Qualcomm has been busy. But then again, when is it ever idle? Today (March 25), the company known for its wireless solutions, software and semiconductors introduced two next-generation Snapdragon Sound products to enhance the audio experience not only at the premium end of the market, but also for earbuds mid-range (and possibly even the best budget wireless earbuds), headphones and speakers – namely the S5 Gen 3 and S3 Gen 3 Sound platforms.
The big headlines? Let’s start with the more expensive S5 Gen 3, which promises “nearly 50x more AI power” (more on this later), a better digital-to-analog converter with improved signal-to-noise ratio, and a 40% lower noise floor (with 24-bit /48kHz better than CD quality sound using the more efficient Bluetooth LE Audio) and Qualcomm’s 4th generation adaptive active noise cancellation.
The S5 Gen 3 also features 50% more memory than the Qualcomm S5 Gen 2 Sound Platform and, Qualcomm says, “dedicated cores for audio management, including hearing loss compensation, ANC, transparency and sound management.” Yes, we’re looking at a future where your listening equipment not only supports Auracast audio sharing (using Bluetooth 5.4), but can then tailor the broadcast to different degrees of hearing loss in real time with ultra-low latency.
What about that sharp increase in AI capabilities? John Turner, Qualcomm’s Senior Director of Product Management at Qualcomm Technologies International, told me that it’s difficult to offer precise improvements for the user because that will largely depend on what manufacturers want their products to do (Qualcomm offers solutions, engineers get to work on harnessing them ), but beyond the plethora of noise-canceling filters it offers: “One big advance we’ve talked about is that on-device microphones can intelligently hear sounds your voice in the office, not the voices of the people around you.”
It’s something I would really love using my earbuds.
Entry-level headphones are also going to get a lot better
Moving on to Qualcomm’s S3 Gen 3 proposition and here in the mid-range, the company has added support for its own Qualcomm voice and music expansion programwhich has existed for a while within the S5 level, but is now being made available for the first time at the S3 level.
What does this mean for buyers on a budget? Developers will be able to add benefits like fit and hearing tests, spatial audio solutions, heart rate monitoring and other health tracking options within more affordable earbuds and wireless headphones, that’s what.
Furthermore, we know that this particular S3 Gen 3 platform will initially be adopted by Vivo, with announcements on incoming devices expected in the coming weeks. It is a company whose smartphones have received extensive coverage from Ny Breaking, but the (very affordable) earbuds have not yet…
Since launching the premium Snapdragon Sound S7 and S7 Pro Gen 1 platforms last October, Qualcomm tells us its extensive customer research has proven that 69% of buyers are willing to spend more to get better quality audio, 70 % actively want lossless audio, 73% of customers ensure they get better audio with every purchase, and – perhaps most interesting – 68% of people want to use the same product for every use case. Could this be the end of the best running headphones, while the very best wireless earbuds should be good enough for the job, thank you very much? That’s entirely possible – because if even the most affordable earbuds can monitor your health, why would you need another pair?