When Qualcomm unveiled its Snapdragon X2 system-on-a-chip (SoC) last September, it focused on its flagship X2 Elite Extreme chip and the heavy-duty X2 Elite. Both chips are powerful (and pricey), so it seemed like a good time for Qualcomm to also announce the Snapdragon X2 Plus, which was expected to offer more modes of power and a correspondingly lower price tag. It seems that Qualcomm was saving the X2 Plus for CES. We now know much more about the ARM chip that will be powering many mid-range laptops in 2026 and beyond.
Like the X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme, the X2 Plus will appear in Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs, which are desktops and laptops designed around AI. To meet the Copilot+ PC requirements, a computer must be capable of 40+ TOPS and meet minimum hardware specifications. Copilot is an AI assistant in Windows. It is also integrated with the Microsoft 365 Office suite.
The X2 Plus is a shoo-in for the Copilot+ PCs; Qualcomm puts the performance of its Hexagon neural processing unit (NPU) at 80 TOPS. The Oryon CPU portion of the chip sports up to 10 cores (six “Prime” cores and four “Performance” cores) at up to 4.0GHz. That should represent a solid improvement over the previous-generation chip.
“The 3rd Gen Qualcomm Oryon CPU delivers up to 35% faster CPU single-core performance than the previous generation, while using 43% less power than the previous generation,” Qualcomm wrote in a statement.
The Adreno GPU also takes a step up from its previous generation, delivering up to 29% better performance. Obviously, it will take some real-world testing to determine whether the new Snapdragon chips live up to Qualcomm’s bold claims. But the hardware improvements are likely to lead to a noteworthy performance bump.
The GPU supports DirectX 12.2 Ultimate and gives users the option to connect up to three 4K monitors. The SoC also features Wi-Fi 7 support, which is a nice touch for road warriors. It also supports 5G and Bluetooth 5.4. Its memory bandwidth is approximately 152GB/s.
The Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme, on the other hand, each have 12 “Prime” cores and 6 “Performance” cores, giving them significantly more power than the X2 Plus can provide. And while the X2 Elite has the same 152GB/s memory bandwidth as the X2 Plus, the Extreme SoC has a memory bandwidth of 228GB/s.
Lenovo already has Copilot+PCs with the higher-end SoCs ready for primetime. But the extra power raises the price, so you’ll see the X2 Elite and Extreme less often than the X2 Plus.