Back in November, Qualcomm announced their new Snapdragon 805 “Ultra HD” processor with intentions that it would find its way into the next generation of flagship devices by the “first half of 2014.” Many are disappointed that the Snapdragon 805 was not ready for Samsung’s newly announced Galaxy S5, the HTC M8, or the new LG models, all coming out before the ‘805’ is readily for commercial use.
Our source had a somewhat surprising announcement today that the first device to use the new Snapdragon 805 could be the Pantech Vega Iron 2…that up to this point has been exclusively sold in the Korean market. There is a model, the M-A901D, that is carrier free and probably intended for a limited overseas markets, and the other three models – M-A910S, M-A910K, and M-A910L, bound for the three major carriers in Korea. That is no indication, however, that it could be headed to the U.S. With Pantech struggling financially, this new Vega Iron 2 model, along with a trip out of its Korean borders, might just be what Pantech needs to help their money woes.
The Pantech Vega Iron 2 has not officially been announced, but rumors show it to be a perfectly capable device – certainly worthy of their flagship status. Besides the Snapdragon 805 processor, we are looking at a 5.5-inch Full HD 1080p display, 2GB of RAM with 32/64GB of internal storage, a 13MP main camera and a 3MP Front Facing Camera (FFC) for video chatting and the ever-popular selfies. It will support USB 3.0, LTE-A connectivity, and all powered by a 2,800mAh battery.
Qualcomm’s website says that the Snapdragon 805 is the first commercial mobile processor to enable on-device Ultra HD Display for gaming, imaging, video capture/playback, and an Ultra HD UI. The Snapdragon 805 should allow the camera to take sharper, higher resolution photos with advanced editing capabilities. The new Adreno 420 GPU will allow greater detail and stunning realistic scenes for gaming that will require less memory bandwidth and lower battery usage. The new ‘805’ will employ Qualcomm’s fourth generation LTE modem, the MDM9x35 – the industry’s first 20nm modem chipset to support 40MHz LTE-A.