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

Source: ZDNet

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Qualcomm unveiled its Snapdragon Wear Elite chip.
• It will power new smartwatches, smart glasses, and AI pins.
• Advancements include longer battery life, faster processing, and low‑power connectivity.

Right now, mobile phones are the main hub of our personal device ecosystem. As AI integrates into glasses, rings, headphones, and other portable form factors, we could see handsets step off center stage and wearables take their place. This shift requires far more on‑device AI and interconnectivity than currently available.

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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 many common mobile devices, and the new Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset is slated for the next generation of wearables from Samsung, Google, Motorola, and more.

What is the Snapdragon Wear Elite chip?

The chip integrates Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU, supporting billion‑parameter models at the edge, making high‑performance AI processing on a device a reality. It also features “ultra‑low power” Wi‑Fi connectivity via Micro‑Power Wi‑Fi, enabling continuous AI syncing and data exchange at significantly lower power levels.

Compared to the W5+ Gen 2 Wearable Platform, Snapdragon Wear Elite offers:

• Power efficiency and speed: Single‑core CPU performance is five times stronger, and app launch, multitasking, and visual rendering are seven times faster (according to Qualcomm).
• Battery life: Daily use is extended by roughly 30 %.
• Fast charging: Devices can reach 50 % charge in about 10 minutes.

“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,” — Alex Katouzian, EVP and Group General Manager, Mobile, Compute, & XR (MCX), Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

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How the chipset benefits you

Snapdragon Wear Elite makes wearables—smartwatches, headphones, pendants, and smart glasses—more contextually aware of their environments, enabling:

• Enhanced recommendations based on real‑time context.
• More natural language interaction, allowing conversational exchanges with devices.
• Agentic AI tasks, such as ordering meals via voice on a smartwatch.

“By integrating the new Snapdragon Wear Elite platform, the next‑generation Galaxy Watch will be an even more holistic wellness companion,” — InKang Song, EVP and Head of Technology Strategy Team, MX Business at Samsung Electronics (Qualcomm press release).

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Beyond smartwatches, the platform could boost Pixel Watches, Galaxy Watches, smart rings, and other health‑tracking devices. It opens new opportunities for health monitoring and life‑logging, such as quickly answering questions like “Where did I put my keys?” or “What café did I visit last week in Paris?”

We’ll see this next era unfold as the first devices from major tech brands launch later this year, likely powering Samsung and Google’s upcoming smartwatches, smart glasses, smart rings, and AI pins.