Qualcomm is introducing a new product in its lineup of mid-range wireless earbud chipsets, the QCC305x series. These SoCs are low-power platforms designed to be used in true wireless earbuds, and they can, of course, enable certain features beyond just playing music.
The QCC305x sits in the mid-range QCC30xx series, which Qualcomm had already expanded earlier this year with the QCC304x. Like its predecessors, the QCC305x series supports noise cancellation, but it brings some new premium features, like voice service support, meaning you can summon and interact with digital assistants like Google Assistant using only your voice. This feature was previously available on the QCC5141, or Apple H1-powered devices.
Another new feature in this chipset is support for the new Bluetooth Low Energy Audio standard, which enables new capabilities like audio sharing, so multiple people can listen to music coming from the same source. Other features like broadcasting your audio to other devices are also enabled by Bluetooth LE Audio, which is debuting on the Snapdragon series with the Snapdragon 888 chipset.
Of course, there are some Qualcomm-exclusive features like support for the company aptX Adaptive codec with audio resolution up to 96KHz for media consumption, and aptX voice and cVc Echo Cancellation to improve clarity in voice calls. Qualcomm didn"t say when we can expect to see earbuds using this new chip, but it"s likely they"ll start to show up around the same time as Snapdragon 888-powered phones.