Qualcomm allegedly working on new Snapdragon chip to supercharge Wear OS

What you need to know

• A report claims that Qualcomm is in the "early testing" stage of a new Wear OS chip, codenamed "Aspen."
• This chip is reportedly "all-new" and could feature a 1+4 core setup based on a TSCMC node, and with a RAM controller upgrade to the benefit of its battery life.
• An interview between Android Central and Qualcomm spoke about its future Wear OS chip, and it seems the company wants to lean into RISC-V or Oryon cores, but more work is needed.

Ending the week are rumors about a future Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm that's looking to considerably boost Wear OS devices.

This report comes from Android Authority, who claim they've observed "credible evidence" about an all-new Wear OS-bound chip from Qualcomm. According to the post, the chip has received the codename "Aspen," it's known as "SW6100" internally for Qualcomm, and it's "testing phase." At the moment, the publication claims the chip is preparing a noticeable CPU upgrade, courtesy of a 1+4 core setup.

This core setup reportedly features one Arm Cortex-A78 alongside four Arm Cortex-A55 cores. Despite these cores being roughly a year old, speculation suggests this CPU upgrade could benefit the chip's "efficiency and performance."

Other alleged specs include the use of a TSMC node and a RAM controller upgrade. The chip will reportedly support LPDDR5X for a slight "battery life boost." There have also been whispers about a new coprocessor; however, the publication states concrete information about that hardware is still in the dark.

Rumors add that this Qualcomm chip for future Wear OS devices could debut sometime in 2026.

Take a step back into 2024

Here's where things get interesting. Android Central's Michael Hicks sat down with Qualcomm's VP & GM of Wearables, Dino Bekis, about the future of the company's Wear OS chips after previous disappointments. While Bekis stated the "next" chip would be more "feature-focused" for Wear OS devices, with AI and PC-like additions, it might need a little more time in the oven. Bekis mentions that Qualcomm was still working with Google to figure out its RISC-V cores.

Moreover, the company has thought about using its Oryon cores in this wearable chip (the same ones that power its flagship phone SoC), but there's no telling if this recently rumored chip is that chip.

These were all things talked about in 2024, and it seems we're still floating around the same bits of information. As Android Authority also speculates, this chip could be called the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 or, perhaps, something else, when it debuts.

The last chips to come from Qualcomm for wearables were the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 and W5 Plus Gen 1. While they generally fixed some of the issues plaguing the Wear OS market, the chips provided a ~50% battery life boost based on a 4nm process. Considering the recent rumors, perhaps we'll see this improve to a 3nm process for the next iteration.

• Smartwatch deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Amazon | Samsung | Dell