Thanks, Qualcomm: Mandatory 5G means phones now ship with disabled 5G modems

This week, we're seeing an absurd new wrinkle in the Mandatory 5G Saga: manufacturers are sticking to Qualcomm rules and shipping its 5G modems, but they are also disabling them, because 5G just doesn't work in some markets.Meet the "iQoo 3." As pointed out by XDA Developers, in India, this phone ships the Snapdragon 865 in a first-ever "4G" configuration. Apparently, BBK subsidiary iQoo does all the work of paying for Qualcomm's mandatory 5G modem, integrating it into the phone design, and then the company just, uh, disables the 5G functionality completely.Further ReadingThe Snapdragon 865 will make phones worse in 2020, thanks to mandatory 5GA phone that ships with some of its modem features disabled is not unusual. External modems take up more space, run hotter, and use more power than an onboard modem, and to accept this compromise while also not getting 5G seems like a really bad deal.One reason for the lack of enthusiasm for 5G from iQoo is easy to understand: despite being the world's second-largest smartphone market, 5G networks do not exist in India. Another BBK brand, Realme, also took the odd step of launching a 5G phone (the Realme X50 Pro) in India this week.Listing image by iQooYou must login or create an account to comment.Join the Ars Orbital Transmission mailing list to get weekly updates delivered to your inbox.