Qualcomm has announced the Gen 3 of the S3 and S5 audio platforms, both of which are designed to deliver high-quality sound experiences on both mid-range and premium earbuds, headphones, and speakers.
Dino Bekis, vice president and general manager, Wearables and Mixed Signals Solutions, Qualcomm Technologies, said:
“Consumers want richer features and experiences at more affordable prices, and the Qualcomm Voice & Music Extension program will provide OEMs with a significant competitive advantage and greater ability to differentiate through broad access to some of the world’s most innovative audio technologies. In addition, for premium devices, the new Qualcomm S5 Gen 3 audio platform architecture and increased AI capabilities provide a platform for OEMs to develop smart devices that can monitor the user’s environment, as well as how the device is used, and respond accordingly.”
The Qualcomm S3 Gen 3 audio platform provides manufacturers with a high level of customization and flexibility by supporting a wide range of third-party feature enhancements available in the Qualcomm Voice and Music Extension program, an ecosystem of technologies that are validated in advance, helping OEMs balance time-to-market and deliver advanced features to consumers, including hearing enhancement, spatial audio, echo cancellation, and status monitoring.
The Qualcomm S3 Gen 3 platform also offers high sound quality thanks to support for Snapdragon Sound and aptX Lossless 24-bit 48kHz music streaming that ensures users can listen to every musical detail even in crowded environments and play without lag, with low latency. The performance of the audio DAC has also been improved to provide better SNR and reduce background noise.
Qualcomm S3 Gen 3 supports Bluetooth 5.4, Qualcomm TrueWireless mirroring technology, digital assistants activated by wake words and/or buttons, Google Fast Pair, aptX Audio including aptX Adaptive, and high-performance audio combined with low power consumption and designed for Snapdragon Sound.
Qualcomm S5 Gen 3, on the other hand, takes advantage of a new standard architecture based on the Qualcomm S7 audio platform, launched last October during the Snapdragon Summit, which will allow developers to build products with greater ease. The platform supports Snapdragon Sound with aptX Lossless to deliver 24-bit 48kHz high-bitrate audiophile music streaming and offers enhanced DAC performance for high audio quality
The Qualcomm S5 Gen 3 also offers 3 times more computing power than its predecessor, more memory, and thanks to the dedicated Qualcomm Micro NPU, it also provides approximately 50 times more AI power enabling responsive and smooth audio experiences thanks to AI-enhanced ANC and voice processing, while maintaining performance with extremely low power consumption. The dedicated AI Core provides higher performance and less power for ML applications than using DSP.
Fourth-generation ANC automatically and dynamically adapts to provide better performance based on several variables, including variations in fit (whether the earbud moves in your ear or if noise suddenly changes in the environment). Adaptive transparency mode, on the other hand, helps to let sounds in from the outside world when needed. ANC will automatically and seamlessly switch between these modes as needed.
Qualcomm S5 Gen 3 supports Bluetooth 5.4, HiFi-grade stereo audio codec, high-performance audio combined with low power consumption, designed for Snapdragon Sound, 480Mbps high-speed USB PHY, non-invasive low-level debugging through the use of USB-EUD, improved sharing of memory and peripheral data between subsystems for lower latency and higher throughput, and DMIC digital audio interfaces, I2S, TDM, Soundwire.
The S3 Gen 3 and S5 Gen 3 audio platforms will soon be available to manufacturers. The first earphones equipped with these chips are expected to hit the market as early as the next few months.