Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite chip targets AI watches, pendants, and smart glasses

Qualcomm's Latest Chip Could Lead a New Wave of Camera-Equipped AI Watches and Wearables

Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps I've been steeling myself for a coming wave of AI-infused wearables that could be worn all over the place, based on reports on gadget plans at Meta, Google and Apple -- a halo of connected tech with cameras onboard, streaming to AI services. Qualcomm's latest chip, announced Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, is built for it, and the first devices using it are coming this summer. Samsung, Google and Motorola are already building hardware with it. I sat down with John Kehrli, senior director of product management for Qualcomm, to discuss the newest wearable chip push, and it caught my attention on several levels. The reason you should care is that this is a clear preview of tech products to come: Qualcomm's chips power almost all of the non-Apple watches, VR headsets and smart glasses out there. While Qualcomm has had separate chip lines for smartwatches and for smart glasses and VR headsets, the new Snapdragon Wear Elite chip aims to bridge across categories. It's a higher-powered watch chip filled with different wireless connection capabilities, but it is also made to support video input and streaming for AI, even 1080p video output to displays. That could include AI-infused smart glasses. "It's not just the watch: for sure that's a focus for us, but the portfolio [of devices] has expanded dramatically," Kehrli says. Here's the news about Snapdragon Wear Elite that stood out for me. A big part of Qualcomm's push on these chips is to do more generative AI and LLM work on device, a trend I expect to grow. The Snapdragon Wear Elite looks a lot more powerful than previous Qualcomm watch chips. Some of the offline, on-device functions could be voice-based AI, for fitness or, according to Qualcomm, for "life logging." I'm not sure I need life logging, but I'd be interested in having more AI-based controls for wearables. The extra power looks to also drive video on displays and run onboard cameras, including video streaming. The whole idea behind next-wave multimodal AI is to have AI services be aware of what you're doing -- that'll mostly happen via camera access. Kehrli says the processing cores for the neural processing unit on the Snapdragon Wear Elite could support AI models of up to 2 billion parameters on device, at about 10 tokens per second to process. He sees that being good enough for a lot of offline needs, with cloud-connected AI kicking in when needed otherwise. Kehrli sees a lot of local AI needs for the extra sensors, including cameras, that are going to be on these wearables. "There's so many exciting inputs coming in [to the devices]. Location, sound, voice, text, all the sensors -- we're really seeing a lot of medical-grade sensors come into the retail space. What do I do with that data?" In Qualcomm's sizzle video for the new chip, we can see a glimpse of a watch with a camera on its top edge. Most smartwatches don't have cameras right now, but that could be changing soon. While it's not necessarily a great way to take photos, the onboard cameras are likely more an additional way to tap into AI, like for face recognition biometrics for tap-to-pay, using a watch like a smart key for cars or other connected things, or maybe to use for other AI-based controls. Another concept shot of a pendant, which looks basically like a neck-worn smartwatch, has its camera facing out. All the AI pins and pendants that have been trickling in these last few months are showing similar ideas. Like smart glasses, the outer-facing cameras could be another way to see things without putting something on your face. But you'd have to wear some pin or pendant. It also sounds like devices with these new chips will last longer on a charge. Qualcomm's promising 30% better battery life than with its previous watch chip -- potentially "days" of use. I'd still expect more or less a full day, considering these chips might also be supercharging more camera-based and AI features. The faster charging sounds promising, though. The chips could charge devices up to 50% on 10 minutes of charging. That's key because a lot of these wearables are being designed to be worn all the time, and some while you're sleeping. It's like companies are trying to find ways to do a quick recharge pit stop without spending too much time off your body. The most interesting part could be the boosted wireless features. Qualcomm's got six different protocols on-chip: support for Redcap 5G (a protocol to support high-speed and low-power connected tech), Bluetooth 6.0, ultra wideband, GPS, satellite-connected NB-NTN for messaging, and micropower Wi-Fi 802.11ax. The micropower Wi-Fi support could allow these new wearables to stay Wi-Fi connected continuously, says Kehrli, letting them work in the background longer. On Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, for instance, right now, they're mainly Bluetooth-connected and don't stream video by default; switching to that mode kills battery life fast. Streaming always-on AI modes could last longer on Elite-powered devices. Qualcomm's aiming to put its new chip across a wide range of wearables, from camera-enabled headphones and earbuds like Razer's Motoko concept (which I tried at CES in January) to next-gen smartwatches and AI pendants, to smart glasses, and even sensor-connected bands. Devices like Meta's neural band, which uses EMG (electromyography, using skin contact sensors) for hand gestures that control its smart glasses, could see upgrades with this chip. Maybe that's exactly the sort of territory Meta could be exploring with its reported smartwatch debut this year. It's also clear that everyone, Qualcomm included, isn't entirely sure where people prefer to wear these future AI gadgets. Is it glasses? Pendant? Watch? Headphones? All of the above? Kehrli feels people will have different preferences and will choose what works. Will that sort of redundancy make sense or settle itself down into clearer categories in another year or two? Glasses, Kehrli adds, could be a landing spot for this chip because of the cellular-connecting possibilities, saying he expects adoption of wearables with their own data connections will keep rising, especially with AI services. "We're seeing, on-wrist, up to 50% of customers taking connected [wearables] with a service plan. We're seeing that dramatically increase, especially with this AI on device/off device type of experience in the cloud." It's clear that halos of wearables are on deck from several big companies. How it all shakes out and works, though, is still unclear. And while these new wearables should be a lot more powerful, the focus right now isn't on improving how they could stay connected and communicate with each other, something I got a glimpse of in a demo of a personal mesh network made by startup Ixana at CES. Maybe that's next on deck. For now, wearables are trying to be better extensions of your phone, first, and act better as standalone devices too.

Qualcomm's new chip is geared toward wearable AI gadgets

Like it or not, more AI wearables may be on the horizon - or at least Qualcomm seems to think so. Today the company announced its new Snapdragon Wear Elite chip. At a press briefing, Qualcomm said it considers the Elite to be a "wrist plus" chip. Meaning, it won't replace the previous W5 Plus, but exist alongside it. The company said it expects the Elite will appeal to gadget makers looking to create AI wearables such as pendants, pins, and potentially display-free smart glasses. (More powerful smart glasses will likely use its AR chip.) On top of being upgraded to the 3nm process, the Elite chip will have an eNPU and a Hexagon NPU for AI processing. The former handles low-power AI functions like keyword recognition and activity detection, while the latter can handle more compute-heavy tasks. Qualcomm says the Hexagon NPU can handle two billion parameters on-device, and as many as 10 tokens per second. While the Wear Elite has a similar co-processor architecture to the W5 Plus, Qualcomm says it's improved power efficiency so that more functions can be handled by the main chip. For example, GPS tracking requires 40 percent less power. As far as battery, the Elite will support 9V quick charging, which means you should get an estimated 50 percent charge in about 10 minutes. Qualcomm also estimates 30 percent more "days of use" in overall battery life. That's a nebulous metric as far as real-life use, but it roughly equates to "longer time between charges." The Elite also adds support for satellite connectivity, 5G, ultra-wide band, and Bluetooth 6.0. The CPU performance has increased by about five times, while the GPU now supports 1080p resolution at 60fps for animations. In addition to Android and Wear OS, the Elite will also support Linux to better support startups who may want to make AI pins or pendants on proprietary software. All this suggests that device makers aren't done with AI wearables, even though there hasn't been a breakout hit in the pin or pendant categories. A major component maker like Qualcomm actively creating chips that cater to that device category is a sign that there's some kind of demand. Google has spoken out about how it's building toward an ecosystem of AI hardware, including wearables. Meanwhile, Apple is rumored to be mulling over an AI wearable, and, famously, Jony Ive and Sam Altman have teased that may be in the cards for Open AI as well.

How Qualcomm's new wearables chipset could spell the end of smartphone dominance

Advancements include longer battery, faster processing, and low-power connectivity. Right now, mobile phones are the main hub of our personal device ecosystem. But as AI integrates into glasses, rings, headphones, and portable form factors, we could see our very own handsets step off center stage, and these wearable devices take their place. This requires lots more on-device AI and interconnectivity than what is currently available. Also: Best of MWC 2026: Live updates on phones, concepts, and innovations we're seeing Qualcomm is betting on its latest chipset, unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2026, to power this new era of personal AI. Snapdragon chips already power some of the most common mobile devices, and its new Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset is included in the next generation of wearables from Samsung, Google, Motorola, and more. Here's what the chip can do, and how it will change the next smart wearable you purchase. The chip integrates Qualcomm's Hexagon NPU, supporting billion-parameter models at the edge. It makes high-performance AI processing on a device a reality. And it's bolstered by "ultra-low power" Wi-Fi connectivity, thanks to Micro-Power Wi-Fi, which enables continuous AI syncing and data exchange at significantly lower power levels. Compared to its W5+ Gen 2 Wearable Platform, the Snapdragon Wear Elite boasts significant power efficiency and speed, according to Qualcomm. Its single-core CPU performance is five times stronger, and seven times faster for launching apps, multitasking, and rendering visuals smoothly, Qualcomm claims. Also: Samsung Galaxy S26 vs. S26 Plus vs. S26 Ultra: I compared every model to help you decide "Spanning a broad range of form factors, these devices are no longer simply extensions of the smartphone, but active participants in a distributed AI network across mobile, compute, XR, wearables, and more," said Alex Katouzian, EVP and Group General Manager, Mobile, Compute, & XR (MCX), Qualcomm Technologies, Inc, in a press release. This new chip will help extend the battery life of the next generation of wearables, so people can use their AI pendants, glasses, watches, and more for longer. Qualcomm says the new chip elongates daily use by 30%. Plus, fast charging improves the chip. According to Qualcomm, it charges devices to 50% in about 10 minutes, so you can quickly top off your device in a pinch. Snapdragon Wear Elite makes your wearable devices - your smartwatches, headphones, pendants, and smart glasses - more contextually aware of your environments and the recommendations they provide. This sort of feature could be a boon for those wearable AI pendants and smart glasses that use environmental context to provide tips and sort through information. It also enables more natural language communication, so interactions between a user and a device can feel more conversational. The chip lays the foundation for agentic AI tasks to take place. We got a hint of one of the first agentic features to drop on Samsung's newest lineup of phones it unveiled last week, and since Snapdragon powers Samsung's smartwatches, it's reasonable to assume that these agentic capabilities could be coming to its Galaxy Watch 9 later this year. Maybe we'll be able to order meals on Grubhub simply by speaking into our smartwatch very soon. "By integrating the new Snapdragon Wear Elite platform, the next generation Galaxy Watch will be an even more holistic wellness companion," said InKang Song, EVP and Head of Technology Strategy Team, MX Business at Samsung Electronics, in a Qualcomm press release. Also: Qualcomm's new chipset makes budget shopping for laptops a whole lot easier in 2026 While Qualcomm stresses that the benefits of the chip don't only apply to smartwatches, it's easy to imagine all the ways the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform could boost the next lineup of Pixel Watches, Galaxy Watches, smart rings, and other health-tracking devices. The chip opens up new opportunities for health tracking and life logging, the Qualcomm team explained during a briefing. That aforementioned life-logging feature will also power the next generation of AI pendants or glasses. The chip simplifies and speeds up information recall, such as "Where did I put my keys?" or "What cafe did I visit last week in Paris?" We'll get a glimpse of this next era when the first few devices from these major tech brands arrive later this year. They will likely power Samsung and Google's next smartwatches, smart glasses (Samsung is rumored to launch a pair this year), smart rings, or pins.

Samsung, Google and Motorola to Make AI Watches, Pins, Pendants With New Qualcomm Chip

Katie is a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand. When you think wearables from the likes of Google, Motorola and Samsung, you probably think earbuds and maybe watches. But in the age of AI, a whole new world of wearable tech is coming to life, and we could see these companies soon branch out to make AI-powered pins, pendants and other unexpected gadgets too. This new generation of wearable tech will be made possible by Qualcomm, which on Monday announced the latest version of its wearables chip, the Snapdragon Wear Elite, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This new platform will be used by a range of partners, including Google, Motorola and Samsung to design a constellation of new devices. Qualcomm's philosophy toward wearables is very much "build it, and they will come." It makes the underlying technology that will power devices and will then encourage companies to build on top of it how they see fit. When I attended the company's Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii last year, Qualcomm Chief Marketing Officer Don McGuire painted me a picture of how he imagines the convergence of AI and wearables playing out. "AI is going to be ambient in a lot of ways," he told me. It might not even be called a "device" if it's something woven into your clothing or worn on your person. "There's lots of ideas out there floating around," he said. At the same event, Dino Bekis, who runs Qualcomm's wearables business, introduced me to the Looki L1 -- a life-logging camera created with the company's W5 Gen 2 chip. This is the wearables platform Qualcomm introduced last year, which was designed to work with Google's Wear OS and launched with the Pixel Watch. Unlike its predecessor, the new Wear Elite chip will work across Google's Wear OS, Android and Linux, with a neural processing unit that enables on-device AI with low power consumption. This is key for wearable devices, which you don't necessarily want to charge every day. Qualcomm says the Wear Elite's advanced power management enables 30% longer battery use, compared to the previous version, with rapid charging bringing devices to 50% in around ten minutes. "The Snapdragon Wear Elite platform opens new possibilities, delivering the performance, battery life and connectivity essential for the next generation of Wear OS," said Bjørn Kilburn, general manager of Wear OS by Google, in a statement. The first devices powered by the Wear Elite chip should be available in the coming months, with Motorola saying it will use the platform to build more AI wearable devices like AI concept Project Maxwell, which it showed at CES in January, and Samsung saying it will integrate Wear Elite into the next Galaxy Watch. This will make the watch into "an even more holistic wellness companion," said InKang Song, EVP and head of tech strategy at Samsung. Samsung and Google might be focused on watches, but Snapdragon Wear Elite points to a future halo of personal wearables, which CNET Editor at Large Scott Stein has explored in more detail. The possibilities stretch beyond what we've seen so far as this latest platform is embraced by companies big and small. I'll be looking for demos making use of the new chip this week at MWC, so stay tuned for more.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite chip is made for smartwatches and AI devices

Qualcomm's Snapdragon Elite chips are reserved for the best Android phones and laptops, and now the company has introduced the first in the Elite series for wearables. The Snapdragon Wear Elite processor is designed for smartwatches and AI devices like pendants and promises up to a fivefold increase in single-thread CPU performance, Qualcomm announced. The new processor is built on a 3nm process to improve speed and efficiency over previous models, while boosting the number of cores to five (one big core at 2.1GHz and 4 little cores at 1.9GHz). With those changes, the company is promising up to five times faster single-threaded performance, with GPU speeds boosted up to seven times. The Snapdragon Wear Elite is also equipped with a new NPU that allows low-power AI use cases like keyword recognition along with noise cancellation. It's also the first Snapdragon wearable processor with a dedicated Hexagon NPU supporting AI models with two billion parameters. That will allow new "personal AI experiences," the company said, like context-aware recommendations, natural voice interactions, life logging and AI agents that can orchestrate tasks on your behalf. Wear OS devices with the chip should see up to 30 percent improved battery life and charging speeds of up to 50 percent in ten minutes. It also allows for more types of connectivity, including 5G reduced capability, micro-power Wi-Fi, NB-NTN for satellites, Bluetooth 6.0, GNSS and UWB. However, manufacturers will be able to source versions of the chip without some of those wireless features. Whether the Snapdragon Wear Elite will give Wear OS watch manufacturers a better chance to chip into the 50-plus percent market share of Apple's Watch remains to be seen. The first devices using the chip will start to ship in the "next few months," Qualcomm said. "Leading global partners are supporting the platform including Google, Motorola and Samsung."

Where Humane Failed, Qualcomm Imagines the Future Is Filled With AI Pins

Qualcomm imagines a future packed with AI wearables. We still have to find a gadget that makes AI worth the hassle. “Wearables†may already be too broad a term in tech. It encompasses more than smartwatches. Is an exoskeleton a "wearable"? What about the oft-derided AI pin? Qualcomm seems to think it counts, so much so that its latest chipset is built not just for smartwatches but for whatever future AI-centric doohickey big tech plans to stick on our lapels or around our necks. Previous Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear chips were mostly geared toward smartwatches. The new Snapdragon Wear Elite, first announced in time for MWC 2026 in Barcelona, is supposed to offer more platforms than that. The chip is built on a 3nm process node and encompasses Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU. That neural processing unit is built for handling low-end AI tasks, though Qualcomm also included an extra eNPU AI accelerator for low-power AI use cases. The chipmaker further claims it has boosted the CPU by five times in single-thread performance compared to the previous W5 Gen 2 chip. The chipmaker also improved the max frame rate you can get from the Wear Elite’s GPU. These upgrades could make next-gen smartwatches a little more snappy when loading apps. However, Qualcomm's main goal is to introduce new use cases for its platform, whether through pins, pendants, or AI-centric hubs. This new chip promises to be able to handle a 2 billion parameter AI model on device. To put that into perspective, Google’s smallest AI model, Gemma, is a 270 million parameter model. That means the chip is technically capable of handling a very small conversational model. How that shakes out in reality is still to be determined. In addition, Qualcomm claims it enhanced image stabilization for tiny cameras. It supports cameras capturing images and video at 1080p and 60 fps. These could be useful for AI vision models. At the same time, any kind of AI vision model will likely need to run on the cloud, requiring an ever-present internet connection. The need for constant 5G or Wi-Fi connection is what has held back previous attempts at AI wearablesâ€"even if you ignore the AI's tendency to offer inconsistent answers or outright lie about what it sees. Qualcomm’s senior director of project management, John Kehrli, told Gizmodo that the chipmaker is already in talks with multiple companies, all of whom are trying to craft some variety of AI wearable that finally makes sense. Kehrli mentioned how there are a variety of form factors being worked on beyond AI glasses, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban smartglasses and AR glasses. There’s also Razer, which is proposing players will want a Project Motoko gaming headset with two camera lenses to let AI see what you’re playing and offer (often inconsistent) commentary. Then there’s a device like the Looki L1, a self-described “personal AI wearable." It may look like a Nickelodeon splat logo, though it’s made to hang around your neck and provide commentary or simply record your life with the help of the built-in camera that can capture 1080p video or photos. That device is currently running on Qualcomm’s W5 Gen 2 chip. So far, the highest-profile examples we’ve had of AI wearables have been travesties and utter failures. Humane famously raised $240 million in investments to produce an AI-centric pin that required a constant internet connection and overheated doing the most basic tasks. Humane eventually dissolved and sold most of its assets to HP. Other devices, like the Plaud AI Pin, are merely recording devices that depend on an app and cloud-based AI for transcription. Then there was Friend, another VC-backed startup that wanted to throw an AI companion around your neck. Its million-dollar New York City ad campaign ran up against skeptical graffiti artists, so the company eventually pivoted away from AI hardware to yet another chatbot website interface. Kehrli said that Qualcomm isn’t envisioning one singular use case for this AI-ready wearables chip. The next device may come in a form factor nobody had in mind. “What might make sense for you may not make sense for me,†he said. In the end, we may find ourselves inundated with devices with very specific use cases. Some companies are not getting that memo. We still don’t know what the hell OpenAI and famed designer Jony Ive are cooking up. However, recent leaks from The Information suggest it may be more akin to a smart speaker with built-in cameras to help it process information. Similarly, Bloomberg claims Apple is working on its own AI pendant that's equivalent to the Humane Ai Pin, just with an AI-enhanced Siri built in. It’s hard to judge tech merely by a description. These devices aren't the kind to immediately spark joy, whether in a Marie Kondo sense or as a gadget nerd. Not having a clear use case from the start makes it much less likely regular users are going to be willing to stick a camera around their necks.

Qualcomm announces Snapdragon Wear Elite for next gen of Wear OS, Galaxy Watch

At MWC 2026, Qualcomm announced the premium Snapdragon Wear Elite for Wear OS and other AI form factors. This chip and product line are a level above the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2 that is now considered part of the "high" tier. The premium "Elite" branding is meant to indicate a significant increase in performance and capabilities. However, it's important to note that this chip is not using Oryon cores, while there might be more W-class chips in the future. Physically, this chip has a thinner package than what came before. The Snapdragon Wear Elite is built on a 3nm process node with a big.LITTLE architecture for the first time. There's a 2.1 GHz big core that will help speed up app launches, multitasking, and device boot times. This is paired with four 1.95 GHz small cores. Compared to the W5+ Gen 2, the CPU offers a 5x increase in single-core performance. The Adreno GPU offers an up to 7x improvement in max FPS performance with 1080p at 60 FPS support for smoother rendering. This chip is built for on-device AI with a Hexagon NPU that can run up to 2 billion parameters on-device and up to 10 tokens per second. This makes possible computer vision, text-to-speech, and AI agent use cases. That can translate to applications like personal assistants, life logging, health, fitness, and on-device transcription or translation. Additionally, there's also an eNPU or dedicated AI accelerator for low-power, always-on use cases like keyword detection, activity recognition, and noise suppression. Notably, this replaces the previous co-processor architecture. The eNPU is one of the low-power islands, which Qualcomm views as SoCs within the main SoC. Other islands cover audio, sensors, and display. On the connectivity front, Qualcomm touts hex-connectivity with Wi-Fi (802.11ax), Bluetooth 6.0, UWB, GNSS (location), 5G RedCap, and NB-NTN (satellite). Micro-power Wi-Fi that has an 80% lower power threshold can translate to keeping the radio always on, while this is the first time UWB is being integrated for unlock use cases. Qualcomm notes a 50% charge in 10 minutes for the 300 to 600 mAh batteries typical in these devices. Specifically, this Quick Charging comes in at 9V. Overall, you can expect 30% longer use compared to the previous chip. The Snapdragon Wear Elite supports Android and Wear OS, as well as Linux for lighter operating systems. Google today said Wear OS is "reimagining the smartwatch experience and moving from an operating system to an always with you intelligent system that understands and works for you," which is in line with its remarks at the Galaxy S26 launch for Android. "The Snapdragon Wear Elite platform opens new possibilities, delivering the performance, battery life and connectivity essential for the next generation of Wear OS." Meanwhile, Samsung said the next-generation Galaxy Watch will use Snapdragon Wear Elite to become an "even more holistic wellness companion." Beyond smartwatches, Snapdragon Wear Elite can be used for other AI form factors, including smart glasses and pins that have cameras. Depending on the camera and display being used, Wear Elite can be used for glasses instead of the Snapdragon AR1/2 family. Qualcomm says the "first commercial devices powered by Snapdragon Wear Elite are expected to be available in the next few months."

Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite aims to power the next wave of AI wearables -- not just smartwatches

* Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon Wear Elite wearable platform * It will likely be inside smartwatches and new AI form factors * First devices expected later this year Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips already power many wearable devices, from the W5 Gen 2 inside the Pixel Watch 4 to the AR1 Gen 2 chip in the ever-popular Ray-Ban Meta glasses. However, at MWC 2026 - Mobile World Congress - Qualcomm is looking further ahead, both to the near term and the years beyond. That future centers on AI running directly on your devices. Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Wear Elite platform is designed to deliver advanced on-device intelligence inside gadgets with limited space and battery, allowing features to run smoothly without relying heavily on the cloud. Samsung, Motorola, and Google are already backing the platform, with the first devices expected to arrive in the "next few months." To underscore the shift, Qualcomm is bringing its 'Elite' branding - previously reserved for premium smartphone chips, including those powering the Samsung Galaxy S26 lineup - to wearables for the first time. The platform is intended for a wide range of devices, from smartwatches and smart glasses to emerging categories like AI pins, pendants, and other next-generation form factors. Wear Elite has been in development for more than three years and is built around four core priorities: on-device AI, battery life, connectivity, and performance. A redesigned architecture includes a dedicated NPU capable of running large language models directly on the device, enabling always-on features without a constant internet connection. That could power everything from next-generation smartwatches - potentially the Pixel Watch 5 - to pendant-style devices that automatically transcribe meetings. When connectivity is needed, Wear Elite supports a broad range of standards, including low-power Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, L1 + L5 GPS, ultra-wideband, 5G, and GNSS. These options allow devices to sync data or communicate with other hardware while minimizing battery drain. Efficiency is critical for compact wearables, and Qualcomm says the platform delivers significant power improvements along with charging speeds up to twice as fast as the previous generation. Wear Elite is designed to enable always-on, context-aware features across devices like smartwatches, smart glasses, pins, and pendants by processing inputs such as voice, location, movement, and even camera data. The goal is to support more personal AI assistants that understand what you're doing and where you are throughout the day, offering timely help without constant input. Naturally, the big question is when these devices will arrive - and what they'll actually deliver. Bjørn Kilburn, GM of Wear OS by Google, said the platform opens the door for smarter experiences on future Wear OS devices, emphasizing gains in performance, battery life, and connectivity. Samsung confirmed that its next-generation Galaxy Watch - likely the Galaxy Watch 9 expected this summer alongside new Fold and Flip models - will use the Snapdragon Wear Elite chip. Motorola, meanwhile, highlighted its interest in more personalized AI wearables, including the "Maxwell" pendant concept shown at CES 2026, saying the platform lets the company push those ideas further. While Samsung and Google see Wear Elite as the future of smartwatches, it's clear Qualcomm is aiming far beyond the wrist. Motorola is exploring AI pendants, and new hardware from companies like OpenAI - reportedly involving Sam Altman and Jony Ive - could introduce entirely new categories. Whether Wear Elite becomes the silicon powering those devices remains to be seen, but Qualcomm is clearly betting that the next wave of personal computing will be AI-driven, wearable, and far more diverse than today's watches and glasses. It's also worth noting that Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite will live alongside Snapdragon W5, AR1, AR2, and S chips, likely being the one that companies call upon for watches, these new form factors, and even glasses. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite paves the way for a new wave of AI wearables

The new 3nm chip brings major CPU, GPU, and on-device AI upgrades for future smartwatches and AI wearables. Mobile World Congress Read our complete coverage of Mobile World Congress Updated less than 0 just now ago Qualcomm today lifted the covers off the Snapdragon Wear Elite, a new premium platform built for next-generation Wear OS smartwatches and other AI wearables. Announced at MWC 2026, the chip is positioned above the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2 in Qualcomm's lineup and packs a dedicated NPU to enable faster, more capable on-device AI processing. The Snapdragon Wear Elite is built on a 3nm process and adopts a big.LITTLE CPU architecture, pairing one high-performance core clocked at 2.1GHz with four efficiency cores clocked at 1.95GHz. Qualcomm says this setup delivers a 5x jump in single-core performance compared to the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2. An upgraded Adreno GPU is also part of the package, offering up to 7x higher graphics performance. Big performance gains meet smarter on-device AI AI performance is a core focus for the Snapdragon Wear Elite, with the dedicated Hexagon NPU reportedly capable of handling more advanced on-device workloads, including generative AI tasks, voice assistants, and contextual processing without relying heavily on the cloud. The company says the platform can run larger language models directly on the device, enabling faster responses, improved privacy, and more reliable performance even when connectivity is limited. Beyond raw performance and AI upgrades, the Snapdragon Wear Elite also brings a broad set of connectivity improvements. The platform supports Bluetooth 6, 802.11ax Wi-Fi, UWB, GNSS, 5G RedCap, and NB-BTB satellite connectivity. Qualcomm is also promising improved power efficiency thanks to the 3nm process, along with faster charging support that delivers a 50% charge in 10 minutes for 300 to 600mAh batteries. Recommended Videos The platform supports both Android and Wear OS, and the first Snapdragon Wear Elite devices are scheduled to debut in the coming months. The chip is expected to power a new wave of premium Wear OS smartwatches from Motorola and Samsung, alongside AI-powered wearables like smart glasses and pins.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite Platform for AI-Driven Wearables announced

At the MWC 2026, Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon Wear Elite Platform, a new computing platform aimed at integrating artificial intelligence (AI) directly into wearable devices. Designed to operate across WearOS by Google, Android, and Linux, the platform incorporates a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and a suite of low-power connectivity options to support on-device AI operations. According to Qualcomm, the platform is built around the concept of an interconnected ecosystem where multimodal AI agents can operate across a user's devices to anticipate needs and understand context. The Snapdragon Wear Elite integrates the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, which the company states can support up to billion-parameter AI models at the edge. This hardware enables localized AI processing for features such as: In terms of traditional computing metrics, Qualcomm reports significant performance increases compared to its previous generation of wearable platforms. The Snapdragon Wear Elite is designed to deliver a 5x improvement in single-core CPU performance and up to a 7x increase in GPU speed, which is intended to improve app launch times, multitasking, and graphical rendering. Addressing the power constraints typical of wearable devices, the platform includes advanced power management systems. Qualcomm states the new architecture provides a 30% increase in daily use time compared to its predecessor, supporting multi-day battery life. Additionally, the platform supports rapid charging, allowing a device to reach a 50% charge in approximately 10 minutes. The platform features an integrated connectivity architecture that combines six different technologies designed for low power consumption and continuous syncing: The Snapdragon Wear Elite Platform is launching with support from major hardware and software partners, including Google, Motorola, and Samsung. Qualcomm expects the first commercial wearables utilizing the new chip to be available within the next few months. Regarding this, Alex Katouzian, Executive Vice President and Group General Manager, Mobile, Compute, & XR (MCX), Qualcomm Technologies, Inc, said: