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Qualcomm ups the perfect wireless audio ante with Snapdragon Sound

By Daniel Petrov

Published: Mar 04, 2021, 10:08 AM

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Processors Xiaomi

Qualcomm just took to the airwaves to detail Snapdragon Sound, a holistic platform across an universe of devices to bring the best possible audio to your ears. We are talking phones, true wireless buds, wearables, laptops, game controllers, and even cars or virtual reality gear equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound platform.

The company teased its cross-device audio initiative with the launch of its Snapdragon 888 chipset and said that we will be able to experience it this year. Sure enough, the first phone makers to adopt it, like Xiaomi, are already at the top of the phone audio pile over at DxOMark, boding well for the future of the Snapdragon Sound platform. Needless to say, a bunch of prerequisites need to be met before Qualcomm puts the Snapdragon Sound stamp on a device's packaging:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-series mobile platforms
Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 mobile connectivity system
Qualcomm QCC514x, QCC515x and QCC3056 series Bluetooth Audio SoCs
Qualcomm Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) technology
Qualcomm aptX Adaptive 24-bit 96kHz and 89ms latency
Qualcomm aptX Voice super wideband voice
Qualcomm Aqsti audio codec and smart speaker amplifier WCD938x and WSA883x
Qualcomm Audio and Voice Communication Suite

Curiously enough, these components are only present in their entirety in Qualcomm's flagship 8-series processors like Snapdragon 888, which explains why the top phone in terms of audio quality over at DxO is the Asus ROG Phone 5 - a device that hasn't even been announced yet, and still its Snapdragon Audio optimizations earned it top dog audio status. According to James Chapman, vice president and general manager, Voice, Music and Wearables, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd:

The human ear is highly sensitive to glitches, latencies and other challenges which commonly occur when streaming music, video conferencing, or gaming over wireless connections. By focusing end-to-end, we are looking to deliver innovations to solve common consumer pain-points across virtually all audio interaction points.

Qualcomm Technologies is uniquely positioned to provide tremendous value to customers with Snapdragon Sound and help them quickly commercialize products differentiated by great sound quality. Our system-level approach aggregates multiple technologies and the latest products from across our mobile and audio platform portfolios to achieve our vision of delivering high-resolution, wired quality audio, wirelessly.

What does this all mean? Well, you heard the man, stereo latency or crackling while listening with true wireless buds should be a thing of the past, and Snapdragon Sound supports ultra high-res, 24-bit 96kHz audio. The "crystal-clear voice quality" is something that caught our attention in particular, as, in this day and age of teleworking and Zoom meetings, clean audio seems more important than ever.

We can't wait to take Qualcomm's promises for a spin when the respective phones and buds are sent to us for testing. If you want to test for yourself, the Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound playlist is now available over at Amazon Music HD.

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.

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Qualcomm ups the perfect wireless audio ante with Snapdragon Sound

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