Snapdragon X2 Elite Shows Strong Gains Over Apple M5 and X Elite

Qualcomm had already introduced the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite last year, and the latter has now appeared in early CPU and GPU benchmarks. New testing suggests Qualcomm’s latest silicon delivers a meaningful performance jump over both Apple and its own previous generation.

Early benchmarks favor Snapdragon X2 Elite

According to Wccftech, the Snapdragon X2 Elite outperforms Apple’s Apple M5 in several workloads and clearly surpasses the Snapdragon X Elite. In the shared results, Qualcomm’s chip secures wins in three out of five benchmarks while drawing only slightly more power.

All benchmark data comes from testing conducted by Hardware Canucks using a pre-production ASUS Zenbook system. The laptop was running early drivers and firmware, so final retail performance may differ once optimized software becomes available.

Power efficiency remains competitive

Qualcomm’s newest chip was tested at a 31W power level, compared to the M5’s reported 26W maximum draw. Despite the extra 5W, the Snapdragon X2 Elite still managed to outperform the M5 in most tested scenarios, highlighting a strong efficiency-to-performance balance.

The same benchmarks also show a clear performance gap between the Snapdragon X2 Elite and the earlier Snapdragon X Elite, reinforcing the generational gains Qualcomm aims to deliver with its second-generation Windows-on-Arm platform.

Battery life and final performance are still unknown

No battery life testing was performed, as the hardware and software remain in a pre-production state. Real-world endurance will need evaluation on commercial systems once Snapdragon X2 Elite laptops ship later this year.

Alongside the X2 Elite, Qualcomm has also unveiled the Snapdragon X2 Plus, which reportedly offers solid performance for lower-tier devices. Elsewhere in the PC ecosystem, it has been reported that Intel Core G3 chips will use LPDDR5X-8533 memory, signaling continued competition across upcoming mobile platforms.