The Future of Seamless Audio According to Qualcomm

An exclusive interview with Dino Bekis, Qualcomm's Vice President and General Manager, Wearables & Mixed Signal Solutions Business Unit, where he shares fascinating insights into the company's roadmap and future developments, leveraging the best of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in wireless earbuds and headphones into a seamless, high-quality audio experience. We also learn about Qualcomm's unique vision for its latest generation Snapdragon Sound platforms, and XPAN technology, allowing wireless hi-res audio without bandwidth constraints or compromising battery life.

Precisely a month since I was at the Barcelona Fira attending the mammoth of a trade show that is Integrated Systems Europe, here I was back in Barcelona for an even bigger and busier event, the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) promoted by the GSMA. 109,000 attendees and 2,900 exhibitors. In this first impressions report I discuss Bluetooth, why there was no Auracast, how Qualcomm made a splash with XPAN, and why are mobile operators obsessed with AI and Robots.

A year past since Qualcomm announced its S7 Pro Snapdragon Sound platform with micro-power Wi-Fi, Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi unveiled the new Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro Wi-Fi earbuds at MWC 2025. The brand designed a premium model with a triple coaxial driver system, hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC) up to 55dB, support for AI-powered transcription, and Qualcomm XPAN for direct connectivity to smartphones, enabling 24-bit/96kHz lossless audio with an expanded 4.2Mbps bandwidth.