The new Snapdragon X is Qualcomm’s ARM chip for lightweight PCs

Are you fed up with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips in 2024? To start 2025, the chipmaker known for finally bringing ARM to the PC – and usable this time – now aims to carve out a niche in the laptop or mini-PC market. The new Snapdragon X platform is not a plus and it is not elite, although if you want to get your mother a small ARM-based PC for nothing but browsing and streaming, this could be your first CPU of choice.

The current Oryon-based Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chipsets includes an 8-core variant. The Snapdragon X has the same number of cores, although it has returned to the clock speed of 3 GHz on the same 4nm processor node and a cache of 30 MB. It has a memory bandwidth of 135 mb/s, but retains the same 45 TOPS neural processor as other Snapdragon PC CPUs.

Does the NPU really matter that much when it’s made for a PC that has a limited amount of RAM on board? Probably not. The Snapdragon X is more intended to compete against other low-end CPUs like the Intel Core Ultra 5 120U from early last year. Qualcomm claims that its new chip is capable of almost 60% better benchmarks in Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024, although for a low-end PC the most important thing is how to manage browsing tasks with better energy efficiency. Qualcomm claimed that it should achieve 157% better energy efficiency at ISO power than the latest generation Intel chip.

Intel has just released new CPUs for its Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake line, including a new U line. Without benchmark comparisons, all we have to go on are the company’s specifications. Otherwise, the Snapdragon X supports Bluetooth 5.4 and WiFi 7. Devices with this chip should be able to support 4K HDR video capture and HiFi audio.

There should be several OEMs debuting new Snapdragon X-based PCs during this year’s CES. Lenovo is the first out of the gate with two mini-PCs, the ThinkCentre neo 50q QC and Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini x (1L, 10). Both include the Snapdragon X Plus, although the IdeaCentre is more geared towards creatives looking for a Mac mini alternative.