Budget phones with AI features could be just months away

Barcelona: It is only a matter of time before users of even affordable smartphones priced under $100, or around Rs 8,000, get to experience on-device AI capabilities now found in premium devices, with chipmakers Qualcomm and MediaTek already working on it.

Both the companies are working on chipsets that can be fitted in budget phones and can provide generative AI capabilities in a hybrid model of on-device and cloud processing.

“I would say a $99 AI phone is months away, not years away,” Savi Soin, president, Qualcomm India. “I don’t think it’s that far off. We are very motivated to bring more and more functionalities into more of the mass market tier,” he told ET on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress event here.