What you need to know
- Qualcomm now powers Samsung's entire AI ecosystem, expanding beyond foldables into Galaxy smartwatches and upcoming AI smart glasses.
- The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy promises faster on-device AI, stronger gaming performance, smarter cameras, and better power efficiency to Samsung's latest foldables.
- Samsung's first Snapdragon-powered smartwatches debut with the Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2, using Snapdragon Wear Elite for more personalized health tracking and AI experiences.
Samsung’s new Galaxy launch was more than just foldables. Qualcomm also used the occasion to show just how much deeper its partnership with Samsung has become, with Snapdragon chips now powering the company's newest phones, smartwatches, and its upcoming AI-powered smart glasses.
The biggest upgrade is for Samsung’s flagship foldables. Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy powers the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and, in select markets, the Galaxy Z Flip 8. Qualcomm says the custom chip blends its Oryon CPU, next-gen NPU, and upgraded GPU for faster on-device AI, better gaming performance, smarter camera features, and improved power efficiency.
And the collaboration isn’t limited to smartphones. Samsung’s wearables lineup is also seeing a significant shakeup, with the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 set to be the company’s first smartwatches to run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite platform.
Qualcomm says the platform was built around “Personal AI” that employs advanced sensor fusion to better understand user activity throughout the day, providing more proactive health insights while maintaining strong connectivity and performance.
Perhaps the most interesting expansion is outside of phones and watches. Qualcomm, Samsung, and Google are expanding their Android XR partnership to include intelligent eyewear with the Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 platform. Samsung already unveiled new smart glasses designs with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, with larger collections slated for market later this fall.
Qualcomm says the platform is meant to enable more contextual AI experiences in lightweight glasses as opposed to bulky headsets.
Android Central's Take
If Snapdragon can actually deliver seamless AI across your phone, watch, and future smart glasses, you’ll be greeted with experiences that feel genuinely connected, rather than a bunch of isolated features. That said, we’ve heard enough of these “AI ecosystem” promises before, and not all of them have lived up to the hype. The real test will be Samsung’s ability to make those features useful enough that people actually notice them outside of launch-day demos.
