The new chip, announced by Qualcomm, is the first to integrate a “micro-power Wi-Fi 6E” radio directly into the chipset, according to the company. This allows earbuds or audio glasses to connect directly to a home Wi-Fi network and from there to cloud streaming services, potentially eliminating the range and bandwidth constraints of Bluetooth.
This is not Qualcomm’s first attempt to bring Wi-Fi to earbuds. In 2023, the company introduced the S7 Pro sound platform with its Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN) technology, making a similar promise that Wi-Fi earbuds could outperform Bluetooth. However, the new Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 appears to integrate the Wi-Fi capability more tightly into the chip itself, which could address previous challenges around power consumption and reliability.
The announcement revives the long-standing ambition in the audio industry to cut the cord between earbuds and smartphones entirely. Bluetooth has been the dominant wireless standard for earbuds but is limited in range and bandwidth, making true lossless audio streaming difficult. Qualcomm’s approach uses Wi-Fi 6E, which operates in the 6 GHz spectrum and offers higher bandwidth and lower latency than previous Wi-Fi generations.
No specific product timelines or pricing have been announced. The chip will likely appeal to manufacturers of premium wireless earbuds and smart audio glasses, where always-connected streaming without a phone could be a differentiator.