Qualcomm Unveils AI Audio Platform for Earbuds and Wearables

Qualcomm has announced Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2, an audio platform designed to give earbuds, headphones and audio glasses on-device AI processing and direct access to cloud services over Wi-Fi, reducing the need to route interactions through a smartphone. The company unveiled it at its 2026 Snapdragon Summit in Maui. The platform includes micropower Wi-Fi 6E, which Qualcomm says can let compatible wearables connect to cloud services and AI assistants without a phone acting as an intermediary. It is intended for products including in-ear and open-ear earbuds, over-ear headphones, audio glasses and camera-equipped wearables. Qualcomm also describes a software service, Snapdragon Sound Apps Agents, for connecting devices to AI assistants and streaming services. Qualcomm says the new platform offers up to twice the AI capability of its predecessor, has a footprint up to 30% smaller and uses up to 40% less power. The company’s power comparison is based on design simulation rather than testing final chips. The platform includes an AI accelerator and audio processors, with Qualcomm citing up to 128 GOPS of AI computing capability.