Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme could be the fastest chips for Windows

Qualcomm has been making chips for laptops for some time, but the Snapdragon X Elite launched in 2023 was one of its most ambitious attempts, thanks to the custom ARM-based Oryon CPU cores. Qualcomm is refreshing the SoC this year with two variants, the Snapdragon X2 Elite and the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, promising to be the fastest and most efficient processors for Windows PCs.

Qualcomm says the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is built for ultra-premium PCs and designed for agentic AI experiences, computationally intense data analytics, professional media editing, and scientific research. The 3nm SoC features the third generation of Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU, promising up to 75% faster CPU performance than Windows competitors. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme features up to 18 cores and is the first ARM-compatible CPU to reach 5.0GHz on its Prime core.

A new Qualcomm Adreno GPU is on board, offering a 2.3x increase in performance per watt and power efficiency over the Snapdragon X Elite.

The Qualcomm Hexagon NPU features 80 TOPS of AI processing to enable concurrent AI experiences in Copilot Plus PCs. The company says it is the world’s fastest NPU for laptops, and can run bleeding-edge AI experiences for content creation and large language models that power on-device AI agents.

Qualcomm says the Snapdragon X2 Elite platform boasts up to 31% faster performance at ISO power, and requires up to 43% less power than the Snapdragon X Elite.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite also introduces a new Snapdragon Guardian Technology. This new subsystem combines hardware, software, and cloud services and pairs it with Wi-Fi and 5G connectivity, so users can manage, find, lock, and wipe their PC from anywhere.

If you want cellular connectivity on your laptop, the Snapdragon X2 Elite supports up to the Snapdragon X75 5G modem for 5G connectivity. It also supports up to the FastConnect 7800 for Wi-Fi 7 with HBS and advanced Bluetooth 5.4 LE audio. Going further, it also features Qualcomm Spectra ISP, which supports high-bandwidth MIPI cameras for high-resolution photo capture, multi-exposure HDR, and 10-bit color.

Qualcomm’s press materials don’t make it adequately clear what the difference is between the Snapdragon X2 Elite and the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme. We’ll update this article when we learn more.

Snapdragon X2 Elite availability

Snapdragon X2 Elite devices will be available in the first half of 2026. We expect to learn more about specific devices in the near future.