Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X could bring cheaper ARM Galaxy Book

Last year, Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon X Elite, the company’s current flagship chipset for Windows-powered laptops. At launch, it offered much better per-watt performance compared to processors from AMD and Intel, which pulled a lot of brands and consumers towards ARM-powered PCs, making them more mainstream than before.

However, the Snapdragon X Elite is quite expensive. As such, laptops with it are usually found at $1,200 and above. Qualcomm then launched the Snapdragon X Plus, a lower-priced toned-down version of the X Elite. But models with it are also found only above $700, leaving people with a lower budget with only x86-based options. Well, not anymore.

Qualcomm launches Snapdragon X chipset for Windows laptops

Qualcomm has launched the Snapdragon X, a lower-priced toned-down version of the Snapdragon X Plus. Laptops with Qualcomm’s latest processor will start at $600, making ARM-powered PCs accessible to a much wider array of audience. So, what downgrades are we looking at, and is it better than x86-based options? Let’s take a look.

At the moment, the Snapdragon X has only one SKU: X1-26-100. It has eight Oryon CPU cores (the same CPU cores as the Snapdragon X Elite) with a max frequency of 3.0GHz and 30MB total cache, an Adreno GPU that can do 1.7 TFLOPS, Hexagon NPU that can do 45 TOPS, and LPDDR5x memory with a transfer rate of 8,448 MT/S.

In comparison, the base variant in that the Snapdragon X Plus lineup, the XIP-42-100, has eight Oryon CPU cores with a max frequency of 3.2GHz, boost frequency of 3.4GHz, and 30MB total cache, Adreno GPU that can do 1.7 TFLOPS, Hexagon NPU that can do 45 TOPS, and LPDDR5x memory with a transfer rate of 8,448 MT/S.

Snapdragon X vs. Snapdragon X Plus vs. Snapdragon X Elite

As you can see, the only difference between the two is that Snapdragon X has a lower CPU frequency and lacks the boost mode. There is, however, a large difference between the new model and the Snapdragon X Elite. You can read more about it here.

It’s also worth mentioning the Snapdragon X is made on the same 4nm fabrication process as its costlier siblings. Other features include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, support for up to 3x USB4 (40 Gbps). You can take a finer look at the specs in the images above.

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Qualcomm says there are over 60 laptops under development with the Snapdragon X series from various brands and more than 100 will arrive by 2026. The new chip will enable Samsung to develop an affordable version of the Galaxy Book 4 Edge.

Image Credits – Qualcomm