on "day one"? They will get so much wrong, It's impossible for them not to. And don't we all have devices big and small that can run everything up to the mid-2000s already?

Yeah, no thanks Qualcomm.

 

[rob4]

If this machine can run wii games it's going to compete against the switch, with both running a 2021 game, zelda: skyward sword

 

[Goku1992A]

Just stick to making phones I can emulate games fine off my Galaxy S10 running snapdragon 865.

Sony had a good run but they couldn’t keep up with Nintendo when it came to handhelds.

The switch is the best handheld created to date. The vita is the second best.

 

[Xzi]

So it'll be just like any other smartphone...except without a camera. I think the real market for mobile gaming is going to be in controllers and nothing else. Only way to get people to buy dedicated hardware is to have exclusives.

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

So this is just a phone?

 

[ganons]

My thread got no love https://gbatemp.net/threads/qualcomm-is-planning-an-android-powered-nintendo-switch-knockoff.585482/

 

[anhminh]

Android or Steam. Every time a new no name console announced, God flip a coin.

 

[Asia81]

The new Switch Pro model: Switch Android Fusion Plus Mega!

You forgot Deluxe

 

[raxadian]

There has been "Stuff that looks like a Nintendo Switch" for a while now.

Worse the Nintendo Switch was released a few years ago.

If you want something like the Switch but to use for emulation get a Nvidia Shield. Specifically the SHIELD TV Pro 2015 model. Sure you need a TV to play it but is cheap. Do not get any of the 2019 models, they suck.

The 2017 SHIELD TV Pro is okay if you can't get the 2015 model but again avoid the 2019 models.

Edit: In fact due to the 2017 model having the new controller and a better graphic card, some games emulated do run better. The 2019 model however is still garbage.

 

[Moon164]

The only thing I know about Qualcomm is how it forced TecToy to use the horrible BREW operating system on the Zeebo console, which was one reason for its failure.

 

[Deleted User]

Sad to see the console space will never get true competition because every system is proprietary instead of basing itself on a standard, so any competitor wanting to enter either has to develop their own proprietary standard and hope developers care enough about it to support it, or base itself arround an existing general purpose standard (Android, Windows) and put up with the flaws of the standard being general purpose

 

[regnad]

Remember when some companies were copying the Wii controller?

the company that made my TV totally ripped off the Wii Mote. They even call it a remote, can you believe it?

 

[MiiJack]

Supposedly, it will support EGS to get games.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Edit: In fact due to the 2017 model having the new controller and a better graphic card, some games emulated do run better. The 2019 model however is still garbage.

Uhh no, the 2017 Shield TV's use the exact same SoC, there's literally no difference between the 2015 and 2017 in terms of hardware, 2017 models are just smaller and had no MSD card slot.

The 2019 models have a Tegra X1+, which gives the Shield very slightly more GPU performance, but it doesn't really change much in terms of emulation performance.


If you actually want something like the Switch (y'know, portable) but for emulation, you can just buy any modern smartphone with a Snapdragon 855 or higher in it. That will give you decent Gamecube/Wii support and ok PS2 emulation.

 

[kevin corms]

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!".