Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound Elite Is a New AI Chip for Audio Wearables
Qualcomm announced Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 at Snapdragon Summit 2026, an audio platform for earbuds, headphones, audio glasses and camera buds. Its eNPU peaks at 128 GOPS against 64 for the Snapdragon S7 Gen 1, it integrates micro-power Wi-Fi 6E for direct cloud access, and Qualcomm claims up to 40% lower power and a 30% smaller footprint. This article checks the arithmetic behind those claims, explains why Wi-Fi in an earbud matters, and covers ANC, aptX Lossless, camera buds, the Personal AI Health Alliance and what buyers should expect.
