- Eclipsa Audio is coming to Android open-source software this year
- It’s also coming in TV and soundbar models from “multiple” manufacturers
- But there’s no work on headphones support connected to Android
Recently, Samsung and Google announced a new spatial audio technology called Eclipsa Audio, which is a direct (and free) rival to Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. Support for it is coming in 2025 Samsung soundbars and TVs, as well as to Google Chrome and YouTube during this year.
And now Google has confirmed that Eclipsa Audio is also coming to Android, in an upcoming AOSP (Android Open Source Project) release (via Sammobile). This is really the biggest news for Eclipsa so far, because it is the update that will bring it to the largest number of devices. There’s no certainty on when AOSP updates will make it to individual devices, given the nature of Android and the many different versions that various companies use, but we can probably assume that Samsung will jump on this ASAP, so that’s a lot of phones at the very least.
However, it’s really only half of what we need to hear, because great 3D spatial audio on phones relies on having support from the best earbuds and best headphones. Spatial audio has been such a hit on Apple devices because of head-tracked Dolby Atmos, which makes it feel like you’re sitting in a movie theater. This has been supported on AirPods Pro for years, and is available on all current models of the best AirPods.
Dolby Atmos spatial audio is also supported on several other headphones options too, including the Sonos Ace and fantastic Technics EAH-AZ100. Perhaps most notably in this case, it’s supported on the best Samsung phones, and the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro earbuds.
But there’s been no announcement of support for head-tracked Eclipsa Audio in earbuds or headphones yet, and without that, its support on Android feels kind of hollow – it’s only one half of the process.
Now, there’s a good chance that will change at the Samsung Unpacked event on January 22nd, when Samsung will almost certainly reveal the Samsung Galaxy S25 – and I suspect that it will announce Eclipsa Audio support as part of its features, and probably an update the Buds 3 Pro to accommodate this. (You can follow all the announcements in our Samsung Unpacked 2025 live blog as they happen.)
But still, Samsung’s support alone won’t be enough to build momentum for Eclipsa – it really needs to get the hottest headphones makers for all budgets on board to make it feel like a must-have feature. Everything from 1More to Bose, from Nothing to Sony… some of those are probably more realistic than others.
And even then, Samsung and Google really need to get some other services on board too…
What are you going to watch?
YouTube is not really enough for a spatial audio format to take off, especially since very little of it was recorded with any kind of spatial or surround audio in mind.
Google and Samsung need to get the best streaming services and movie and TV studios on board, especially the likes of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney Plus. But that’s easier said than done – these all already support Dolby Atmos (and my understanding is that they don’t pay to use it, so have little incentive to switch), and redoing shows and films to support Eclipsa would be a whole extra expense and load of time – even though Google says it will make it as easy as possible with new tools.
Will they feel any need to do it? It’s all a bit chicken and egg. Why would streaming services support the format if very few devices support it? Why would device makers go to the effort of adding it if no streaming services offer it?
Samsung and Google can’t force the streaming services to do anything, but they can add it to the Galaxy Buds and the Pixel Buds Pro 2. Google also says that Eclipsa support is coming to “TVs and Soundbars from multiple manufacturers later in 2025”.
However, there’s no information about this yet, and until there’s a real push focused on how we’ll hear Eclipsa on Android and who’ll support it, it’s going to have a slow launch.
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