Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Revolutionizes the $600 Laptop Market

In a thrilling announcement at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Qualcomm introduced the latest in their Snapdragon X Series for Windows on Arm PCs—the Snapdragon X chip. This fourth addition is set to cater to students, freelancers, and those keeping a close eye on their budgets, with laptops starting at the attractive price of $600.

This new chip, dubbed the Snapdragon X (X1-26-100), is essentially a slightly pared-down version of the Snapdragon X Plus. While it features an impressive 8-core count, the clock speed is capped at a solid 3.0 GHz with no boost, alongside a GPU performance of 1.7 TFLOPs. To put it in perspective, the X Plus processors range from 3.2 to 3.4 GHz with boosts reaching up to 4.0 GHz, and their GPUs impressive anywhere between 1.7 to 3.8 TFLOPs.

What’s really exciting about the Snapdragon X chip is its potent 45 TOPS neural processing unit (NPU), qualifying it as a full-fledged Copilot+ AI PC. Qualcomm has made a strategic move by aiming to enhance the performance of Windows laptops in the sub-$800 price range, an area traditionally neglected by Intel and AMD where performance has often been suboptimal.

Boasting 8 cores running at 3.0 GHz, the Snapdragon X offers optional features like 5G support, Wi-Fi 7, rapid 8448 MT/s LPDDR5x RAM, a “Sensing Hub” for detecting human presence, USB4 (40Gbps), and Bluetooth 5.4—all advanced features you’d typically expect in pricier laptops.

How does this new addition stack up against its series siblings? The Snapdragon X’s design features 8 cores running at a slightly reduced clock speed without any burst capabilities, with its GPU performance aligning with the lower end of the X Plus, specifically the XIP-42-100.

Having had some initial hands-on time with the Snapdragon X, I must say Windows 11 felt snappy, certainly a notable improvement on what older Intel budget chips could muster.

In a shiny table listing all eight Snapdragon X Computer Platform chips, the newly introduced X1-26-100 occupies its rightful place at the bottom—an exciting reveal for chip enthusiasts looking under the hood.

So how does Snapdragon X fare when compared to Intel? Qualcomm laid down the gauntlet, pitting the X1-26-100 against Intel’s early 2024 Core 5 120U, a 10-core powerhouse reaching up to 5GHz. Using a reference laptop for their own chip and a Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 for Intel, Qualcomm claims their Snapdragon X beats Intel’s Core 5 in power efficiency, reporting it as twice as potent while consuming half the power.

The benchmarks speak for themselves. According to Geekbench 6.2, Snapdragon X offers a 163% increase in single-core and a 157% in multi-core performance, all while demanding far less power than its Intel competitor’s Core.

With Intel and AMD budget processors lacking NPU support, this gives Qualcomm an edge with its AI-enhanced Snapdragon X, especially when you consider its claimed boost in performance per watt in popular applications like Google Chrome and Microsoft Office.

The Snapdragon X is poised to become a game-changer, especially in a market where laptops range from $600 to $800, a segment that holds a significant share yet often suffers from neglect in performance and innovation. With their Copilot+ PC’s capabilities extending beyond premium users, Qualcomm is making the AI revolution accessible to all.

Acer, ASUS, Dell Technologies, HP, and Lenovo are already on board, crafting new machines with the Snapdragon X series. We’re eagerly anticipating which of these giants will unveil their Snapdragon X laptops this week at CES 2025.

In terms of potential adopters, students, freelance workers, and the budget-conscious are clear targets. And you won’t have to wait long, as those first Snapdragon X laptops roll out in January 2025.

The Snapdragon X has shown it can support up to three external UHD displays simultaneously, each refreshing at 60Hz, a boon for multitaskers and creators.

And what about Microsoft? Although not confirmed, there’s a real possibility that the Surface Go line, especially with models like Surface Go 4 and Surface Laptop Go 4 slated for 2025, could incorporate Snapdragon X. Considering the leap in performance potential, it would indeed be a transformative choice for these sleek devices.

But will these laptops need a fan? Ultimately, the OEMs hold the reins on designing for fan or passive cooling systems, balancing performance needs.

As CES 2025 unfolds, stay tuned for more insights and hands-on experiences with Qualcomm’s exciting new silicon.