Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 Brings AI Agents To Your Earbuds
Qualcomm has made a series of announcements this week at its annual Snapdragon Summit event in Maui, Hawaii, the newest of which is the unveiling of its Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 platform. Purpose-built for next-generation audio devices for the agentic age, the platform aims to combine premium Snapdragon Sound technologies with on-device AI.
Replacing the older Snapdragon Sound S7 Gen 1 from 2023, the Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 packs better efficiency, up to a 30% smaller footprint, and up to 40% lower power draw. That said, the headline improvement sits in its AI compute, with Qualcomm doubling the processing capacity so the chip can execute multiple smart features at the same time without breaking a sweat.
"Our research tells us that up to 70% of users want advanced AI capabilities in their
wearable devices," said Ziad Asghar, Senior Vice President and General Manager of XR,
Wearables, and Personal AI, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "As AI becomes a core capability, users will increasingly expect more natural ways to interact with it. 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."
"With Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2, we're heralding intelligent audio wearables that
enable experiences such as real-time translation, contextual assistance, personalized
hearing, and multimodal interactions that combine audio, vision, and AI," Asghar adds.
Qualcomm also baked its micro-power Wi-Fi 6E module into Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2. That gives audio devices a low-power path to cloud-based AI services without having to route everything through a smartphone. Connectivity also features a dual Bluetooth radio architecture supporting Bluetooth 7.0 with Higher Bands readiness, along with Qualcomm Expanded Personal Area Network technology for extended whole-home coverage.
Meanwhile, multi-core processing is handled by three audio digital signal processors, a low-latency DSP dedicated to active noise cancellation, a Qualcomm eNPU Accelerator and Framework, and a multi-core application processor.
The added compute is also what makes Snapdragon Sound Apps and Agents possible. Qualcomm says developers can use it to put AI features directly on the audio device, rather than sending everything back through a phone. So, for example, you could ask for directions, check what’s next on your calendar, or translate a conversation as it’s happening. Qualcomm isn’t doing all of this alone, either. Brands like Cleer, Cinemo, Qobuz, Roon, CAI, and MicroEJ are among the companies already supporting the platform.
For music playback, Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 supports up to 24-bit 96kHz audio with Qualcomm aptX Lossless. The ANC system gets an upgrade as well, moving to Qualcomm's 5th-generation Adaptive ANC. It uses dedicated hardware and AI to keep adjusting on the fly, whether you turn your head, move into a noisier environment, or the fit in your ear changes. For calls, Qualcomm's cVc clear voice capture and Audio Sense processing work with multi-mic setups to help isolate your voice.
