Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 AI Chip for Audio Wearables

The chip is aimed at earbuds, headphones, audio glasses of the kind represented by the Ray-Ban Meta Audio, and camera-equipped earbuds such as those Apple is reportedly developing. Qualcomm says the new part has twice the AI capabilities of its predecessor, the Snapdragon S7 Gen 1 Sound Platform.

"As AI becomes a core capability, users will increasingly expect more natural ways to interact with it," Ziad Asghar, Qualcomm senior vice president and general manager for XR, wearables and personal AI, said in the announcement. "Those interactions won't always happen through a screen. They will happen through natural conversations, where users can simply speak to an AI assistant and receive help in real time."

Asghar added that the chip would give devices the power to run features such as real-time on-device translation and the ability to amplify sounds and conversations for people who are hard of hearing.

On the audio side, the Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 supports Qualcomm's aptX Lossless technology for lossless-quality playback, as well as the company's XPAN wireless audio technology, which combines Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to extend the range of devices. Its Wi-Fi 6E connectivity is billed as delivering faster speeds that Qualcomm says make always-available AI possible without hurting battery life or sound quality.

The report did not include pricing, a release date or the names of device makers that plan to use the chip.