{"id":324809,"date":"2026-03-02T10:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T10:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/324809\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T10:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T10:37:08","slug":"qualcomms-new-chip-ushers-in-the-wi-fi-8-and-bluetooth-7-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/324809\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualcomm’s new chip ushers in the Wi-Fi 8 and Bluetooth 7 era"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

TL;DR<\/p>\n

Qualcomm\u2019s newest connectivity system brings Wi-Fi 8 and Bluetooth 7 support to a revamped chip design with a 4\u00d74 radio configuration.
\nThe Qualcomm FastConnect 8800 enables double-digit throughput and three times the range of current offerings.
\nIt\u2019s possible that FastConnect 8800 could power connectivity in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. For now, all we know is that this chip launches in consumer products starting in late 2026<\/p>\n

Wi-Fi 7<\/a> and Bluetooth 6 are just starting to become mainstream, but Qualcomm is already looking ahead to Wi-Fi 8 and Bluetooth 7 with its latest mobile connectivity chip. The company announced the Qualcomm FastConnect 8800 at MWC 2026<\/a> today, which is the first mobile offering to support Wi-Fi 8, Bluetooth 7, Ultra Wideband 802.15.4ab, and Thread 1.5 in the same chip. The Wi-Fi 8 era is officially upon us, with FastConnect 8800\u00a0products expected to launch later this year.<\/p>\n

Qualcomm\u2019s FastConnect 8800 connectivity chip is built using a 6nm process node and a new 4\u00d74 radio configuration. Compared to the standard 2\u00d72 radio configuration found on chips like the FastConnect 7900, the 4\u00d74 layout debuting on the FastConnect 8800 makes double-digit throughput possible, according to the company. It enables peak speeds of up to 11.6 Gbps and up to three times the range of current FastConnect chips.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s double the speeds of the chip\u2019s predecessor, although you are unlikely to see those figures in real-world situations \u2014 they are based on the maximum physical layer (PHY) rate of the chip. By incorporating Wi-Fi 8 technology, FastConnect 8800 can support new features like Extended Long Range (ELR).<\/p>\n

Wi-Fi 8 upgrades are only part of the FastConnect 800 upgrades. The connectivity chip also supports Bluetooth 7 with Bluetooth High Data Throughput, raising speeds from 2 Mbps to 7.5 Mbps. There is compatibility with Qualcomm\u2019s Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN), Bluetooth LE Audio, and the Snapdragon Sound suite. That means you can use aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, aptX Voice on supported devices for high-resolution Bluetooth audio streaming<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Qualcomm says we can expect FastConnect and Dragonwing AI connectivity chips with Wi-Fi 8 to appear in consumer products starting in late 2026.<\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TL;DR Qualcomm\u2019s newest connectivity system brings Wi-Fi 8 and Bluetooth 7 support to a revamped chip design with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61,60,202,131618,147082,2725,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-324809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-mwc","12":"tag-mwc-2026","13":"tag-qualcomm","14":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}