Qualcomm's new audio chips make affordable earphones sound better

Qualcomm S3 Gen 3 and S5 audio chips bring Bluetooth 5.4 LE and Auracast support

Qualcomm's S3 Gen 3 and S5 Gen 3 chips bring audiophile-grade audio quality, high-quality audio codecs, more effective Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), improved call quality, and longer battery life to wireless earbuds and headphones. These audio chips sit below Qualcomm's flagship audio chips: S7 and S7 Pro.

Qualcomm S3 Gen 3

The S3 Gen 3 is an audio chip for mid-tier earbuds, mid-tier headphones, and wireless speakers. It has all the essential features, including support for ANC, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless (24-bit 48kHz), Bluetooth 5.4 with LE Audio, Bluetooth Auracast, and Spatial Audio. It also features an improved Digital-To-Analog (DAC) converter for improved audio quality and lower noise (hissing sound at low volumes).

It supports Alexa and Google Assistant with wake word activation. It also supports Google Fast Pair for faster pairing. Thanks to the support of up to three microphones on each earbud (left and right), voice calls should be clearer.

Qualcomm S5 Gen 3

The S5 Gen 3 has more features than the S3 Gen 3. It is for premium earbuds/headphones (one step below flagship) and wireless speakers. Qualcomm says this new chip has 50% more memory and significantly more DSP processing power than the S5 Gen 2, bringing improved audio quality while gaming and listening to music. It also features improved ANC and echo cancellation.

This chip supports Bluetooth 5.4 with LE Audio, Bluetooth Auracast, and Spatial Audio. It features aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless (24-bit 48kHz) audio codecs for higher audio quality. Adaptive ANC and Adaptive Transparency features are also supported.

Watch our review of the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro in the video below.

The S3 Gen 3 and S5 Gen 3 audio chips will soon be available to earphone makers, and we can expect earbuds featuring these chips to hit the market later this year or early next year. Samsung uses Qualcomm's chips in some of its wireless earbuds, but there is no confirmation if it will use the S3 Gen 3 or S5 Gen 3 in its future Galaxy Buds.