- Qualcomm introduces Snapdragon Wear Elite wearable platform
- It will likely be within smartwatches and new AI form factors.
- The first devices are expected at the end of this year.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips already power many wearable devices, from the W5 Gen 2 inside the Pixel Watch 4 to the AR1 Gen 2 chip in the ever-popular Ray-Ban Meta glasses. However, at MWC 2026 (Mobile World Congress), Qualcomm is looking further ahead, both in the near term and in the years to come.
That future centers on AI running directly on your devices. Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Wear Elite platform is designed to deliver advanced on-device intelligence within devices with limited space and battery, allowing functions to run smoothly without over-reliance on the cloud. Samsung, Motorola and Google are already backing the platform and the first devices are expected to arrive in the “coming months.”
To underline the shift, Qualcomm is bringing its ‘Elite’ brand, previously reserved for premium smartphone chips, including those powering the Samsung Galaxy S26 line, to wearable devices for the first time. The platform is aimed at a wide range of devices, from smart watches and smart glasses to emerging categories such as pins, pendants and other next-generation AI-enabled form factors.
Wear Elite has been in development for more than three years and is based on four main priorities: on-device AI, battery life, connectivity and performance. A redesigned architecture includes a dedicated NPU capable of running large language models directly on the device, enabling always-on features without a constant Internet connection. That could power everything from next-generation smartwatches (potentially the Pixel Watch 5) to wearable devices that automatically transcribe meetings.
When connectivity is needed, Wear Elite supports a wide range of standards, including Wi-Fi Low Energy, Bluetooth, GPS L1+L5, Ultra Wideband, 5G, and GNSS. These options allow devices to sync data or communicate with other hardware while minimizing battery consumption.
Efficiency is key for compact wearable devices and Qualcomm says the platform offers significant power improvements along with charging speeds up to two times faster than the previous generation.
Wear Elite is designed to enable always-on, context-sensitive features on devices such as smartwatches, smartglasses, pins and pendants by processing inputs such as voice, location, motion and even camera data. The goal is to support more personal AI assistants who understand what you’re doing and where you are throughout the day, offering timely help without constant input.
Naturally, the big question is when these devices will arrive and what they will actually offer. Bjørn Kilburn, general manager of Wear OS at Google, said the platform opens the door to smarter experiences on future Wear OS devices, emphasizing gains in performance, battery life and connectivity.
Samsung confirmed that its next-generation Galaxy Watch, likely the Galaxy Watch 9 expected this summer along with the new Fold and Flip models, will use the Snapdragon Wear Elite chip.
Meanwhile, Motorola highlighted its interest in more personalized AI wearables, including the “Maxwell” pendant concept shown at CES 2026, saying the platform allows the company to push those ideas even further.
While Samsung and Google see Wear Elite as the future of smartwatches, it’s clear that Qualcomm is aiming far beyond the wrist. Motorola is exploring AI pendant devices, and new hardware from companies like OpenAI (reportedly involving Sam Altman and Jony Ive) could introduce entirely new categories.
Whether Wear Elite will become the silicon that powers those devices remains to be seen, but Qualcomm is clearly betting that the next wave of personal computing will be AI-powered, wearable, and far more diverse than today’s watches and glasses.
It’s also worth noting that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite will coexist with the Snapdragon W5, AR1, AR2, and S chips, likely being the one companies use for watches, these new form factors, and even glasses.
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