CES 2025 | Affordable laptops about to become more efficient: New Qualcomm Snapdragon X CPUs for sub $600 systems

We recently lamented the loss of low-cost laptop systems with current CPU technology. With Intel and AMD trying to sell their old CPUs in lower end devices and concentrating on more expensive new chips like Intel Lunar Lake and AMD Strix Point, it seemed like buying an affordable laptop would mean that people had to live with outdated, inefficient technology.

Qualcomm seems to have a different idea, however. Last year, the head honcho of the smartphone CPU market released the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite for premium laptops, followed by the Snapdragon X Plus for midrange machines. Now, a new CPU series that is just called "Snapdragon X" follows in their footsteps, which is supposed to target budget laptops and bring the price of ARM based Windows laptops down. The target: PCs that cost less than $600.

Despite the targeted price range, consumers will have to make little to no compromise with the Snapdragon X series CPU. It uses the same Oryon CPU cores as the more premium Snapdragon X versions. Not even the core count gets reduced, as the Snapdragon X still has eight CPU cores, just like the Snapdragon X Plus CPUs. The biggest difference is the reduced clock rate, as the Snapdragon X clocks in at just 3.0 GHz maximum. The higher end Snapdragon X Plus chips reach 3.2 to 3.4 GHz, while the X Elite models can clock up to 3.4 to 3.8 GHz on all cores.

In a similar vain, the Snapdragon X does not skimp on the AI performance, either, still delivering up to 45 TOPS of NPU performance - as Qualcomm points out, AMD and Intel CPUs in this price range typically have no NPU at all.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X series CPU will launch in the first PCs in January 2025. If the Snapdragon X can deliver similar performance and efficiency as the more premium Snapdragon CPUs, it may be a breath of fresh air in a market segment in desperate need of more efficient processors.