In addition to its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile chipsets, Qualcomm also announced its new additions to its Snapdragon Sound platform. They are the Qualcomm S7 and S7 Pro, with the latter being the star of the show, as adds WiFi into wireless audio tech.
For the longest time, wireless audio involved Bluetooth codecs like Qualcomm’s own aptX Adaptive to push out the most amount of data, and therefore sound quality. But wireless audio tech is already pushing the limits of Bluetooth performance in the field. With that in mind, WiFi is seen as the next frontier in the pursuit of wireless lossless audio.
And that’s what the S7 Pro brings to the table, which makes use of what the company calls Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN) tech. This allows audio devices using this chip to deliver up to 24-bit 192kHz lossless audio. The company also claims that it can do this without too high a cost to battery life, with 96kHz music costing the same amount of energy as good old Bluetooth. This also allows devices to transition between the two wireless tech seamlessly.
Making use of WiFi also means that devices with the Qualcomm S7 Pro chip will be able to stay connected to your device at longer ranges. The company claims coverage of a “whole home and building”. Which isn’t the most clear of definitions, but this suggests that you can leave your phone in your room while your headphones or TWS buds keep playing you music as you walk about at home.
Beyond that, there’s things like improved ANC and transparency modes that will be part of both the S7 and S7 Pro, officially dubbed the Qualcomm 4th Gen Adaptive ANC. Together, the tech promises dynamic levels of noise cancellation based on the noise levels in your surroundings. All this is driven by on-device AI, which also helps do enhancements like hearing loss compensation and personal sound amplification, while also using less power.
Which all sounds pretty exciting, but as you’d expect, none of this will be showing up on shelves until next year at the very least. And to make full use of these features, it’s likely that you’ll have to pair products with these Qualcomm S7 and S7 Pro chips with, say, a phone running Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It’s probably also safe to assume that these will come at a premium, especially where lossless wireless audio over WiFi is concerned.
(Source: Qualcomm)
