Snapdragon 8 Elite Brings Apple-like Precision To Android Location Tracking

Every iPhone since the iPhone 11 (except the SE), comes with a UWB, or Ultra Wide Band chip. This chip is what powers their precise location tracking feature, that’s also found in AirTags. Sadly, most Android smartphones don’t enjoy the same luxury. Why? Because the manufacturers have to include the UWB chip themselves, thus increasing the cost of the phone. This could change soon, thanks to Qualcomm integrating a dedicated UWB chip inside their latest Snapdragon 8 Elite.

During the Qualcomm Summit, the company announced that the Snapdragon 8 Elite will come with the Fastconnect 7900 connectivity suite. This also includes a UWB chip which will be integrated into the processor.

How Can a UWB Chip Be Useful?

The Ultra Wide Band chip is a low-energy radio technology that emits superfast signal pulses across a wide radio spectrum. This helps it to be more accurate, showing exactly how far away you are from it down to inches. It doesn’t suffer any inaccuracies of the Bluetooth technology. This is why Apple uses it for AirTags, and has added it to other devices.

Given the chip is already present within the CPU, manufacturers don’t have to go out of their way to add the particular component to their phones. In addition, it also makes room that can be used for other parts, like a bigger battery or more cameras. They just have to make sure that feature is enabled on their device.

What’s the Catch?

Every year, Qualcomm ships their flagship processor with several features. The problem is, it asks additional licensing fees from OEMs, so to add these features to their phones. Kind of like a game you paid full price for, but then you are asked to pay extra to unlock multiplayer mode.

That is why, folks at Android Authority inquired Qualcomm about whether they would charge an additional fee for the integrated chip, but they replied, “All features and capabilities are delivered as a single chip solution.” So we can’t be sure whether it is available for free or brands will have to pay extra to use UWB on their phones.

Will Snapdragon 8 Elite Increase UWB Adoption?

Now, the question is, will this integration increase the adoption of Ultra Wide band chips on Android smartphones. Or will it be forgotten like some other features that Qualcomm introduced, but manufacturers didn’t want to pay for. Currently, besides iPhones, only the top of the line Android devices like the Google Pixel 8, 9 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra come packed with UWB support.

If the feature is available for use without any licensing fees, then I am sure brands will hop on to the opportunity to use this technology. In fact, we may even start seeing it appear in midrange and budget devices as well. Not just tracking, it can even be used as to unlock your home’s smart door lock and your car as well.

The applications are quite a lot, and it doesn’t even drain any significant amount of battery, either. Paired with Google’s Find My Network which rolled out this year, finding a UWB-supported phone will become quite easy, which is why I am honestly quite excited about this. But what are your thoughts about UWB integration in Snapdragon 8 Elite? Let us know in the comments below.