Poco to Realme: Smartphone users in India don't need 5G yet

NEW DELHI: Chinese smartphone brand Realme has become the first to launch a 5G-enabled smartphone in India with the launch of Realme X50 Pro. This was followed by a new BBK Electronics-owned brand iQoo launching its first 5G smartphone in the country. While this may sound ambitious and people in India may want to future proof themselves by buying 5G phones now, the fact is 5G connectivity is a distant reality in India.Sharing a similar sentiment, Poco India general manager C Manmohan tweeted a photo soon after the launch of Realme X50 Pro which implied that users in India do not need 5G support yet. “5G
Now that we have your attention. Just letting you know - we're here to give you everything you need, nothing you don't,” tweeted Manmohan.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Poco India GM has taken potshots at RealMe on social media. Both RealMe and Poco have been taking barbs at each other since over weeks now.
While 5G may not be needed in India right now, the need for a powerful processor always remains. And this is where things take a different turn.
Interestingly, Qualcomm has changed its strategies with its flagship Snapdragon 865 processor. The new Snapdragon 865 processor doesn’t come with an integrated modem. This means phone brands will have to put a separate modem chip for connectivity requirements. Now, the Snapdragon 865 processor only supports Qualcomm's very own X55 modem and not any other 4G modems like the popular X24 gigabit LTE. The X55 model supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G connectivity. This means brands launching phones with Snapdragon 865 will have to choose X55 modem and in turn end up offering 5G connectivity, whether or not 5G is actually there in India or not.
Realme has launched three variants of the Realme X50 Pro -- 6GB RAM and 128GB storage priced at Rs 37,999, 8GB RAM + 128GB storage priced at Rs 39,999 and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage priced at Rs 44,999.
The Realme X50 Pro comes powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC, paired with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB UFS 3.0 storage. The handset offers 5G connectivity support.