Qualcomm puts on‑device AI into a new earbud chip
Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 is aimed at earbuds, headphones and audio glasses, with Qualcomm claiming twice the AI capability of the part it follows.
Qualcomm has launched Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2, a chip for earbuds, headphones, audio glasses and camera-equipped earbuds, Engadget reported on Thursday. Qualcomm said it carries twice the AI capability of the Snapdragon S7 Gen 1 Sound Platform that it follows.
The doubling is the company's own figure, and Qualcomm did not publish the measurement behind it. The chip supports aptX Lossless and Qualcomm's XPAN, which moves audio between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Engadget listed Wi-Fi 6E among its connections.
What the on-device processing is meant to buy, according to Qualcomm, is translation in real time without a phone, amplification of speech for people who are hard of hearing, and back-and-forth talk with an assistant. The company did not name a device partner.
"Those interactions won't always happen through a screen," said Ziad Asghar, a senior vice-president and general manager at Qualcomm. He said users would "simply speak to an AI assistant and receive help in real time". Qualcomm gave no date for products using the chip, and no independent measurement of it has been published.