Qualcomm announces Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 for AI audio wearables

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2, a new system-on-chip built specifically for audio wearables — or “hearables”, as the company calls them in its press release. This time the chipmaker did not stop at sound quality: the platform is centered on AI, including contextual image recognition for camera-equipped earbuds.

Twice the on-device AI, 40% less power

According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 offers up to 2x greater on-device AI performance and up to 40% lower power consumption. In practice, that means AI-capable wearables should run local models and need recharging less often.

Android XR devices are one example the company points to: Gemini has to work locally and gather information from the user's surroundings. The chipset also supports Wi-Fi 6E, so manufacturers can give devices on-board or cloud-based access to AI.

The audio core is intact

Qualcomm has kept the fundamentals of its audio chips. The new platform supports aptX and XPAN connectivity, which the company links to better audio quality and a longer Bluetooth range, and it uses the added AI performance for noise cancellation based on Qualcomm's fifth-generation ANC protocol.

Which devices it targets

The company lists traditional earbuds and headphones, open-ear hybrid designs, camera-enabled devices, audio glasses and “future multimodal wearables”. No specific products with the new chipset were announced. 9to5Google expects that with Android XR devices and more coming from large companies, the new silicon will not wait long for real-world use.