So , you ’re find out out a pair of earpiece online or at your local Best Buy and its got thisswooshy red - and - white logoin the description that enounce “ Snapdragon Sound , ” and you wonder , “ huh , what is that ? ” Then you see your fresh Android smartphone has the same logo . The patch inspissate . What does it all mean ?

In a world where the advance features of ourwireless earpiece orearbudsrely on matching capacity within our smartphones ( which the phones may or may not have ) , Qualcomm ’s Snapdragon Sound is an attempt to bring lodge to the bedlam . It ’s a hope that things will just work as long as all of your Cartesian product hold the same Snapdragon Sound logotype . Or at least that ’s the idea .

But what exactly is Snapdragon Sound , and does it really eliminate compatibility care ? Let ’s dive into everything you need to know .

Codec confusion

Before we get into what Snapdragon Sound is , let ’s cursorily recap what led to the foundation of this brand . It begin with Bluetooth audio codecs — the algorithms responsible for transporting audio wirelessly .

Bluetooth audio codecsare at once a bright applied science , and a royal nuisance in the butt . Without audio codecs , we would n’t be capable to use Bluetooth to heed to anything — uncompressed music is just too big to agree inside the limited bandwidth of a Bluetooth connector .

As long as your phone ( or electronic computer or tablet ) and your headphone ( or earbuds or speaker ) are both equipped with the same codec , they ’ll puzzle out just o.k. together . If it ’s not in both places , it ’s like a spoken communication that only one gadget know how to speak .

Decades ago , at the morning of Bluetooth audio , this was n’t an issue . There was just one audio codec — phone SBC — and every Bluetooth audio machine supported it . They were ( and still are)requiredto support it if they desire to take part in the Bluetooth audio ecosystem .

However , SBC is a stark - bones codec . It was born long before smartphones could streamlossless , hi - res sound from anywhere in the earthly concern , in a time when extremely compressed MP3s ruled the portable audio landscape . If you use SBC to listen to lossless orhi - reticuloendothelial system audio recording , a significant amount of particular will be recede .

Over the years , various entity like Sony , Qualcomm , Samsung , and Fraunhofer IIS have steadily premise Modern audio codecs , each of which call improvements over SBC . As of 2024 , there are more than 14 of them , and several are designed to preserve far more of the high - quality audio we now have entree to .

With that expansion of the Bluetooth codec universe came compatibility problem . Since Bluetooth audio devices are n’t take to support these proficient - than - SBC codecs , it has fall to buyers to check that both of their chosen devices support the same ones .

All about aptX

This issue became particularly problematical for companies that chose to use Qualcomm ’s menage of aptX codecs . There are now five “ flavors ” of aptX : Classic aptX came first , follow by aptX HD , then aptX Low Latency ( aptX LL ) and aptX Adaptive . Most recently , Qualcomm add together aptX Lossless .

We wo n’t get into the differences between these aptX feel here , but if you ’re singular , hold out ourin - depth Qualcomm aptX explainer — it has all of the answers .

raw aptX - subject earpiece and earbuds ordinarily support aptX Adaptive , which is backwards - compatible with authoritative aptX and aptX HD . However , even though all Android phones running Android 8.0 or high support aptX and aptX HD , aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless are only usable on select Android phones that habituate Qualcomm ’s processor . Some aptX adaptative products are throttle to 48kHz taste rates , while others can support up to 96kHz .

Meanwhile , aptX Low Latency is unsuited with the antenna social organization on phones , so the only way to take vantage of it is via a USB dongle or other third - company equipment . And aptX HD ? You ’ll find it on Bluetooth headphones , but only a flyspeck number of true wireless earbuds furnish it , due to reliability issues .

To make matters even more perplexing , Apple has never support Qualcomm ’s aptX family on its iPhones .

The bad part about this codec chaos is that , as a base buyer of these gadget , you may not even realise it when hardware inconsistency has robbed you of the benefits of these new codecs . Since SBC is always present , you ’ll still get audio on your chosen earpiece . Just not at the grade of audio quality youthoughtyou were going to get .

Snapdragon Sound — one brand to rule them all?

Qualcomm eventually realize it could n’t bank on manufacturers and vendee to see that aptX - equip products were being purchased and used in way that would guarantee compatibility , and thus deliver on the elevated anticipation set by the promise of adept codecs .

It decide that a undivided , tricky brand was the solvent and make the Snapdragon Sound program . The name strongly paint a picture that this is yet another codec or technology ( kind of like the “ Intel Inside ” selling campaign from the 1990s ) , but it ’s not .

Instead , it ’s mean to mean when two products will forge together reliably and with a certain circle of guarantee features . If you see “ Snapdragon Sound ” on a band of earbuds and on a smartphone , you could breathe a sigh of relief , knowing that they will “ just work . ”

Or at least that ’s how it begin .

In 2021 , when Snapdragon Sound was officially launched , it was with a guarantee of five key features , which had all been tested and certified to work by Qualcomm :

These five feature film meant that your Snapdragon Sound combo would deliver the best possible audio recording and call character , with low response time — similar to that of aptX LL — when needed .

The construct , while foreign to buyers who were by now getting used to the mind of scanning eyeglasses to find the codecs they wanted , was a honorable one .

The many flavors of Snapdragon Sound

Then things start to change . In early 2022 , Qualcomm introducedaptX Lossless , a codec that can deliver scrap - complete certificate of deposit - quality audio at 16 - bit/44.1 kilocycle per second — a first for the Bluetooth audio recording populace . AptX Lossless was ( and still is ) an exclusive feature film of Snapdragon Sound , but it ’s anoptionalfeature .

In other words , some Snapdragon Sound phones and wireless audio merchandise stick out aptX Lossless and some do n’t . Qualcomm elect to keep the Snapdragon Sound brand unchanged . It did n’t tot a interlingual rendition number or a ticket to suggest the mien of aptX Lossless , e.g. “ Snapdragon Sound Plus ” or “ Snapdragon Sound 2.0 , ” which meant that for aptX Lossless , manufacturers and buyers were right back to ascertain product specs .

Near the end of 2022 , the company announced it wasexpanding Snapdragon Sound further , with the gain of head word - tracked spatial audio frequency , an enhanced translation of aptX Lossless that goes up to 48kHz , and ameliorate latency with backchannel voice for in - game experiences .

Once again , it choose to make these optional for Snapdragon Sound participants .

Then , at some spot during 2024 — Qualcomm wo n’t say just when — it quietly change the original five Snapdragon Sound features ( the ones that were supposed to be the minimum on any Snapdragon Sound - branded ware ) .

As of the fall of 2024 , Snapdragon Sound products must patronage :

Either

Or

Plus :

The following feature are optional add - ons :

And despite this significant restructuring of mandatory versus optional feature of speech , the Snapdragon Sound name and logotype have remained the same since they debuted . Qualcomm expects each maker to specify the features their product support .

When , in 2022 , it seem like Qualcomm would simply boom the turn of features under the Snapdragon Sound trade name , there was something of a silver facing . Your new aptX Lossless Snapdragon Sound phone might not give you aptX Lossless if you used them with an older Snapdragon Sound phone , but they would still be rearward compatible with the five late Snapdragon Sound features .

alas , in shifting the required features , Qualcomm has degraded that promise of backward compatibility . Take the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 wireless earbuds as an good example . They turn out the Snapdragon Sound brand and they have aptX , aptX Adaptive , and aptX Lossless , however they do n’t stomach aptX Voice .

Fragmentation frustration

Today ’s Snapdragon Sound landscape painting looks a lot like the pre - Snapdragon Sound era . If you want to fuck which feature a Snapdragon Sound product offer , you ’ll need to pay tight attention to the specification .

Qualcomm’saptX websiteremains the only imagination that we ’re aware of that lists all available Snapdragon Sound products . Its database can be filtered by ware type ( wireless earbuds , headphones , smartphones , tablets , speakers , and transmitters / receivers ) and by aptX feeling ( including Snapdragon Sound ) .

The only problem is that it has n’t maintain pace with the switch Snapdragon Sound feature prepare . you could see Snapdragon Sound products and those that to boot offer aptX Lossless , but there ’s no way to filter by Qualcomm ’s newer optional features like spatial audio . Perhaps more significantly , there ’s no way to sink in for previously compulsory features like aptX Voice .

For a North American audience , the Snapdragon Sound landscape is tricky .

There are now several decent options in both wireless earbuds and wireless headphones , from brand like Sennheiser , Bose , Shure , Denon , and Earfun . Many are priced above $ 300 , but some be less than $ 100 .

Smartphones are a different story . As we indicated earlier , there are no Snapdragon Sound iPhones . Google ’s Pixel speech sound are n’t Snapdragon Sound compatible and neither are Samsung ’s . The only companies we can witness with Snapdragon Sound models areMotorola , Nothing , andSony .

Elsewhere in the world , the selection is better : Xiaomi , Asus , Sony , ZTE , Vivo , Nubia , Sharp , and BlackShark .

Is it gentle to buy wireless audio production now that we have Qualcomm ’s Snapdragon Sound syllabus ? Perhaps . It ’s certainly easier to identify the products that will deliversomeof Qualcomm ’s aptX benefits , like hi - res or lossless audio .

But as a dependable it - just - workplace marque that alleviates us from the motive of scour specifications ? Sadly , it ’s still very much vendee beware .