Early Benchmarks: Snapdragon X2 Elite Dominates Productivity, Slips in Gaming

In an early test of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite processors, YouTube channel Hardware Canucks showed that the next-generation ARM CPU is incredible for productivity and benefits from a big upgrade in GPU rendering performance. But while that lets it push high frame rates in a number of games at lower settings, it’s not enough to beat out AMD, Intel, or Apple.

As WCCFTech reports, laptops featuring the Snapdragon X2 aren’t widely available yet, but Asus let Hardware Canucks perform a number of tests on its next-generation Zenbook featuring the Snapdragon X2 Elite, and, like our results from late 2025, the performance results were impressive. They’re reported with the caveat that this is with pre-release drivers and firmware, so performance numbers may not be entirely indicative of what the retail Zenbook will be like.

In the Cinebench 2024 single core benchmark, the X2 Elite easily beats its last-generation counterpart, with a score of 146 versus 108. It also beat the Intel X9 388H and AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370, with scores of 130 and 112, respectively. Apple’s M5 Pro proved more capable, though, with a high score of 200.

In the multi-threaded benchmark, however, the Snapdragon X2 Elite managed 1,432 points; the M5 only hit 1,153. Intel and AMD’s CPUs failed to break 1,000 points. We see similar results in Blender and Handbrake testing, where the best AMD, Intel, and Apple processors are only able to match the last-generation Snapdragon X Elite. The new version was substantially faster, cutting render times by over 40%.

But that’s not the story in gaming. In Cyberpunk 2077, although the X2 Elite was able to manage 40fps with its new Adreno X2-90 GPU, that’s less than the 46fps from the 388H, and much-less than the 57fps managed by the Apple M5 Pro. There was a similar story with Baldur’s Gate 3. There the X2 Elite hit an impressive 54fps on average at 1200P with low-preset, but the M5 Pro managed 70fps and the Intel 388HH 59 fps.

In Counter Strike 2, the Intel CPU managed 189fps, whereas the X2 just 113, though the settings were more demanding, at 1200p, highest detail settings, 4X MSAA, and 16xAF enabled.

Overall, it’s clear Qualcomm has made major strides in performance with the X2, though it notably had it running at 31W during these tests, whereas the AMD and Intel CPUs were running at 30W, and the Apple M5 Pro at just 26W. Battery life tests were not included. Considering longevity between charges was a major selling point of the original X CPUs, it will be interesting to see how these next-generation ARM CPUs will handle battery efficiency with all that extra power on tap.

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About Our Expert

Jon Martindale

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Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He’s written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he’s a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas. 

Jon covers the latest PC components, as well as how-to guides on everything from how to take a screenshot to how to set up your cryptocurrency wallet. He particularly enjoys the battles between the top tech giants in CPUs and GPUs, and tries his best not to take sides.

Jon’s gaming PC is built around the iconic 7950X3D CPU, with a 7900XTX backing it up. That’s all the power he needs to play lightweight indie and casual games, as well as more demanding sim titles like Kerbal Space Program. He uses a pair of Jabra Active 8 earbuds and a SteelSeries Arctis Pro wireless headset, and types all day on a Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard.

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