Android-style desktop: Google hints at Snapdragon PCs with Android instead of Windows 11

The brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Elite is expected to be unveiled in the coming hours at the Snapdragon Summit 2025. At the opening press conference, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and Google's senior vice president Rick Osterloh indicated that the two companies are currently developing a PC that combines a Snapdragon ARM chip with Android 16.

Qualcomm has been offering a relatively powerful processor for laptops and mini PCs for over a year now with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite. However, laptops with Snapdragon chips, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5, have been offered almost exclusively with Windows 11 so far. This is set to change in the future, as Google and Qualcomm are currently developing a joint technical solution for Android-based PCs.

This marks another step by Google towards merging Android and Chrome OS. Rick Osterloh highlights that Android will support the entire Android AI stack on the desktop and will include both Gemini and Google's full range of apps. This is intended to bridge the gap between smartphones and PCs. In theory, this would allow users to use their smartphone apps on their PCs, while younger users who are only familiar with smartphones would find it easier to switch to a laptop or desktop PC without having to learn a lot of new things. However, the managers declined to provide a timeline for the first Snapdragon-powered Android-based PC.