After months of teases, laptops based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 processors are available in the US — and might be good enough to choose over computers based on AMD, Apple, and Intel chips. ASUS has released the second-generation Zenbook A14 and its first-ever Zenbook A16, both of which are claimed to deliver high performance and lengthy battery life while remaining lightweight.
The 16-inch Zenbook A16 weighs just 2.65lbs due to both the Qualcomm chip and its use of a “Ceraluminum” chassis (aluminum with an oxidized ceramic layer) that is light while promising real resistance to scratches and smudges. It centers on an 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor that delivers up to 80TOPS (trillion operations per second) for AI tasks. ASUS estimates up to 21 hours of battery life even with a 3K (2880×1800) 120Hz OLED screen, although that figure drops to 12 hours when messaging and browsing.
The updated 14-inch Zenbook A14 maintains the 14-inch screen and weighs a comparably light 2.18lbs. It peaks at a slightly lower-powered 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite chip, but still delivers up to 80TOPS. ASUS continues to claim “multi-day” battery life at up to 33 hours, although it trims that back to 20 hours for messaging and the web. It features a 1200p (1920×1200) OLED panel.
The Zenbook A16 is available now through Best Buy starting at $1,600 with a large 48GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The new Zenbook A14 is selling at Best Buy for $1,150 with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.
- Operating System
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Windows 11
- CPU
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Snapdragon X2 Elite
ASUS’ Zenbook A14 (2026) laptop with a Snapdragon X2 processor.
Why buy a Snapdragon X2 laptop?
Much-improved performance helps against MacBooks and gaming PCs
The first Snapdragon X chips were improvements over Qualcomm’s past PC processors, but they still struggled against Apple’s MacBook lineup (their main rival in ARM-based laptops) as well as performance laptops. While app compatibility had also improved, they were poor gaming PCs as they didn’t support common anti-cheat systems (including for Epic Games’ Fortnite) and initially lacked emulation for the AVX and AVX2 extensions many Windows games use.
The Snapdragon X2 series addresses all these weak points. The 18-core X2 Elite Extreme is billed as delivering up to 75% improved CPU performance over the competition when it was unveiled (September 2025), and a “2.3X increase” in GPU performance per watt over the original X Elite. Qualcomm sees it as a competitor to Apple’s more powerful M4 and M5 chips, as well as equivalents like AMD’s Ryzen 400 series and Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3.
The X2 Elite comes in 12- and 18-core versions, and is aimed at laptops that need to strike a balance between performance, price, and battery life. In January 2026, Qualcomm introduced a 10-core X2 Plus for lower-priced systems that delivers a touted 35 percent improvement in single-core performance over the X Plus while using 43% less power.
All the new X2 chips support popular anti-cheat systems and have AVX support thanks to a Prism emulator update Microsoft released in 2025. Qualcomm also claims GPU upgrades that include better ray tracing.
As before, you’ll want to be thoughtful before purchasing a Snapdragon X2 laptop. Most popular productivity apps (including the Adobe Creative Cloud suite) are compatible, as are many games. However, you’ll still want to check that your software will run properly. Some specialized productivity apps might not work, and games may either face glitches or not run at all. The anti-cheat technology Riot Games uses for League of Legends and Valorant won’t run, for instance.
If the X2 fits your needs, however, PCs like the Zenbook A14 and A16 may be viable alternatives to Apple’s MacBook Air, Dell’s redesigned XPS line, and similar thin-but-fast offerings.They should better compete in raw speed without sacrificing the longevity that initially made Snapdragon laptops appealing.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
