Here’s how Samsung’s next watch, with Qualcomm’s help, aims to lure you away from the Apple Watch.

Qualcomm has unveiled a new high-end smartwatch chip, and Samsung has already confirmed it will power the next generation of Galaxy watches - a move that could sharpen competition with Apple’s market-leading Apple Watch.

Presented at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Snapdragon Wear Elite is built on a 3 nm manufacturing process. Qualcomm says the new system-on-chip (SoC) is designed to deliver major gains in speed, graphics and battery life for wearables.

Snapdragon Wear Elite promises big jumps in speed and graphics

Qualcomm, which supplies processors for many smartphones and wearables, is positioning Snapdragon Wear Elite as its flagship platform for smartwatches.

According to the company, the chip can deliver: - Up to five times higher CPU performance than current solutions - Up to seven times higher GPU performance

The firm claims these improvements should translate into a noticeably smoother experience on smartwatches using the new platform.

On-device AI arrives via Hexagon NPU, with offline processing

Artificial intelligence is also a key part of the new chipset. Qualcomm has added a Hexagon NPU intended for AI workloads, and says it can run models with up to one billion parameters locally.

That approach enables certain AI features to work without an internet connection and reduces the need to send data to remote servers - a point likely to appeal to users concerned about privacy and responsiveness.

Battery life claims: several days and faster charging

Qualcomm is also pitching stronger endurance. The company says Snapdragon Wear Elite can deliver: - Several days of battery life - A 30% increase in daily usage time - Fast charging that reaches up to 50% in 10 minutes

Samsung confirms the chip for its next Galaxy Watch line-up

Samsung has publicly committed to using the new Qualcomm platform in its upcoming smartwatches. InKang Song, Executive Vice President and Head of the Technology Strategy Team at Samsung, said: “This marks an important milestone in our ongoing efforts to deliver more efficient and personalised experiences, directly from your wrist.”

Qualcomm adds that the chip is not limited to watches and could also be used in other connected devices, including smart pins and connected pendants.

Qualcomm also teases Wi‑Fi 8 era with new mobile connectivity hardware

Alongside the wearable chip, Qualcomm used Mobile World Congress to showcase products designed to prepare for the transition towards Wi‑Fi 8.

Among the announcements was the FastConnect 8800 Mobile, a component aimed at mobile devices. Qualcomm says it can achieve speeds above 10 Gbit/s, and claims it offers “up to twice the performance of our previous Wi‑Fi 7 generation and up to three times the gigabit wireless range.”