Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite platform is expected to continue delivering the same performance on battery as it does on wall power, preserving a key advantage of the Windows on Arm platform versus its x86 competitors.
Qualcomm announced both the X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme at its Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui this week. The platform boasts 31 percent more performance than the X1 Elite at the same power. Alternatively, it can deliver the same performance while consuming 43 percent less power. That’s possibly due to new third-generation Oryon cores or a shift to a 3nm manufacturing process.
We still don’t know key details of how the chips perform–both against the older Snapdragon X Elite platform and rival offerings. What we do know is that the X2 Elite is expected to deliver the same performance on battery as it does when plugged into wall power.
“I think you should expect a similar level of performance on battery as well as connected,” Mandar Deshpande, the senior director of product management at Qualcomm said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Today, our focus was, we need to showcase the performance aspects of the silicon, and as we go through… milestones, we’ll share more.”
It’s a key differentiator, and a real advantage for the Snapdragon platform. When I tested Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 (Lunar Lake) processors a year ago, I tested the Core Ultra, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, and AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 laptop chips both on wall power and on battery.
The difference was stark: when run on battery power, the performance of both the AMD Ryzen AI 300 and Intel’s Core Ultra dropped noticeably. (You can review the actual numbers in our Core Ultra Series 2 review, here.) The performance of the Snapdragon X Elite remained virtually unchanged.
It’s a hidden plus for the Snapdragon platform. While battery life was roughly as good as the competition, Qualcomm generally outperformed Intel in CPU benchmarks. (Qualcomm’s GPU performance paled in comparison to Intel, however.)
Still, if you’re used to working on the road, especially on CPU-loaded applications like spreadsheets or office work, this is a good sign that Snapdragon might be worth a look. The X2 might just power a new generation of long-lasting notebooks with solid battery life.
Disclosure: Qualcomm paid for my room, board, and travel expenses, but did not ask for or exert any editorial control over this story or other PCWorld content.