Samsung is considering Galaxy Buds that use UWB as an alternative of Bluetooth

The overwhelming majority of wi-fi earphones use Bluetooth for audio transmission, however we’ve additionally seen some merchandise with 2.4GHz wi-fi connections through the years. Now, Samsung is investigating Extremely Large-Band (UWB) for wi-fi earphones.

91mobiles noticed a Samsung patent for wirelessly transmitting audio between a tool and wi-fi earphones through UWB. The patent, which was revealed yesterday (January 30) through the US Patent and Commerce Workplace, reveals that Bluetooth remains to be used to initially set up a connection between the host machine and the primary earphone. Nonetheless, the primary earphone then switches to a UWB connection, adopted by the second earphone. Audio transmission then takes place through UWB too. Take a look at the diagram under.

So why would you need earphones that work through UWB as an alternative of Bluetooth? Samsung’s patent notes that UWB audio transmission may supply decreased interference and latency in comparison with Bluetooth. The Korean model additionally claims that utilizing UWB will allow high-speed information transmission (mentioning 20Mbps speeds) and cut back energy consumption. Actually, Samsung says these increased speeds allow the supply of lossless audio.

These would all be spectacular advantages over commonplace Bluetooth, however it nearly goes with out saying that the host machine (be it a smartphone, pill, PC, or smartwatch) requires UWB {hardware} as nicely. This wi-fi commonplace has largely been restricted to smartphones, tracker tags, AirPods, and a few smartwatches. Nonetheless, these merchandise have sometimes used UWB for machine monitoring, entry management (e.g., automotive keys), and good dwelling management. So, wi-fi audio transmission can be a brand new frontier. Adoption may be a problem, nonetheless, as UWB is often present in premium telephones, however even the $800 Pixel 9 and Galaxy S25 lack the characteristic.

We do must warning that that is only a patent, although. Firms file them on a regular basis, however many of those outlined applied sciences don’t change into a industrial actuality. So there’s no assure that Samsung will supply Galaxy Buds or another audio merchandise with UWB transmission sooner or later.

Samsung isn’t the one firm engaged on Bluetooth options. Qualcomm introduced its XPAN know-how over a 12 months in the past which permits for audio transmission through Wi-Fi for improved vary, high quality, and latency. The excellent news is the corporate informed us the first XPAN-enabled earphones are coming “very, very quickly.”