Qualcomm is bringing its Arm-based PC strategy further into the mainstream with the Snapdragon X2 Plus, a new duo of laptop chips that target thinner designs and more affordable price points. Initial test figures shared by the company also suggest hefty CPU gains, an NPU nearly double the first generation’s, and serviceable integrated graphics.
Situated below the top-end X2 Elite family, the X2 Plus is available in 10-core and 6-core versions and aims for systems around $800, with similar AI-focused capabilities rolling out across the Snapdragon X2 product line. These are still early benchmarks aggregated on reference hardware built by Qualcomm, so consider these figures directional rather than final.
Key specifications and architecture of Snapdragon X2 Plus
Both V1 and V2 models use Qualcomm’s third-generation Oryon CPU architecture, with the ability to boost up to 4.0 GHz under multithreaded workloads, according to the company.
A top-level upgrade is the included Hexagon NPU, which until this time was rated at 45 TOPS on the Snapdragon X range. (Note: exact frequency numbers are not provided, but they will clock at lower relative power.)
The 10-core version (X2P-64-100) offers the same amount of total cache and an Adreno X2-45 GPU that ticks a bit faster at 1.7 GHz. The 6-core variant (X2P-42-100) drops to 22 MB of cache and a 0.9 GHz GPU clock. Platform features are unchanged: Wi‑Fi 7 readiness, optional 5G WWAN, and support for Snapdragon Guardian enterprise management and protection tools, which—like its predecessors—opens the device up to a more standardized IT organizations’ security and fleet-control story.
Early benchmark results for CPU, GPU performance and AI
In CPU-based tests the X2 Plus performs well. In the single-core run of Maxon’s Cinebench 2024, it only lagged behind Qualcomm’s own X2 Elite Extreme and Apple’s M4 in the comparison library. With all that heat-generating power, multithreaded Cinebench placed the 10-core X2 Plus just about 10 percent behind both Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285H and AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 375 — not bad company for a chip destined for mainstream ultraportables.
Geekbench Pro reported a similar tale: it was competitive in single-core, but pulled up as a big player in multi-core—coming just ahead of the Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 375 and within the margin of Apple’s M4. The 285H made some of that ground back here, but the takeaway is clear: Oryon’s performance ceiling is higher than the first wave of Snapdragon X laptops would have led us to believe.
Graphics are steadier than spectacular. In UL 3DMark Steel Nomad Light, the Adreno X2-45 IGP landed just about on par with Intel Arc graphics in an Arrow Lake H-class design, slightly behind AMD’s Radeon 890M and Intel’s Lunar Lake 268V integrated Arc by nearly 10%. AMD and Intel extended their leads with a ray-tracing-heavy test, 3DMark Solar Bay, where the X2 Plus did marginally better only against older Snapdragon X designs.
Browser tests confirmed snappy everyday responsiveness. JetStream spreads were small between platforms, but Speedometer had the X2 Plus up 30% versus many peers in our sample set before only the Elite Extreme and Apple M4 models took a lead.
AI metrics remain a moving target, but a pattern emerged. Geekbench AI on ONNX saw single-precision runs bypass the NPU and land the X2 Plus lower; half-precision quantized workloads scaled reasonably from 45 TOPS to 80 TOPS, basically correlating with Qualcomm’s earlier assertions. Computer vision on UL’s Procyon AI for Qualcomm SNPE also saw the same trend among implementations—a directionally useful, if not yet uniform, cross-vendor scoreboard.
Why efficiency and thermals matter in Snapdragon X2 Plus
But speed was only half the story: Qualcomm played up performance-per-watt curves. As on-platform power went up, the X2 Plus held performance while consuming significantly less power than its Intel and AMD competitors in Qualcomm’s data. That may mean OEMs can offer thinner designs at a particular performance level or longer battery life at the same performance—flexibility that’s especially coveted in the $800 to $1,000 range.
Context is essential. The first numbers were posted by a 14.5-inch reference laptop, obviously optimized to let the 10-core X2 Plus spread its wings. All these tests were run on stock software and no third-party software was installed. Real-world results will ultimately be governed by individual vendors’ thermal design, power limits, and firmware—some retail systems will run cooler and quieter, while others will chase peak clocks.
What the Snapdragon X2 Plus means for mainstream laptops
The X2 Plus appears designed for the beating heart of the market: slim, fan-free Windows on Arm machines with credible CPU grunt under load, a much more powerful NPU to manage local AI tasks, and enough GPU power for everyday creation and casual play.
It also checks the boxes progress-minded IT buyers have come to expect in modern fleets, with Wi‑Fi 7 and optional 5G and enterprise features.
Competition will be fierce. Intel’s upcoming Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake, AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 family, and Apple’s M4 are establishing a fairly high bar. The X2 Plus, then, has the potential to be the go-to platform for long-battery ultraportables that still feel quick—assuming Qualcomm can land some equally wide-reaching design wins under $1,000 and manage to hold on to the efficiency lead we’re seeing in early data.
The proof will be in the hands of retail hardware and third-party testing. For the moment, early results strongly indicate Qualcomm’s still honing its mainstream laptop playbook: faster CPUs, an 80 TOPS NPU that promises richer on-device AI, and better performance-per-watt that could really challenge what you should expect “average” notebooks to deliver.
