Overview

• Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 and W5+ Gen 2 with NB-NTN support via Skylo for two-way emergency messaging when cellular service is unavailable.
• Satellite features on wearables focus on text and location sharing rather than voice calls to conserve battery life.
• Google’s Pixel Watch 4 launches first on the standard W5 Gen 2, with Google using its own companion coprocessor alongside Wear OS support.
• Core silicon remains on a 4nm process with four Cortex‑A53 cores and no major CPU uplift, while the RF front end shrinks by about 20% to cut power and enable slimmer designs.
• Qualcomm’s Location Machine Learning 3.0 targets up to 50% better GPS accuracy in challenging environments, and other OEM rollouts and satellite service availability details have not yet been specified.