The firmware on the SOC does not connect directly to the 'net, it interfaces with Android to do so. Android uses the Linux kernel and the Linux IP stack. That IP stack uses Netfilter [1] for filtering and packet mangling. The firewall uses
iptables to define Netfilter rulesets which control which data gets sent where, which application is allowed to send data - this includes the kernel (and modules) itself. Block all outgoing traffic - which I do by default - and no data goes out. Try it if you don't believe this, you'll find out it is how things work.
So yes, Android - or rather the Linux kernel on which Android is built - is going to "save me" in that I am in control over which application (including whatever Qualcomm uses) gets to send data. Apple users are out of luck since iOS does not allow this type of filtering but Android does.
[1] https://www.netfilter.org/