Early benchmarks of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chip, slated to power the next generation of Windows laptops, have emerged, painting a concerning picture of its performance. Leaked results from a pre-release Samsung Galaxy Book Edge 14, equipped with the X Elite, show significantly lower scores than Qualcomm’s advertised figures, sparking debate about the chip’s true capabilities.
A photo of a laptop with the Snapdragon X Plus CPU.Image: The Samsung Galaxy Book Edge 14, featuring the Snapdragon X Elite processor.
A Reddit user, u/caponica23, who obtained the Galaxy Book Edge 14 ahead of its official release, posted comprehensive benchmark results and gaming performance observations. The Geekbench results revealed a single-core score of 1,841 and a multi-core score of 11,537. These figures fall drastically short of Qualcomm’s projected scores of 2,977 and 15,086, respectively. Furthermore, the user reported “severe frame drops” while playing Resident Evil Village at 1080p resolution, even with AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) set to Performance mode.
Performance for the Snapdragon X EliteImage: A graph depicting the performance benchmarks of the Snapdragon X Elite.
These findings contradict previous demonstrations of the Snapdragon X Elite, which showcased promising gaming performance in titles like Control. Qualcomm also claimed the chip would surpass Apple’s M3 processor in the MacBook Air. The disparity between these early benchmarks and Qualcomm’s claims has raised eyebrows within the tech community.
Adding fuel to the fire, comparisons on X (formerly Twitter) suggest the Snapdragon X Elite’s single-core performance lags behind even the four-year-old A14 chip found in the iPhone 12 Mini. This comparison underscores the significant performance gap between the X Elite and its competitors.
One potential explanation for the underwhelming performance lies in the tested unit’s clock speed. The pre-release Galaxy Book Edge 14 was reportedly limited to a 2.52GHz clock speed, while the Snapdragon X Elite is designed to reach 4GHz. It remains unclear whether this limitation is intentional or if a software update will unlock the chip’s full potential before the official launch of X Elite-powered laptops.
Battery life could be a factor in the limited clock speed. The Reddit user reported an impressive 14-hour battery life on a single charge, a significant improvement over many Windows laptops, but still short of the MacBook Air’s endurance. However, achieving such battery life with a lower clock speed raises concerns about performance degradation at higher clock speeds.
While these preliminary benchmarks raise valid concerns, it’s crucial to remember that they might not represent the final product’s performance. The official launch of Snapdragon X Elite laptops is scheduled for June 18th. However, it’s advisable to wait for comprehensive reviews before investing in this new computing platform.
