Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X line of ARM-based processors is designed for Windows laptops, offering CPUs capable of competing with Intel and AMD processors. The Snapdragon X Plus (10 core) and Snapdragon X Elite, announced last year, include high-performance NPUs for AI processing. Qualcomm has now introduced the entry-level Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor, targeting the $700 to $900 laptop market instead of the ~$1,300+ asked for something like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 15. It reduces CPU and graphics performance while maintaining the same AI features as the higher-end models.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus lineup includes two octa-core processors: the X1P-46-100 and X1P-42-100, both built on a 4nm process. These processors come with eight Oryon CPU cores, clocked at 4GHz and 3.4GHz respectively, and are equipped with the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, delivering 45 TOPS for AI tasks like Copilot+ PC. They also integrate Qualcomm Adreno GPUs offering 2.1 TFLOPS for the X1P-46-100 and 1.7 TFLOPS for the X1P-42-100 which are less powerful than GPUs in higher-core models.
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus 8-core specifications:
- CPU – 8-core 64-bit Armv8 Oryon processor, 30MB cache
- Max Multi-Core Frequency
- X1P-46-100 – 3.4 GHz
- X1P-42-100 – 3.2 GHz
- Single-Core Boost Frequency
- X1P-46-100 – 4.0 GHz
- X1P-42-100 – 3.4 GHz
- Max Multi-Core Frequency
- GPU – Qualcomm Adreno GPU up to 2.1 TFLOPS
- NPU
- Qualcomm Hexagon NPU with up to 45 TOPS
- Dual micro NPU on the Qualcomm Sensing Hub
- VPU – Qualcomm Adreno VPU
- Encode – 4K UHD 30 fps 8-bit recording H.264, HEVC (H.265), AV1
- Decode
- 4K 30 fps 10-bit playback HEVC (H.265), VP9, AV1
- 4K 60 fps 8-bit playback H.264, HEVC (H.265)
- Concurrency
- 4K 30 fps 8-bit decode + 1080p 30 fps encode
- 1080p 60 fps 10-bit decode + 1080p 30 fps encode
- Memory – Up to 64GB 8-channel LPDDR5x memory with 136GB/s bandwidth and 8448 MT/s transfer rate
- Storage
- NVMe SSD over PCIe Gen 4
- SD v3.0 and UFS 4.0
- Video Interfaces – Qualcomm Adreno Display Processing Unit (DPU)
- eDP v1.4b up to UHD120Hz (4Kp120) with HDR10
- DP v1.4 – 3 displays, up to UHD60Hz with HDR10, 2 displays up to 5K60 or UHD120
- Camera – Qualcomm Spectra ISP
- Single Camera up to 64 MP
- Video Capture up to 4K HDR
- Audio – Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology, Qualcomm aptX audio
- Wireless connectivity
- Qualcomm FastConnect 7800
- Tri-band WiFi 7, WiFi 6E, WiFi 6 with up to 4 spatial streams
- Peak QAM – Up to 4K QAM
- Bluetooth 5.4
- Modem – Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System
- Supported features – 5G NR, Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), mmWave, sub-6 GHz, HSPA, WCDMA, LTE support for CBRS, CDMA 1x, EV-DO, GSM/EDGE
- Peak speeds – 10 Gbps download and 3.5 Gbps upload speed
- 1,000 MHz bandwidth (mmWave), 300 MHz bandwidth (sub-6 GHz)
- Technologies – Qualcomm Smart Transmit technology, Qualcomm Wideband Envelope Tracking, Qualcomm AI-Enhanced Signal Boost adaptive antenna tuning, Qualcomm 5G PowerSave
- Qualcomm FastConnect 7800
- USB – 3x USB Type-C interfaces with support for USB4, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, and one eUSB2 (Embedded USB 2.0)
- Process Node – 4nm
Numerous PC makers have adopted the Snapdragon X family, including Microsoft with its Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, as well as laptops from Acer, Asus, and more. Honor also entered the PC market specifically to use Qualcomm’s chip, and many manufacturers are expected to utilize the new X Plus 8-Core chip in their devices.
According to the company, the 8-core Qualcomm Oryon CPU in this Snapdragon X Plus promises 61% faster CPU performance while competitors are using 179% more power during peak performance. It shares the same 4nm process node and technology as other Snapdragon X series chips. Fonearena posted a presentation slide from Qualcomm comparing its CPU performance against the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U and Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processors.
The chipsets include a Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit that supports Microsoft Pluton TPM, total memory encryption, and Microsoft Secured-core PC. This setup enhances security by providing hardware-based protection against attacks, ensuring secure data handling and system integrity.
Laptops featuring the new Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor will be launched soon and will include models like the Asus Vivobook S 15 and Dell Inspiron 14. For more details, check out the product page or read the official press release.
Sayantan Nandy, an electronics engineer with over four years of hands-on experience in PCB design, circuit development and power electronics, is proficient in EAGLE CAD, Ki-Cad, and Altium. He has a proven track record of delivering efficient and effective systems. His expertise extends from R&D, and prototyping to production support, making him a valuable asset to any engineering team.
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Snapdragon X pricing is asinine (expensive) which is not a great pairing for a rough launch (see the software/gaming compatibility and performance vs. x86). Efficiency of the top model is not much better than Strix Point, and even Intel is claiming to beat it with Lunar Lake. Try $200 instead of $700 for your cost-down-down 8-core models. This is looking like another billion dollar failure. Don’t forget Arm’s lawsuit against Qualcomm/Nuvia. Now what would really be funny is if the immense amount of work done shaping up Windows on Arm was not wasted, but allows a MediaTek + Nvidia pairing… Read more »
> while using 179% less power than competitors
Note: either it’s “using 64% less power than competitors”, or it compares with “competitors using 179% more power”. But 179% less than competitors doesn’t work, it would generate energy while working 🙂
meh , id go with lunar lake..
Lunar Lake does look like an interesting product, but Intel’s claims need to be tested and I expect pricing to be higher than it should be for what is going to be a small-ish chip.
Lunar Lake should soundly defeat AMD’s unannounced Kraken Point on CPU (ST, possibly MT) and GPU performance. Both are 4+4 core designs with nearly identical NPU performance.
Does any one give a damn about the NPU??
I’m just describing how similar they are on paper.
I saw the words entry level and thought yes.
Then I saw that the price of basic entry was $700 to $900 and said hell no.
It seems that Qualcomm are going to milk every last drop, so Intel and AMD might sleep a little easier.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 has 8 Oryon cores in a 2 + 6 configuration but I can’t imagine a phone needing this sort of raw power.
This is in M3 silicon territory it seems.
I guess this will finally be the era where a phone can be docked and perform as a full desktop.
Smartphone SoCs from 6 years ago are on par or faster than Raspberry Pi 5. They have been fast enough for basic desktop use. The problem is iOS/Android, notwithstanding some custom solutions like Samsung DeX, or running Linux on the phone, etc.
That’s what I’m referring to, with desktop level performance becoming the norm we will surely see software become available in the future. Initially I think it will be some form of Linux or ChromeOS like OS.
Samsung DeX and Motorola Ready For are nice but they are not a desktop level experience.
[ compared to full atx desktop, “Smartphone SoCs from 6 years ago”, were limited on connectivity|peripherals|kernel possibilities, what changed with Kernel 6.x and Usb4/Thunderbolt and virtualization software;
mass (market) adoption is probably about phone prices compared to (mini) desktops(?), needing display, input devices, external storage ]
Omg, they still won’t stop trying to get Windows working with their chips. I bet now it’s some sort of feeling proud of themselves instead of making something worthwhile. This is going to be the biggest fiasco of the decade 😆