the Honor Magic V6 foldable smartphone and the Honor MagicPad 4 tablet are not the only fresh technologies revealed at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC 2026) event held in Barcelona, Spain. Lenovo introduced a variety of new laptop and tablet offerings early on Monday, including some intriguing concept gadgets, such as a foldable Legion handheld gaming console. Subsequently, Qualcomm presented several next-gen chips designed to power forthcoming AI-enabled wearables, 6G connectivity, and Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn). The latter is particularly noteworthy, as Qualcomm announced its forthcoming FastConnect 8800 chip will provide the fastest Wi-Fi connection globally along with the most extended Wi-Fi range. This should be excellent news for anyone still experiencing Wi-Fi problems with their devices, including those compatible with Wi-Fi 7 connectivity.
Wi-Fi 8 compatibility in smartphones and other consumer devices is merely the initial phase. Routers capable of supporting Wi-Fi 8 connectivity will be essential in households, workplaces, and public venues to provide the speed and range enhancements Qualcomm discussed. Qualcomm has not released a detailed schedule for the FastConnect 8800 launch, but the company conveyed that the FastConnect 8800 and other Wi-Fi 8 chips are currently under customer testing, with commercial availability anticipated in late 2026. The FastConnect 7800 chip, which supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and UWB, is included in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra flagship that Samsung launched last year. A few days ago, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S26 series. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, matched with the FastConnect 7900 chip, which also offers Wi-Fi 7 connectivity.