From The Verge · Sean Hollister · · 1m 20s
Qualcomm's Wi-Fi chip could finally make smart earbuds work
Qualcomm's new Elite sound chip integrates Wi-Fi directly, solving the hardware bloat that killed the last attempt at wireless earbuds that work away from your phone.
In brief
Qualcomm's new Elite sound chip integrates Wi-Fi directly, solving the hardware bloat that killed the last attempt at wireless earbuds that work away from your phone. Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 integrates Wi-Fi into a single chip for the first time, potentially enabling earbuds to stream lossless…
The Wi-Fi earbud dream
Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 integrates micro-power Wi-Fi 6E directly into the chip. Earbuds can now stream lossless audio from home Wi-Fi without needing your phone nearby.
Why this matters: bandwidth
Bluetooth cannot handle twenty-four bit ninety-six kilohertz lossless audio. Wi-Fi can. Qualcomm promised this in twenty twenty-three but required a separate Wi-Fi chip, which device makers rejected.
The old approach failed
Qualcomm's twenty twenty-three S seven Pro platform needed two chips for Wi-Fi earbuds. Only Xiaomi's twenty twenty-five Buds five Pro adopted it, and it never got a global release.
The new chip is smaller and smarter
The Elite is thirty percent smaller, uses up to forty percent less power, and has twice the AI processing of the previous generation. These improvements should appeal to device makers.
Partners are already on board
Qualcomm is working with HP on an unnamed product, collaborating closely with Bose, and developing camera earbuds with Cleer as a new category of intelligent hearables.
The big picture
Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 integrates Wi-Fi into a single chip for the first time, potentially enabling earbuds to stream lossless audio from home Wi-Fi without a phone nearby.
