Sound quality has never been more important to consumers. From streaming their favorite music and catching up on the latest podcasts, to connecting with friends and family; high-quality, robust, and immersive sound is integral to delivering an exceptional listening experience.

Research from our annual State of Sound 2022 Report continues to show that consumers are seeking high-resolution audio or higher in their next wireless earbud/headset. With 58 percent of respondents indicating this as a key purchase driver, it’s clear that both awareness and demand for premium music quality is on the rise.

However, it’s not just about music listening. Consumers are using their devices to satisfy a wide range of media experiences which, in turn, is creating a high demand for feature rich wireless earbuds, headsets, and speakers. This year our research showed that consumers are becoming increasingly interested in spatial audio, with 41 percent of respondents willing to spend more on devices with spatial audio capabilities. Alongside spatial audio, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) is another feature consistently in high demand — with 68 percent of respondents saying devices that offer ANC will influence their choice of earbuds or stereo headset.

Sound for gaming has also become increasingly important for mobile gamers year-on-year, with lower latency and immersive audio elevating the overall gaming experience, as well as giving players a competitive edge. In fact, 79 percent of mobile gamers listed lower audio lag as a likely purchase driver for their next wireless audio device.

Our annual report also shows consumer anticipation for what’s next in terms of sound innovation — with Bluetooth LE Audio set to change the way we share and listen to audio. From Auracast™ broadcast audio and hearing assistance, to new use cases that have not yet been imagined, LE Audio is enabling new capabilities across the ecosystem, rekindling advancements in wireless audio, and setting the stage for the next 20 years of innovation.

Announcing the all-new Qualcomm S5 Gen 2 and Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 Sound Platforms

To ensure our customers can continue to deliver the user experiences listeners want most, we have unveiled our most advanced Bluetooth audio platforms ever — the Qualcomm S5 Gen 2 Sound Platform and Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 Sound Platform, with support for Snapdragon Sound technology. With our second-generation sound platforms, we are broadening the Snapdragon Sound portfolio with the addition of SoCs optimized for speakers, high-tier and mid-tier earbuds, and lossless audio support for stereo headsets. These new platforms bring improvements and new capabilities to Snapdragon Sound, including:

• Support for lossless music streaming with robust connectivity over both classic and Bluetooth audio, even in busy RF environments.
  
• Lower-latency for lag-free gaming, with voice back-channel for in-game chat. 
• Spatial audio with dynamic head-tracking, with low sound to motion latency for a more natural and immersive experience. 

Delivering new user experiences with Bluetooth LE Audio

This year’s State of Sound Report points to a huge market and consumer anticipation for LE Audio, as indicated by 75 percent of respondents who said they were aware of LE Audio, and over a third who said they were interested in the use cases it can enable. The Qualcomm S5 Gen 2 and Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 Sound Platforms are qualified for a range of LE Audio-enabled use cases for earbuds and stereo headphones, including audio sharing, Auracast™ broadcast audio, gaming mode, and stereo recording with Bluetooth 5.3 functionality. These dual-mode platforms integrate the best of LE Audio and the best of classic Bluetooth to enable smooth feature adoption for real-world listening scenarios.

Integrated, hybrid adaptive noise cancellation

The new platforms also support 3^rd generation Qualcomm Hybrid Adaptive ANC, which improves the listener experience by adapting to both in-ear fit and the user's external environment. The Qualcomm Hybrid Adaptive ANC also includes our Adaptive Transparency mode with automatic speech detection to support smooth transitions between immersive noise cancelling and natural sounding leak-through when a listener needs to hear the world around them. For audio device developers, our enhanced Qualcomm Hybrid Adaptive ANC technology helps solve commonly faced issues such as wind noise, howling, and adverse events. 

The new Qualcomm S5 Gen 2 and Qualcomm S3 Gen 2 Sound Platforms are our most advanced ever, both designed to ensure our customers can continue to deliver richly featured devices that consumers want most — while delivering ultra-low power performance for all-day wear.