‘This isn’t about putting a chatbot in your ear’: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 platform will use AI to make your next earbuds sound better than ever — and its use in ‘camera buds’ won’t be far behind

Qualcomm: ‘AI interactions won't always happen through a screen’

by · TechRadar

Features By Axel Metz Published 23 September 2026

The Snapdragon Sound-equipped Bose Ultra Open earbuds (left) and Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 platform (right) (Image credit: Bose / Qualcomm)

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You may have heard the rumors: camera-equipped earbuds are the next frontier for audio technology brands (including, we think, Apple), and Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 platform could be the catalyst that brings them to fruition.

As Qualcomm’s “first premium audio platform purpose-built for personal AI,” the Sound Elite Gen 2 aims to transform headphones and earbuds into “intelligent companions that can understand, assist, and adapt throughout the day” — and the American silicon giant considers camera-equipped earbuds to be among those “companions.”

Qualcomm flew TechRadar out to Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii to hear more (no pun intended) about its vision for the AI-assisted future of audio, and the company was bullish about the positive effect AI will have on both sound quality and virtual assistance.

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“This isn’t about putting a chatbot in your ear; it’s about creating devices that understand what’s happening around you,” Sarah McMurray, Staff Manager for Product Marketing at Qualcomm, explained in a briefing attended by TechRadar, noting that the Sound Elite Gen 2 will use AI to make earbuds more responsive to environmental changes.

Qualcomm could license its Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 platform to brands such as Bose and Bowers & Wilkins (Image credit: Qualcomm)

“At the core of the platform is an advanced AI-adaptive ANC system designed for consistent, real-world performance, not just ideal conditions,” added Grace Bramwell, Qualcomm PR. “The system continuously responds to changes in fit, movement, and environmental noise, maintaining reliable noise cancellation without the need for manual adjustment.

“Powered by flexible, programmable processing and up to 2x greater AI capability than the previous generation, Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 can intelligently steer ANC filters in real time, optimizing noise reduction across different acoustic conditions and device types. This enables stronger performance in challenging scenarios, including low-frequency noise, dynamic environments, and open-ear designs, while giving OEMs greater flexibility across a wide range of form factors.”

This isn’t about putting a chatbot in your ear; it’s about creating devices that understand what’s happening around you.Sarah McMurray, Staff Manager for Product Marketing, Qualcomm

In other words, the Sound Elite Gen 2 could make your next earbuds or headphones better at automatically switching between ANC and transparency modes, and deliver improved audio quality in both states (“stronger performance with low-frequency noise,” for instance, might mean upcoming earbuds can more effectively drown out the mechanical hum of your fridge or the drone of a passing truck).

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