At CES 2025 on Monday, Qualcomm introduced its cutting-edge Snapdragon X platform, tailored specifically for budget-friendly PCs. This new series of octa-core processors aims to rival low-cost offerings from Intel and AMD while also incorporating advanced AI capabilities through a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU) and enhanced battery efficiency. The Snapdragon X platform is anticipated to fuel computers priced under $600 (approximately Rs. 51,400), significantly lowering the entry cost for Arm-based Windows laptops.
Specifications of the Snapdragon X Platform
The Snapdragon X platform (model X1-26-100) is engineered for economical computing and boasts eight Oryon CPU cores, delivering a maximum clock speed of 3GHz. This clock speed is lower compared to its counterparts, the Snapdragon X Plus (up to 3.4GHz) and Snapdragon X Elite (up to 3.8GHz), which are designed for mid-range and premium laptops, respectively.
Manufactured on a 4nm process, the chipset supports up to 64GB of LPDDR5x RAM and offers a memory bandwidth of 135GB/s. It features a Qualcomm Adreno GPU capable of managing three external displays at 4K resolution and 60Hz. The platform also supports Windows 11 and includes Copilot+ features, which are typically found on higher-end PCs.
Snapdragon X platform specifications
Photo Credit: Qualcomm
Qualcomm has integrated a Hexagon NPU into the Snapdragon X CPUs, delivering an impressive 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS) for AI tasks. This innovation indicates a forthcoming range of budget-friendly Copilot+ PCs that will go up against similar priced processors from Intel and AMD, which do not include a dedicated NPU.
This new platform supports features previously exclusive to Qualcomm’s higher-tier chips, such as instant wake and standby efficiency. The company asserts that Snapdragon X will provide up to twice the battery life and up to 163 percent faster performance than competing processors. Additionally, it enables connectivity options including 5G, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4, alongside USB 4 Type-C support.
Consumers can look forward to PCs featuring the Snapdragon X platform from major manufacturers like Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and Asus, expected to debut in early 2025. With projected pricing around $600 (approximately Rs. 51,400), Qualcomm’s new offerings are set to make Copilot+ PCs more widely accessible in the near future.
