Your next Samsung watch will offer much better performance and battery life. This is due to a new chip that also focuses on AI

Smartwatches have stagnated in recent years – they measured steps, displayed notifications, and occasionally measured heart rate. Qualcomm is clearly aware of this and at this year’s MWC in Barcelona, it is introducing a chip that has the ambition to transform wearables into full-fledged AI assistants. The Snapdragon Wear Elite is the first platform for smartwatches equipped with a dedicated neural processing unit, which opens the door to scenarios we previously only knew from phones.

AI directly on the wrist

The main trump card of the new platform is an integrated NPU with up to 12 TOPS of performance, capable of processing AI models with up to 2 billion parameters directly on the device. In practice, this means that the watch will not have to contact the cloud for every query – voice assistant, context recognition, or personalized suggestions will run locally. Qualcomm talks about the concept of “Personal AI,” where the wearable device becomes an active participant in the user’s digital ecosystem.

The company also emphasizes that the NPU works with more than 50 sensors that can provide contextual data – from location and health metrics to the surrounding environment. Theoretically, the watch could thus recognize that the user is running and adapt the displayed information accordingly without the need to set anything up.

Massive leap in performance and efficiency

The Snapdragon Wear Elite is built on a 3nm manufacturing process, which brings the expected benefits of lower power consumption. Qualcomm states up to 30% longer battery life compared to the previous generation W5+ Gen 2. For users, this practically means less frequent charging, or the ability to use more demanding features without worrying about rapid battery drain.

As for raw performance, the numbers are impressive. Single-core CPU performance has increased by 5×, and the Adreno graphics chip is 7× faster. This should positively affect interface fluidity, application launch speed, and the rendering of more complex watch faces. The CPU clocks up to 2.1 GHz, and there is support for LPDDR5 memory with a speed of 6,400 MHz.

Qualcomm also considered charging – the platform supports fast charging, which gets the battery to 50% in approximately 10 minutes.

Six types of connectivity at once

Snapdragon Wear Elite brings what Qualcomm calls “hexa-connectivity” – a combination of six wireless technologies in one chip. Specifically, these are 5G RedCap for power-efficient mobile connectivity, Micro-Power Wi-Fi with minimal consumption, Bluetooth 6.0, UWB for precise localization, GNSS with support for two frequency bands L1/L5, and NB-NTN for satellite communication.

The latter technology enables two-way text messages via satellite even where mobile signal or Wi-Fi is not available. Qualcomm is collaborating with Skylo in this regard. For outdoor enthusiasts, this could be a crucial feature, although its practical implementation will depend on specific watch manufacturers.

Samsung confirms deployment in Galaxy Watch

Among the partners who supported the new platform are Google, Motorola, and Samsung. The South Korean manufacturer specifically promised – the next generation of Galaxy Watch will be built on Snapdragon Wear Elite. InKang Song, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics, stated that the new chip will enable the creation of a “more comprehensive wellness companion” with more efficient and personalized features.

Samsung has so far used its own Exynos chips in its watches, so the transition to Qualcomm’s platform represents a significant change in strategy. Whether this will bring a noticeable improvement over the current Galaxy Watch Ultra or Galaxy Watch 7 will only be shown in practice.

Motorola also mentioned its “Project Maxwell” concept, introduced at CES – an AI assistant in the form of a wearable device that could utilize Snapdragon Wear Elite.

When can we expect the first devices?

Qualcomm expects that the first commercial devices with Snapdragon Wear Elite will arrive in the coming months. The platform supports operating systems Wear OS, Android, and Linux, which gives manufacturers flexibility in choosing the software foundation.

The question remains how quickly the new chip will affect watch prices. The integration of NPU, the 3nm process, and extensive connectivity suggest that it will primarily target the premium segment. Whether AI features will eventually make their way into more affordable models has not yet been specified by Qualcomm.

Do you think an AI assistant directly in a smartwatch makes sense, or is it more of a marketing ploy?

Sources: Qualcomm, Qualcomm Newsroom