TECH – At CES 2026, Qualcomm pulled the curtain back on a fresh addition to its PC silicon lineup: the Snapdragon X2 Plus, a chip platform designed to bring higher performance, longer battery life, and robust on-device AI to mainstream Windows notebooks, according to Jagat Review. Unlike the top-tier Snapdragon X2 Elite and Elite Extreme, the X2 Plus is built to widen the Snapdragon X Series’ appeal — targeting professionals, creators and everyday users who crave power without sacrificing mobility or efficiency.
The heart of this new platform is the third-generation Qualcomm Oryon CPU, which Qualcomm says boosts single-core performance by up to 35 % compared with the last generation while slashing energy consumption by as much as 43 %. That means laptops powered by X2 Plus chips could deliver noticeably snappier responsiveness for tasks like data analysis, creative design and long video calls — while still sipping far less energy.
Beyond raw CPU power, the Snapdragon X2 Plus packs serious AI muscle thanks to Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU, rated at 80 TOPS (trillions of operations per second). This on-chip AI engine is built to handle complex generative and “agentic” AI tasks locally — without leaning heavily on cloud computing — enabling smooth multitasking and enhanced AI-based features embedded into Windows 11 Copilot+ experiences.
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At the CES unveiling, Qualcomm’s Senior Vice President Kedar Kondap summed up the company’s vision for the platform “Modern professionals and creators want to do more, create more, and push the limits of generative AI and all-day performance. Snapdragon X2 Plus platform delivers the power, efficiency and intelligence to surpass their ambitions, making each experience more responsive and personal.”
The Snapdragon X2 Plus family includes both 10-core and 6-core models, giving OEMs flexibility to design devices that balance cost, performance and thermal efficiency. Connectivity hasn’t been overlooked either: the platform supports Wi-Fi 7, optional 5G, Bluetooth 5.4, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Guardian security suite, aimed at keeping data safe in mobile and enterprise environments.
Qualcomm clearly hopes this platform will accelerate adoption of Arm-based PCs running Windows 11 Copilot+. With its blend of power, AI capabilities and all-day battery life, the Snapdragon X2 Plus chips are expected to start appearing in consumer and professional laptops in the first half of 2026 — a pivotal moment that could reshape the competitive landscape against traditional x86 processors from Intel and AMD.
