Analyst firm Signal65 conducted extensive independent testing of retail flagship laptops, and the results were impressive. Across all processor and AI tests, the new ARM processor Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) is faster than the high-end Intel Core Ultra X9 388H when connected to a power outlet at maximum efficiency when running on battery power in standard “balanced” mode.
In the synthetic benchmark Geekbench 7, the new Qualcomm chip was 53% more efficient than the Intel solution and 83% more efficient than the competing AMD Ryzen AI 9 465. In Cinebench 2026 multi-threaded rendering, the gap with all opponents reached an impressive 87%. The chip showed even more impressive advantages in Procyon AI “computer vision” tasks thanks to the newer 80 TOPS Hexagon NPU unit – the energy-efficient processor performed nearly twice as well as Intel systems and 2.4 times better than AMD-based laptops. Considering the average price of a Snapdragon device is around $1,699, while a similar device with a Core Ultra X9 costs an average of $2,299, the new offering offers almost twice the price and performance benefits. However, it is worth considering that there is no independent graphics card when paired with Snapdragon, and the integration of this “stone” cannot catch up at all.
