Qualcomm this week pulled back the curtain on a new 5G modem optimized for premium wearables.

The Snapdragon X35 5G Modem-RF System chipset is the first compatible with NR-Light and RedCap specs contained in the 3GPP Release-17 standard.

NR-Light wearables can support up to 150Mbps and 50Mbps in the 5G downlink and uplink, making them (much) faster than 4G models.

This nifty new chipset helps to shrink the component footprint of 5G wearables, makes them smaller, helps the battery last longer, and potentially makes the overall build cost cheaper.

The X35 is a big step forward for 5G smartwatches and smartglasses.

Samsung, Apple and other wearables OEMs will be pleased.

We forecast 5G to penetrate 2% of all smartwatches sold worldwide by the end of 2023, in this report here.

The 5G wearables era has begun.