Qualcomm is one of the biggest under-the-hood names in mobile devices, producing the popular Snapdragon chips that power many of the best Android phones. Early attempts to bring its Snapdragon chips to laptops were hindered by performance and compatibility issues. However, its renewed attempt to break into the PC market with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite chips is proving more successful. 

Although they’re not entirely without compatibility issues, these chips offer notable performance, efficiency and AI acceleration, along with outstanding battery life. With the recent announcement of a new generation of Snapdragon X2 chips, it’s a good time to review what the initial run of chips promised, how they delivered in computers that included them, and what the next generation will offer.

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What are the Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite chips?

The Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite are a family of systems-on-chip that combine many of the components a computer needs into a single package. This is a common approach. Many Intel, AMD and Apple chips also feature graphics processors, memory controllers and more, all integrated into the same chip as the CPU. Recently, they’ve also incorporated neural processing units (NPUs) onto the chip. 

What makes the Snapdragon chips different is their Arm-based architecture, as opposed to the near-universal x86 architecture that’s been used in PCs for decades. That is, until Apple introduced its own Arm-based M-series chips. One problem with previous Arm-based laptops is that many popular programs aren’t designed for Arm, but instead are coded for x86. This requires either different low-level code or a translation layer, like Apple’s Rosetta, to run on Arm. 

This caused problems on earlier Qualcomm-powered systems, such as the Microsoft Surface Pro X, where some apps simply didn’t work, while others performed poorly. This time around, Microsoft put in some effort to ensure better compatibility and faster performance for hundreds of popular apps with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X chips. They’re also using a special emulator called Prism to run non-native apps.

Here’s a breakdown of the current Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus variants:

Beyond the Arm difference, the Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite chips have a lot in common with other modern laptop chips. They feature between 8 and 12 high-performance CPU cores (the current generation is Oryon). They support fast, low-power LPDDR5x memory and include an integrated GPU — currently Adreno. The aforementioned NPU, a feature of most recent chips from competitors as well, handles basic AI-driven tasks using less power than the CPU and GPU would use running the same tasks.

Qualcomm has made a lot of noise about the performance of its components. It says the Hexagon NPU is the “world’s fastest NPU for laptops” at a rated 45 tera-operations per second, or TOPS. It’s worth noting that discrete graphics processors available in laptops can offer higher TOPS, but at a much higher power draw. Using a low-power NPU for AI tasks results in better battery life and overall performance. In laptops, we’ve tested running on Qualcomm chips, such as the Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-11T-X3RZ) and Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441, the Hexagon NPU delivers very solid performance that could top Intel Arc integrated GPUs and even a discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 mobile GPU. 

The company also touted the performance of its Oryon CPU, which it said could outpace Apple’s M3 chip in a MacBook Pro in multithreaded CPU performance by 28%. Our testing didn’t support this contention, but Qualcomm did come out ahead in Geekbench 6 and Cinebench R24 multithreaded performance. 

Better than Intel and AMD?

At launch, Qualcomm also said its chips will be faster in single-threaded and multithreaded performance than AMD’s Ryzen 9 7940HS and Intel’s Core Ultra 7 155H when running at the same wattages; our testing did see Qualcomm’s silicon net some wins again here. Since then, Apple, Intel and AMD have all moved on to even more potent chips.

Perhaps the most important thing offered by Snapdragon X chips is efficiency. When the chips landed in new laptops like the aforementioned models from Dell and Acer, they quickly became some of the longest-running laptops we’d tested, even topping Apple’s MacBooks. Battery life that can stretch beyond 20 hours is a big achievement for Windows laptops, and the fact that you can have this without making huge sacrifices to performance and decent software compatibility is a notable win for the Qualcomm hardware. 

What else is coming with Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite chips?

In addition quality performance, these chipsets also bring other technologies to improve your laptop experience. The Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus offer support for faster UFS 4.0 and PCIe 4.0 storage as well as SD 3.0 media. They support multi-monitor setups with resolutions up to 4K at 60Hz for up to three displays simultaneously. They also support 4K HDR encode and decode and include an image signal processor to support camera recording up to 4K video, as well as dual 36-megapixel sensors or a single 64-megapixel sensor. 

They also include hardware for high-speed connectivity: up to three USB4 ports, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 and 10Gbps 5G cellular via the Snapdragon X65 modem. The number of these features your laptop will have ultimately depends on the device manufacturers and their hardware choices, which brings us to the next big question.

What kind of computers have Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite chips?

By targeting high performance at low wattages, Qualcomm’s chips are geared for machines meant for mobile productivity. We’ve largely seen them in laptops for tackling modestly heavy workloads while still running away from the power outlet for the whole workday. In general, they’ve been thin-and-light laptops and two-in-ones. The AI capabilities of these chips are also a key part of Microsoft’s Copilot Plus push.

Laptop manufacturers have incorporated these chips into their various mid-tier and premium models: Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition, Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, Dell XPS 13 (9345), Asus Vivobook S 15 (S5507), Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge, HP OmniBook X and HP EliteBook Ultra G1q all feature Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite or X Plus chips. These laptops are all made for mobility (no bulky 17-inchers here) and have more premium designs and features. While some more affordable laptops with Snapdragon chips have cropped up, like the HP OmniBook 5, most cost upwards of $1,000.

What’s next?

Qualcomm already unveiled some details for what’s coming next. At the Snapdragon Summit 2025, it announced several new Snapdragon X2 Elite chips that promise higher-performing CPUs, GPUs and NPUs while offering even lower power draw. This is likely aided by the shift to a 3nm process node (essentially marketing speak for generationally smaller, faster, more power-efficient chips) and the introduction of a hybrid CPU architecture that combines different Oryon Prime and Performance cores. This should make for an interesting matchup between the Snapdragon X and X2 chips. 

This new generation of Snapdragon X processors is set to arrive in products in the first half of 2026, and they can’t come soon enough for Qualcomm since Intel and AMD haven’t exactly been resting since the first Snapdragon X chips hit the market. The same is true of Apple, which recently released a 14-inch MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro with its M5 silicon.