![]() ![]() In all, some 30 vendors are on board to make products, but to date, these things aren't exactly available at Best Buy. I can't even find a complete published list of supported earbuds and headphones, though I know Master & Dynamic make a pair (which I used at Qualcomm's event), and Qualcomm advertises the Xiaomi FlipBuds Pro as compatible on its site. But then you also have to pair that phone with a set of compatible buds - Snapdragon Sound is an end-to-end solution that requires the right goods on both ends. The Honor 50 Pro, Honor 50, and Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra are also all Snapdragon Sound certified, according to Qualcomm. The only phone that I even know of as advertising the badge in the US is Qualcomm's Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders, an overpriced ,500 ASUS-made device that no one should probably buy. Snapdragon Sound certified hardware is limited. The bummer, of course, is the fact that it's not really something I can test right now, or even plan to test for. But if Snapdragon Sound can actually make Bluetooth audio reliable (as well as sound better), then it might have just gone from an audiophile-targeting sticker on future earbud boxes to something I actually care about. When I'm feeling cynical, I still see the market's transition as a boondoggle to simply squeeze more cash from us with another firmly required accessory. It's been years since we gave up the headphone jack, and, for me, Bluetooth audio has been an imperfect surrogate, trading reliability and performance for convenience and. But Qualcomm says this new lossless audio will actually make a dent in that too. ![]() Coming from the simplicity and love of a good headphone jack, Bluetooth is still unreliable at times. It isn't Bluetooth's audio quality that leaves me dissatisfied most of the time, it's the stutters and disconnections that come with using a pair of buds on a train or on an RF-congested city corner. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to hear that we'll have better audio quality on the go - though I doubt I'll care or hear the difference past CD quality - but it's that signal improvement that I find the most interesting. Qualcomm claims that Snapdragon Sound certified devices (paired with corresponding audio hardware) should be able to spit/receive a slightly better signal resulting in a roughly 20% increase in bandwidth at peak, and outside the noted audio quality improvements, that also means a slightly improved signal overall. That added bandwidth to handle all those extra bits for lossless audio comes courtesy of an overall signal improvement. aptX Lossless is the feature Qualcomm is highlighting most in the announcement, but the foundation that this new technology is based on actually has another effect. From the mids down, the earbuds are barely distinguishable sounding from each other. Even so, isolation on the Sony WF-1000XM4 will go a long way in dampening high-pitched sounds. Ultimately, all this means is better Bluetooth audio quality - potentially better than the buds you're going to use it with can actually deliver. Particularly, the MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 really quiets sub-bass noise and noises around 900Hz compared to the WF-1000XM4. ![]()
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