- The X105 is leading the path to 6G development and testing, according a Qualcomm spokesperson
- A lot of “world’s firsts” are being claimed here
- Qualcomm was doing AI before AI went mainstream
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2026, BARCELONA — It’s hard to believe Qualcomm is on its fifth-generation modem with AI because it was just two short years ago when “AI” became seemingly mandatory in the marketing messages of nearly anyone stepping into the halls of Mobile World Congress 2026 with a solution to sell.
But that is indeed the case. Qualcomm, whose products are designed to power smartphones and other consumer devices, is here at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona to unveil the X105 5G Modem. The new modem comes with agentic AI support, a new RF transceiver and integrated 5G over satellite.
Qualcomm started its AI 5G modem journey in 2022, when it released the first generation 5G Modem-RF with AI. It continued adding AI features through 2026, according to Nitin Dhiman, director of product marketing at Qualcomm.
“When we did our first modem with integrated AI, it was in 2022 with the X70. Back then, it was a whole new concept and remember, this was before generative AI and ChatGPT or any one of those things existed,” he told Fierce. “So we were in the AI native business years before AI was mainstream.”
What AI brings to devices
One of the key things about putting AI in the modem is to get better metrics across the board for improved user experiences and the types of use cases have grown dramatically, he said.
“Now we use AI in the modem for everything from how smoothly Wi-Fi and 5G hand off to each other, how smooth your online gaming is, your social media feeds, AI chatbots, multiple antennas on the device, beam management, extending the range of device reception and uplink and all kinds of network conditions, such as congestion and mobility,” he said.
Make no mistake: While it’s geared for 5G-Advanced – for everything from smartphones to fixed wireless access (FWA), PCs, automotive and robotics – the X105 sets up Qualcomm well for the 6G cycle.
“X105 is our latest and greatest benchmark-defining modem for 5G Advanced and leading the path to 6G – 6G development and testing, in particular,” he told Fierce.
Qualcomm claims “firsts”
The X105 includes a lot of “world’s firsts,” he said.
“It is a new architecture we’ve designed from software and hardware perspectives,” he said. “It is the world’s first Release 19-capable modem, and that allows us to say it’s going to be laying the foundation for 6G.”
It’s also the first platform to support Quad-frequency Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for global positioning across multiple constellations, translating into more accurate location information. “This helps with more accuracy in more places,” he said.
That’s all done while improving overall power consumption by up to 25%, he added.
Qualcomm said the X105 5G Modem-RF is sampling to customers now, with commercial devices expected in the second half of this year.
Read all of our coverage from Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona here.