Qualcomm has claimed that its next-generation Snapdragon X2 CPU family will have greater power efficiency and performance vis-Ã -vis its rival processors from Intel and AMD. Targeting the Windows AI PC segment, the new family includes the Snapdragon X2 Elite and the flagship X2 Elite Extreme Edition.
Snapdragon X2 CPU Family Specifications
Built on TSMC's 3nm process, the Snapdragon X2 family has 3rd Gen Oryon CPU cores, new graphics from Adreno, and an upgraded Hexagon NPU. The family is classified into three large SKUs:
- Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme: The premier chipset sports 18 cores (12 Prime, 6 Performance) with single/dual-core boost up to 5.0 GHz. It has a 53 MB cache, an Adreno GPU at 1.85 GHz, 80 NPU TOPS, and a 12-channel LPDDR5X memory controller with up to 228 GB/s in bandwidth.
- Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-88-100): Similar to the one above but with a lower single/dual-core boost frequency of 4.7 GHz and an Adreno GPU working at 1.70 GHz. The cache and 80 NPU TOPS are the same as above.
- Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-80-100): A 12-core SKU (6 Prime, 6 Performance) with a 4.7 GHz single-core boost. It has 34 MB of cache, an Adreno GPU at 1.7 GHz, 80 NPU TOPS, and an 8-channel memory controller for 152 GB/s of bandwidth.
Performance Claims Against Intel and AMD
Qualcomm benchmarked performance claims of the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme against Intel's Core Ultra 9 285H (Arrow Lake-H) and 288V (Lunar Lake); and AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (Strix). The key claims for performance made by the Qualcomm are:
- Single-Core Performance (Geekbench 6.5): Competitors would need up to 144% more power to match its performance while having a performance improvement of 44% on its own level.
- Multi-Core Performance (Geekbench 6.5): The Snapdragon claims to be up to 75% faster at the same power while competitors could reportedly require up to 222% more power to match that.
- Graphics Performance (3DMark Steel Nomad Light): The Adreno GPU is claimed to be up to 52% faster at the same power, asserting that competitors need 92% more power to match.
- AI Performance (Procyon AI): Up to 5.7x faster than the competition in the benchmark, and 1.95x faster than Lunar Lake's NPU, the Hexagon NPU with 80 TOPS.
Qualcomm further revealed application-specific claims, with browsing being claimed to be 53% faster, while file compression being up to 2x faster than specific competing chips.
Context and Market Availability
There is a lot riding on the company's claims for the X2 Elite on the grounds of performance and power efficiency, but Qualcomm has indicated that most of the graphic claims are based on synthetic benchmarks. Gaming push-through performance of the new Adreno GPU will be best validated through independent tests, considering how well the last-generation GPU performed.
The Snapdragon X2 Elite and Extreme will be expected to ship in devices by the spring of 2026. This long lead time allows competitors like Intel and AMD to react and bring in their next-generation products perhaps even sooner, along the lines of Intel's Panther Lake and AMD's next mobility family.
