Qualcomm debuts Snapdragon W5+ and W5 platforms for wearables

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has unveiled the latest additions to the company’s suite of premium wearable platforms, Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 and Snapdragon W5 Gen 1. These platforms are designed to advance ultra-low power and breakthrough performance for connected wearables with a focus on extended battery life, premium user experiences, and sleek, innovative designs. By using these platforms, manufacturers can scale, differentiate, and develop products faster in the continuously growing and segmenting wearables industry.

New enhancements to the flagship Snapdragon W5+ platform offer 50% lower power, 2X higher performance, 2X richer features, and 30% smaller size, compared to our previous generation, enabling wearable manufacturers to deliver the differentiated experiences consumers demand. Based on the hybrid architecture, the purpose-built platform is comprised of a 4nm-based system-on-chip and 22nm-based highly integrated always-on co-processor. It incorporates a series of platform innovations including new ultra-low power Bluetooth 5.3 architecture, low power islands for Wi-Fi, GNSS, and Audio, and low power states such as Deep Sleep and Hibernate.

“The wearables industry continues to grow and present opportunities across multiple segments at an unprecedented pace,” says Pankaj Kedia, senior director, product marketing, and global head of smart wearables, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The new wearable platforms Snapdragon W5+ and Snapdragon W5 represent our most advanced leap yet. Purpose-built for wearables, these platforms address the most pressing consumer needs by delivering ultra-low power, breakthrough performance, and highly integrated packaging. Additionally, we extend our proven hybrid architecture with new low power innovations such as Deep Sleep and Hibernate states delighting consumers with premium user experiences while extending battery life.”

Google and Qualcomm Technologies have a longstanding history of helping our partners deliver great user experiences. We applaud the technological breakthroughs that Qualcomm Technologies is bringing to the wearables industry with the launch of its Snapdragon W5+ platform,” says Bjorn Kilburn, GM and senior director of wear OS at Google. “With the Snapdragon W5+ platform, we’re excited for what’s possible in bringing new levels of performance, capability and battery life to Wear OS smartwatches.”

“We are thrilled to be working with a range of customers and partners, thus expanding our thriving wearable ecosystem, and are delighted to announce 25 designs in the pipeline across segments based on the new platforms. We have collaborated extensively with our customers, Oppo and Mobvoi, over the last year and look forward to seeing their products,” says Kedia.

“The announcement of the latest Snapdragon W5 wearable platform will bring smart wearable technology to a new level,” says Franco Li, OPPO associate vice president, president of IoT business. “OPPO and Qualcomm Technologies have closely collaborated for a long time, creating new possibilities of product innovation together. The Oppo Watch 3 series will be launched in August. As the smartwatch powered by Snapdragon W5 wearable platform, it will delight our users with better performance.”

“Mobvoi has collaborated with Qualcomm Technologies over the last few years to launch a series of TicWatch smartwatches based on the Snapdragon Wear platforms,” says Zhifei Li, CEO, Mobvoi. “Our team is excited about the differentiated features in the new Snapdragon W5+ Wearable Platform and has been working closely with the Qualcomm Technologies’ team to bring these innovations to life in our TicWatch flagship smartwatch. We are eager to launch our latest offering this Fall and are thrilled to be the first smartwatches based on the Snapdragon W5+ Gen1 Wearable Platform.”

Qualcomm Technologies also announced two reference designs from Compal and Pegatron, which showcase the capabilities of the platform and our collaboration with ecosystem partners, helping customers develop products faster.

For more information about the new wearable platforms, please visit here.

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