Wireless earphones are about to become more efficient than ever thanks to Qualcomm

Qualcomm’s main focus might be smartphones hardware, but that doesn’t mean its innovation isn’t taking place somewhere else and specifically in the accessories area, as new announcement made at CES 2018 promises more efficient wireless earphones and more.

Thanks to the advanced Bluetooth chip being developed by Qualcomm we’re about to be seeing wireless earphones that are both longer lasting and even smaller than before. The QCC5100 Bluetooth processor can deliver audio calls and music wirelessly with an increase of %65 in efficiency, allowing these ear pieces to last longer than just a few hours.

How much extra charge we’re getting? Reports are stating that you can expect three times the battery time of current products of the same size. Size here is a keyword, as thanks to the new Bluetooth chip we will be seeing some companies opting to make smaller earphones with similar battery time to current devices and double the connection speed as well as always-on voice assistant, biometric sensors and noise cancelling.

We are looking at around 12 hours of battery usage for regular sized wireless earphones according to Anthony Murray, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm’s voice and music operations, while the smaller sized earphones are going to last from three to five hours. In comparison to what we have now, Apple AirPods (using W1 Bluetooth chip) and Samsung IconX Earpuds both last up to five hours listening to music only through Bluetooth, so this is impressive.

With advances like these in the wireless audio devices business it looks like normal, classic thin-wired smartphones sets are becoming a thing of the past soon enough. We’re very excited to see what companies can further advance in this field to make it truly a good replacement to the reliable good old fashion way.

Also from CES 2018: New Sony Xperia Ear headset combines your surrounding sounds with the music of your choice