Samsung confirms the next Galaxy Watch will jump to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite

Source: Android Authority

TL;DR

• Samsung confirmed at MWC 2026 that the next Galaxy Watch will feature Qualcomm’s 3 nm Snapdragon Wear Elite SoC.
• The chip includes a dedicated Hexagon NPU, enabling on‑device AI features such as smart replies, text summaries, and AI fitness coaching.
• This move suggests a pivot away from Samsung’s Exynos W1000 toward Qualcomm to better support “holistic wellness” and AI use cases.

Announcement at MWC 2026

Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon Wear Elite chip for smartwatches and other AI‑centric wearables. The chip represents a major step up from previous Snapdragon Wear chips, such as the Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1.

During Qualcomm’s press conference, Mr. InKang Song, Executive Vice President and Head of the Technology Strategy Team at MX Business, Samsung Electronics, confirmed that the next‑generation Galaxy Watch will integrate the new Snapdragon Wear Elite SoC. He described the upcoming device as an “even more holistic wellness companion.”

© C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

Qualcomm’s press release notes that the first commercial devices powered by Snapdragon Wear Elite are expected to be available in the next few months, though it’s unclear whether this refers to the Galaxy Watch 9, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, or another wearable. Motorola’s Project Maxwell proof‑of‑concept wearable, showcased at CES 2026, also runs on the Snapdragon Wear Elite.

Snapdragon Wear Elite specifications

• Manufacturing process: 3 nm (compared to the 4 nm Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1 and similar to the 3 nm Exynos W1000 used in the Galaxy Watch 7, 8, and Ultra).
• Core configuration: Similar to the Exynos W1000, with 1 performance core and 4 efficiency cores (exact details not disclosed).
• AI hardware: First Snapdragon wearable chipset with a dedicated Hexagon NPU, supporting low‑power AI tasks such as keyword/activity recognition, noise cancellation, smart replies, text creation, text summaries, and AI‑driven fitness coaching.

Potential impact on Samsung Galaxy Watch

Samsung’s recent push into AI makes the switch from its own Exynos W1000 SoC to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite logical for the next‑generation Galaxy Watch. While concrete performance and battery‑life gains remain to be measured, the primary benefits are expected to be:

• Enhanced on‑device AI capabilities with lower latency and reduced reliance on cloud processing.
• New wellness features powered by AI, such as personalized fitness coaching and smarter notification handling.
• Potential improvements in power efficiency for AI‑heavy workloads thanks to the dedicated NPU.

The actual impact will become clearer once the first Snapdragon Wear Elite‑powered Galaxy Watch models reach the market.