Early benchmarks say it: Qualcomm's Snapdragon Extreme chip is cooking Intel’s top-tier Panther Lake

Images of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, benchmarks from reference design laptops, and pictures from the announcement at the Snapdragon Summit (2025).

Typically, Windows laptops rely on x86 processors from Intel and AMD. In recent years, though, Qualcomm Snapdragon chips have started to gain ground, partly as the industry tries to catch up with the efficiency gains seen in Apple’s M series processors.

Now, Qualcomm is positioning the Snapdragon X2 Elite as a flagship Windows laptop chip, putting it directly up against Intel’s Panther Lake lineup. Early benchmarks suggest Qualcomm could have the edge this time, with the Snapdragon chip pulling noticeably ahead in early testing.