Qualcomm Brings Wi-Fi 7 and On-Device AI to Broadband Hardware

Qualcomm has launched the Dragonwing Mobile Broadband Multimedia (MBM) family, a two-tier portfolio of 4-nm platforms that integrate a 5G modem, Wi-Fi, image signal processing, GPU, and on-device AI into a single chip. 

Qualcomm's new MBM family includes the premium MBM715 and mainstream MBM415. 

The family expands Qualcomm’s Dragonwing brand beyond its existing fixed wireless access and mobile broadband lines. The premium MBM715 and mainstream MBM415 are designed for smart displays, retail terminals, interactive kiosks, and AI assistant hubs that require always-on connectivity and local inference. Both parts run Android or Linux and support LPDDR4x and LPDDR5x memory.

Inside the Premium MBM715

The MBM715 pairs sub-6-GHz 5G NR, in both standalone and non-standalone modes, with Wi-Fi 7 running 320-MHz channels and 4K QAM, for a peak local wireless throughput of 5.8 Gbps and a peak cellular downlink of 4.2 Gbps. The device includes Bluetooth 6.0 with Channel Sounding and LE Audio, which support proximity-aware interactions and low-power audio streaming. The chip integrates a Qualcomm Kryo CPU clocked up to 2.8 GHz, an Adreno GPU rated for WQHD+ displays refreshing at 144 Hz, and a Qualcomm Spectra triple 12-bit AI ISP that can capture up to 200 MP and record 4K at 60 fps with HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and AV1.

Qualcomm has fitted the MBM715 with a Hexagon processor in a fused accelerator layout that pairs scalar, tensor, and vector engines with their own power delivery—enough to host large language models and generative assistants on the device.

Qualcomm calls the Hexagon NPU the "star of the Qualcomm AI engine." 

Developers can compile and deploy models through Qualcomm AI Hub, removing the cloud round-trip for interface responsiveness and keeping prompt data local. That makes the parts suitable for smart-home hubs, in-store assistants, and edge agents that need to run multimodal models without a backhaul dependency.

MBM415 vs. MBM715

The MBM415 sits below the 7 Series in a lower-power and lower-cost envelope, using six Kryo efficiency cores clocked up to 2.0 GHz, dropping Wi-Fi 7 in favor of Wi-Fi 6E (or Wi-Fi 5 in some configurations), and adding Bluetooth 5.3. Cellular peak downlink is 2.5 Gbps over global sub-6 GHz with multi-SIM support, while imaging is handled by a dual 12-bit ISP capable of single 64-MP capture and 1080p video with H.264 and H.265. On-device display output tops out at FHD+ at 120 Hz.

On-device AI on the 4 Series is more modest, with Qualcomm branding it as “AI-Enhanced Signal Boost” and targeting modem-side workloads rather than generative inference. The company has positioned the part for retail signage, service terminals, and cost-sensitive smart displays where the higher resolution, camera count, and AI capabilities of the MBM715 are unnecessary.

A Third Dragonwing Family

The MBM family is the third broadband-class lineup under the Dragonwing brand, alongside the existing Mobile Broadband (MBB) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) platforms. Both of those earlier families were built around moving data, with multimedia, graphics, and AI handled by a separate host SoC. The MBM line collapses that arrangement by pulling display, camera, graphics, and (on the 715) generative AI into the broadband platform itself, removing the need for an external application processor in interactive devices.

The market for connected hardware has shifted in the last two years, with smart displays, kiosks, in-vehicle assistants, and AI-enabled appliances now demanding rich UI rendering and on-device model inference as standard features rather than extras. Combining all of it on a single 4-nm die reduces the bill of materials, power draw, and board area, and provides OEMs with a single platform that can be tuned through memory choice and OS across a wide price range. It also continues a pattern Qualcomm set out at MWC 2026, when the company outlined an AI-native strategy that extended generative inference from handsets into infrastructure, automotive, and industrial silicon.

Qualcomm hasn’t disclosed pricing or volume production timing, nor has the company named partner devices using either part. Both the MBM715 and MBM415 are available now for evaluation through Qualcomm's networking infrastructure group, with reference designs offered to OEMs targeting the next refresh of smart-display and interactive-broadband hardware.

All images used courtesy of Qualcomm.