Abstract created by Good Solutions AI
In abstract:
- Tech Advisor reviews that Samsung will abandon its personal silicon for the subsequent Galaxy Watch, adopting Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Put on Elite chip as a substitute.
- This change guarantees important enhancements with 5x higher efficiency, 7x sooner GPU, and superior on-device AI capabilities by way of the chip’s Hexagon NPU.
- The 3nm Snapdragon Put on Elite chip will allow Samsung’s smartwatch to perform as a extra refined wellness companion with enhanced AI options.
The subsequent Samsung Galaxy Watch will ditch the corporate’s personal silicon and change to Qualcomm’s new off-the-shelf Snapdragon Put on Elite chip.
Qualcomm simply introduced its new Snapdragon Put on Elite chip at MWC 2026 in Barcelona, promising a major improve in efficiency for smartwatches and different wearables.
Maybe essentially the most attention-grabbing visitor speaker at Qualcomm’s occasion, nevertheless, was Samsung government InKang Track. Taking to the stage, the Government Vice President and Head of the Know-how Technique Workforce at MX Enterprise (my, that’s an extended title) introduced that Samsung’s subsequent technology of wearable would run on the American firm’s new chip.
Nevertheless, it’s unclear whether or not this would be the Galaxy Watch 9 sequence, Galaxy Watch Extremely 2, or each, which wouldn’t be shocking. It may be a brand new line of smartwatches, however that appears unlikely this far down the road.
The chief claimed that this extra energy would allow the next-gen wearable to be an “much more holistic wellness companion”.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Put on Elite joins the Exynos W1000 of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 in utilizing the extra environment friendly 3nm manufacturing course of. It too boasts a single efficiency core and 4 effectivity cores, producing a 5x improve in efficiency and a 7x sooner GPU in comparison with the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2.
Arguably a fair greater advance right here, nevertheless, seems to be the Snapdragon Put on Elite’s Hexagon NPU, which can allow the usage of on-device AI fashions for “actual‑time agentic experiences”. Suppose context‑conscious suggestions, pure voice interactions, life logging and the like.
On condition that Samsung has been so keen on specializing in AI advances over new {hardware} improvements lately – the Galaxy S26 Extremely’s Privateness Display screen however – this change to a extra AI-ready wearable chip looks as if a pure transfer.
Qualcomm expects that the primary wearables powered by its Snapdragon Put on Elite will hit the market “within the subsequent few months”. On condition that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 sequence hit the market in July of final yr, it’s attainable that the Galaxy Watch 9 and Extremely 2 can be amongst this primary batch.
The Watch 8 sequence and Extremely (2025 mannequin) have been launched in July 2025.