The Verge conducted in-depth laptop tests featuring the Snapdragon X Elite/Plus chips across all submodels and compared their performance to rival chips in the market such as Apple M3, M2 Max, M3 Max, Intel Core Ultra 7 155H/155U, and AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS.
The benchmark results revealed that the Snapdragon X Elite excelled in Geekbench 6, securing the second spot in the overall rankings, closely trailing behind only the top-tier X1E-84-100 12-core model. In multi-core performance, it outperformed the Apple M3 Max but fell short against the Apple M2 Max. In single-core performance, it ranked third behind the Apple M3 and M3 Max.
However, the weakness of the Snapdragon X Elite lies in its Adreno GPU, which scored below par compared to competitors like Apple M2 Max, M3 Max, Intel Arc, and AMD Radeon M. Gaming performance was decent but required lowering resolution to 1200p and setting graphics to low to achieve a smooth 30 fps frame rate, with some games still experiencing crashes upon launch.
Running x86 apps through the new Prism emulator showed promising developments but still lacked significant improvement. Blender tests on ARM64 and x86 versions through the emulator revealed a rendering performance drop of around 40-45% from the native ARM64.
Battery tests indicated a runtime of approximately 14-16 hours, slightly short of 18 hours seen on the MacBook Air M3. Overall, the Snapdragon X Elite laptops offer better value compared to similarly spec’d x86 laptops, with a price difference of around 100-200 dollars and superior performance and battery life.
TLDR: The Verge’s laptop tests showed that Snapdragon X Elite laptops offer good value for non-intensive tasks, with better battery life than x86 laptops at a lower price point, but may not be ideal for heavy graphics or gaming. Future comparisons with new Intel/AMD CPU laptops will determine if they can compete.
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