The arrival of a new computing force is imminent. Laptops powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite chip are slated to begin appearing in February and March, promising a significant leap in performance.
Recent, independent testing by Hardware Canucks reveals the X2 Elite isn’t just competitive – it’s capable of surpassing Apple’s M5 chip in certain key areas. These benchmarks offer a compelling glimpse into the potential of this new architecture.
Asus provided Hardware Canucks with pre-production versions of their Vivobook and Zenbook laptops for testing, running early firmware and operating system support. While battery life testing was restricted pending firmware optimizations, the initial results are undeniably impressive.
Qualcomm previously showcased the X2 Elite at an event last September, but those demonstrations were carefully controlled. This new testing provides a more realistic and unbiased assessment of the chip’s capabilities.
The tested laptops featured the Snapdragon X2E-88-100, a step below the top-tier X2E-96-100 Elite Extreme. Even with this slightly less powerful variant, the X2 Elite achieved a single-threaded Cinebench 2024 score of 146, exceeding the first-generation X1 Elite’s 108 but falling short of the M5’s 200.
However, when pushed with demanding real-world applications like Handbrake and Blender, the X2 Elite dramatically outperformed the M5. In Blender rendering, it shaved off a remarkable two minutes from the M5’s completion time – 3:31 versus 5:33.
Gaming performance, while not the X2 Elite’s primary strength, showed promise. Despite not consistently exceeding 60fps in titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur’s Gate 3 at 1200p settings, it remains a competitive contender.
The ultimate verdict hinges on battery life, a crucial factor that remains unknown. The coming months will reveal whether the X2 Elite can deliver on its promise of both power and efficiency, establishing itself as a true force in the laptop market.
