Alongside the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 mobile chipset, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 chip at the Snapdragon Summit in Maui. Qualcomm invited me to the Summit to take a look at all the new stuff, and the Sound Elite Gen 2 processor is designed to run many of next year’s high-end headphones and headsets.
The main features are the usual generational upgrades, with up to twice the AI processing capacity, operating with up to 40% lower power consumption and 30% lower physical footprint than the Snapdragon S7 Gen 1 platform it replaces. It is also the first Qualcomm audio platform with micro-power Wi-Fi 6E integrated into the chip.
This Wi-Fi capability powers what I think is one of the best capabilities offered by the Sound Elite Gen 2 processor: the ability to run applications. I know it sounds a little strange, but the earbuds will now be able to locally run micro-apps – at least two at a time – without transmitting anything through a smartphone. To really showcase this new capability, Qualcomm ran a demo after its keynote, which showed one of the first uses of this hardware that I’d actually want on my own headphones.
The demo that really convinced me of this new chip is impressive
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Qualcomm demonstrated a scenario in which someone watched a movie on a streaming service in its original French version with English subtitles on screen. When they looked away, the subtitles turned off and the audio switched to English because they could no longer follow the subtitles. When they looked at the screen, the film returned to French with the subtitles displayed again. All of this happened in real time, with no lag between head movement and audio switching.
A process like this can work seamlessly because the listeners run the application themselves. As I mentioned, Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 features micro-powered Wi-Fi 6E, which gives the earbuds their own connection to cloud services without a phone in the middle. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound Apps and Agents framework allows service providers, such as Netflix or any of the major streaming services, to create apps that will install directly onto a pair of compatible headphones. These apps may also continue to receive new features after the product ships.
Andrew Laister, senior product marketing manager at Qualcomm who led the demo, described how apps like this could actually reach users. A streaming service might bundle a headphone app into its existing phone app, so you’ll have the option to install it on your headphones. He also discussed the possibility of a company like Anthropic putting Claude directly on a pair of headphones. Device manufacturers can also decide which apps are preloaded. Sound Elite Gen 2 can run at least two apps in memory at a time, so a voice assistant, for example, can remain available while you do something else.
Everything else offered by Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2
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Beyond this new capability, the Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 processor upgrades most of the things your headphones already do. It features Qualcomm’s fifth generation of adaptive noise cancellation, which uses AI to adjust noise cancellation based on the fit of the earbuds, your movements, and your surroundings. It also offers enhanced voice processing with multi-microphone headphones to extract your voice from background noise. Qualcomm aptX Lossless is included to offer bit-for-bit music streaming, while XPAN can switch between Bluetooth and low-power Wi-Fi to extend audio coverage beyond normal Bluetooth range. A new Snapdragon Audio Sense system combines microphones and algorithms to help a device hear you and the room around you.
Qualcomm is gearing this processor toward more than just earbuds, with support for earbuds, open-back earbuds, audio glasses, hearing aids, and camera-equipped earbuds – like the currently camera-equipped AirPods – where the camera gathers context from your surroundings rather than taking photos. But so far, no products with the new Sound Elite Gen 2 chip have been announced.
Qualcomm has made it clear that it expects the Sound Elite Gen 2 to arrive in more premium headphones first, which is most of the audio features. Rising memory costs are already driving up gadget prices, so if you want a pair of headphones with these new capabilities, I predict you’ll pay top dollar to get them. If you need noise cancellation now, there are plenty of options for the best noise-cancelling headphones and earphones for every budget, and Consumer Reports’ pairs are rated highest for noise cancellation.
