Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound now official

Qualcomm has announced its latest technology to provide seamless, immersive audio in, and across, devices including smartphones, wireless earbuds, and headsets, the Snapdragon Sound.

Snapdragon Sound is an optimized chain of audio innovations and software designed to optimize interactions between Qualcomm technology stacks to deliver a better wireless listening experience, with support for high-resolution 24-bit 96kHz audio, ultra-low latency, improved pairing, and crystal-clear voice quality.

To solve end-to-end latency challenges, Snapdragon Sound can support Bluetooth latencies as low as 89ms (45% lower than a leading competitor) for more immersive gaming and a better video watching experience. For those who prefer listening directly from the mobile device, Snapdragon Sound incorporates the Qualcomm Aqstic DAC, designed to support formats of up to 384kHz 32-bit PCM and DSD with ultra-low THD+N.

In other words, devices equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound can deliver great audio quality with ultra-low latency, even in wireless.

To help showcase the capabilities of Snapdragon Sound, Qualcomm also introduced the Snapdragon Sound playlist in partnership with Amazon Music. It’s a curated list of songs that features producer/musician St. Panther’s brand-new Amazon Original song, “Real Love Takes Time”, Amazon Original tracks from Allie X and You Me At Six, recently remastered recordings from The Clash and new tracks from Celeste, Arlo Parks and more. It contains more than 70 million songs in High Definition, and over five million songs in the highest quality audio, or Ultra High Definition, allowing customers to hear songs and albums with every bit of detail as their original recording.

Devices supporting Snapdragon Sound are expected to be available later this year. As products are available, consumers will be able to look for the Snapdragon Sound badge on optimized devices to readily identify phones, earbuds, and headphones and, in time, other devices like PCs, watches, and XR glasses designed to deliver the full benefit of these advanced audio features.