Qualcomm’s new ‘Elite’ sound chip might finally deliver the Wi-Fi earbud dream

What if your wireless earbuds — or audio glasses — could stream high-quality lossless audio that doesn’t cut out when you leave your phone on the bedside charger or buried in the couch? Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 is its first to integrate “micro-power Wi-Fi 6E” right into the chip, so they can connect directly to your home Wi-Fi network, and from there to the cloud.

[Image: Qualcomm’s old whitepaper shows that it originally required two chips for Wi-Fi earbuds. Now, Wi-Fi is integrated into the main chip. https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/image-26.png?quality=90&strip=all]

If that sounds like a familiar promise, it’s probably because Qualcomm promised something similar back in 2023 with the “S7 Pro sound platform” and its Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN) tech, saying that Wi-Fi earbuds can do what Bluetooth alone cannot. Namely, 24-bit 96kHz lossless audio that can’t fit into Bluetooth’s meager bandwidth.