Intel vs. Snapdragon: Showdown below the 1-kg mark

The incredibly lightweight MSI Prestige 13 AI+, powered by the Core Ultra 9 386H, recently faced off against other subnotebooks, including the Asus ZenBook A14, which boasts a similarly light weight and utilizes the powerful Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-88-100. Despite its slightly lower price, the Asus device consistently came out on top, whether in CPU or iGPU benchmarks, as the tables below demonstrate.

Although the X2 Elite's performance in the Cinebench loop also dips slightly after a short time, its overall performance is still higher than the Core Ultra 9 386H in the MSI model. The gap is even wider in our graphics tests. According to 3DMark scores, the ZenBook’s GPU is about 70% ahead, which is quite impressive and makes the Prestige 13 AI+’s price-performance ratio seem less stellar.

The Prestige also doesn't stand a chance when it comes to battery life, even though the Panther Lake chip is quite energy-efficient. In our Wi-Fi test, the ZenBook A14 lasted much longer at 16 hours compared to 12 hours for the X2 Elite. It should be noted, however, that the battery capacities are not identical, with Asus offering 70 Wh versus 54 Wh.

So, anyone who isn't concerned about limitations imposed by the ARM platform should opt for the ZenBook A14, which performs at least as well in terms of portability. For more information about the Prestige 13 AI+, take a look at our detailed review.