How Qualcomm Powers Samsung’s AI Phones, Watches and Glasses

Imagine you’re a tourist in a foreign county, walking down a street wearing smart eyewear. 

You glance at a menu outside a restaurant. Your glasses capture the text, your phone translates it instantly and audio within your frame whispers the dish names to you in English. 

This is the sort of experience Samsung’s newest devices, powered by Qualcomm Technologies’ latest Snapdragon platforms, provides.

One chip family to power Samsung’s entire next-gen line up 

Qualcomm Technologies will power the Samsung Galaxy 7 Z Fold8 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy 7 Fold8, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8, Samsung Galaxy Watch9, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and the new Intelligent Eyewear.

The processors behind these devices are the Snapdragon i Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, Snapdragon Wear Elite Platform and Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1. 

Snapdragon enables a “unified AI experience across smartphones, wearables and intelligent eyewear”, according to Qualcomm. As the AI processes information on the device (rather than sending everything to a cloud server), it works instantly, respecting privacy and understanding what the person is doing in real time.

“We’re entering a new age of AI, where intelligence is built into the personal devices people rely on throughout the day,” says Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. 

“With Snapdragon powering the latest Galaxy smartphones, watches and intelligent eyewear, Qualcomm and Samsung are enabling more natural, context-aware AI across the Galaxy ecosystem.”

What Snapdragon’s new chip actually means for consumers

When tech companies unveil a new flagship phone, the spotlight almost always lands on the sleek style or the stunning foldable displays (which the new Samsung Galaxy phones have) But underneath the surface of Samsung’s latest Fold and Flip line up lives the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, powering them all.

The custom-built processor is the most critical factor in how these phones feel in your hands every day.

“The new Galaxy line up is the result of close engineering collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies,” says Won-Joon Choi, President and Chief Operating Officer of MX Business, Samsung Electronics. 

“We optimised Snapdragon platforms together for each Galaxy form factor, securing the performance and efficiency that Galaxy AI experiences are built on. That foundation is what allows users to move across smartphones, watches and eyewear with one consistent, premium Galaxy experience.” 

Central to this new chip is Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU, the core processing part of the device. 

Qualcomm describes it as the “fastest mobile CPU”, meaning load times and choppy performance are effectively a thing of the past. If you’re editing a high-resolution 4K video on the sprawling inner screen of a Z Fold8 while simultaneously video-calling a colleague in a split-screen window, the phone should continue working seamlessly. 

Ultra-fast processors in the past have come with a catch, draining battery life and possibly even heating up your phone.  

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 solves this with power efficiency. The chip is engineered to accomplish large amounts of work using minimal electrical energy. 

How the chip equates to better AI on your phone

The power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will become clear to anyone using AI directly on their device, rather than relying on a cloud server over the internet. 

The localised power leads to instantaneous, real-time AI capabilities across your entire phone, such as through smarter photography with the chip instantly fixing motion blur or optimising lighting before you look at the photo. 

The faster chip means more personalisation too. 

For example, if you receive a text message about dinner plans on the Z Flip8’s outer cover screen, the on-device AI can immediately cross-reference your calendar and suggest a nearby restaurant reservation with a single tap.

Beyond the phone with AI on your wrist and in front of your eyes

While smartphones remain the central hub of our digital lives, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon technology is quietly expanding into the gear you wear every day. 

With the introduction of the Snapdragon Wear Elite chip inside the Samsung Galaxy Watch9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra2, smartwatches change from passive step counters into active health companions.

This upgrade is thanks to sensor fusion, a term used for the chip’s ability to constantly gather and combine data from various sensors like your heart rate, skin temperature, movement, and sleep patterns without draining your battery. Because the processor is always listening and analysing in real time, it understands your daily context.

For example, instead of telling you that you slept poorly last night, your watch can connect the dots, noticing your stress levels were elevated in the evening and your heart rate remained high, and suggest a lighter morning workout or a specific bedtime routine before you even ask. 

Google’s Fitbit Air works on the same principle. While it's screenless, it sends these same intelligent, context-aware suggestions straight to the companion app on your phone. 

The vision for AI isn’t just on watch faces; it’s moving directly into eyewear. 

Through a joint effort between Qualcomm Technologies, Samsung and Google built on the Android XR platform, the Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip is powering a new wave of smart glasses. This technology is being paired with iconic eyewear brands like Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. 

These glasses use AI to act as an extra pair of eyes and ears. 

As you walk down the street, they can display subtle visual prompts, translate foreign signs in your field of view, or let you whisper questions to your AI assistant – all without having to look down at your phone screen once.