Qualcomm Integrates Wi-Fi 6E Into Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 is the company’s first chip to integrate “micro-power Wi-Fi 6E,” allowing wireless earbuds and audio glasses to connect directly to a home Wi-Fi network and the cloud, Qualcomm says. The company says the chip can support high-quality lossless audio beyond Bluetooth’s bandwidth.

Qualcomm made a similar pitch in 2023 with its S7 Pro sound platform and Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN) technology. That platform could support 24-bit, 96kHz lossless audio over Wi-Fi, but required a separate Wi-Fi chip. The Verge says it has heard of just one product using that earlier approach: Xiaomi’s 2025 Buds 5 Pro, which did not receive a global release.

Qualcomm says the new chip is 30 percent smaller, uses up to 40 percent less power, and has twice the AI processing capabilities of the previous generation. It says it is working with HP on an unnamed product and “working closely with Bose.” Qualcomm also says it is working with Cleer on what it calls “a new category of intelligent hearables”; The Verge describes these as earbuds with built-in cameras.