Qualcomm at CES this week unveiled a new Bluetooth SoC that can reportedly reduce power consumption by as much as 65 percent, drastically extending the battery life of wireless devices that use it.

The new Qualcomm Low Power Bluetooth SoC QCC5100 series is designed to help manufacturers develop a new generation of compact, feature-rich, wireless earbuds, hearables and headsets. The quad-core processor features a dedicated application processor sub-system, dual DSP architecture and next-generation ADK software with enhanced development tools.

Qualcomm says the device family is also designed to support multiple use cases concurrently, meaning users can transition smoothly between tasks like listening to music, making calls and using voice assistants.

Key Qualcomm Low Power Bluetooth SoC QCC5100 series features include:

  • Low power design and ultra-small form factor
  • Dual-core 32-bit processor application subsystem
  • Dual-core Qualcomm Kalimba DSP Audio subsystem
  • Support for aptX and aptX HD, Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo, and Enhanced ANC (Feed-Forward, Feed-Backward, Hybrid)
  • Voice Assistant Services, low power wake word detection
  • Bluetooth 5.0 and 2 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy support
  • Embedded ROM + RAM and support for external Flash memory
  • 2-ch 98dBA headset class D (integrated amplifier)
  • 2-ch 99dBA line inputs (single ended)
  • 192kHz 24-bit I2S & SPDIF interfaces
  • Flexible software platform with powerful new IDE support

Qualcomm hasn't yet said which devices will be the first to use the QCC5100 but did note that several design examples are planned to be available in the first half of 2018.

Lead image courtesy Gadget Flow