Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound aims to bring high-quality, low-latency audio to your next smartphone

Today, Qualcomm has announced Snapdragon Sound, a suite of audio technologies and software solutions that will enable smartphone and audio equipment makers to deliver a more unified and seamless audio experience on their next-generation devices.

Qualcomm says products built with Snapdragon Sound will offer high-resolution sound, ultra-low latency, improved voice calling, fast setup and pairing, and better battery life. The Snapdragon Sound platform consists of a wide range of existing Qualcomm products and solutions, including Snapdragon 8xx series SoCs, Qualcomm FastConnect 6900, Qualcomm QCCX series Bluetooth SoCs, Qualcomm ANC, aptX Adaptive, aptX Voice, Qualcomm Aqstic, and more.

Basically, Qualcomm is bringing many of its audio and connectivity products under one umbrella and optimizing them to work in harmony with each other. The goal here is to provide an end-to-end solution with all required hardware components and software in one package which OEMs can then simply incorporate into their products.

“By focusing from end-to-end, as opposed to on every single device, we can deliver innovation to solve common consumer pain-points across the broader audio chain. Qualcomm Technologies is uniquely positioned to provide tremendous value to customers with Snapdragon Sound; our system-level approach aggregates multiple platforms from across our mobile and audio portfolio to help achieve our vision of delivering high-resolution wired quality audio”, said James Chapman, vice president, and general manager, Voice, Music and Wearables, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.

Snapdragon Sound can deliver 24-bit audio at a 96Hz sample rate for music streaming. If you’re playing music straight from the device, it uses the Qualcomm Aqstic Hi-Fi DAC which is capable of outputting up to 32-bit/384Hz audio. With as low as 89ms latency over Bluetooth, it also claims to provide a lag-free audio experience for mobile gaming.

Qualcomm says that all Snapdragon Sound-branded devices will go through rigorous testing at Qualcomm’s test facility in Taiwan to ensure they’re interoperable and meet performance standards for audio quality, latency, connectivity, etc.

Snapdragon Sound platform is available to OEMs starting today. It will power a wide range of products including smartphones, earbuds, headphones, PCs, and even XR glasses. All devices will have Snapdragon Sound branding imprinted on their product boxes.

Xiaomi will be the first smartphone OEM to bring a Snapdragon Sound-powered device to the market. Qualcomm has also partnered up with Amazon Music to create a playlist of high-resolution tracks for the Snapdragon Sound-optimized devices.

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