We’ve benchmarked the first wave of Copilot+ PCs packing Snapdragon X Elite chips — and it's looking very promising. Qualcomm claimed its silicon could match or beat its competitors — namely Apple M3 and Intel Core Ultra — in terms of performance and battery life. So far, our testing has revealed that Snapdragon X Elite chips are the real deal — with laptops like the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 turning in excellent results in our lab tests.
We were especially curious to see the battery life of Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops. That’s because Apple’s M-series MacBooks are the reigning champions for efficiency. Most of the best Windows laptops we’ve tested barely endure for ten hours — which is a far cry from the best MacBooks that can last for 14 hours at minimum.
Considering how Qualcomm said laptops with Snapdragon X Elite could outlast MacBooks, we wanted to see if this claim was anywhere close to being true. After testing seven Copilot+ PCs, we can confirm that some of these notebooks last as long or longer than M-series MacBook Air laptops. A new silicon arms race (pun very much intended) has begun.
Copilot+ PCs vs Apple MacBooks
Of all the Snapdragon X Elite laptops we’ve tested, the HP OmniBook X and HP EliteBook Ultra have the longest battery life so far. The 13- and 15-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 machines also have epic battery life comparable to MacBook Airs, while the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x also turned in strong results. The Surface Pro 11 did very well for a Windows laptop.
* bold = Snapdragon X Elite
On the Tom's Guide Battery test, which involves continuous web surfing at 150 nits of screen brightness, both of HP’s new notebooks clocked in at 16 hours and 22 minutes of battery life. In comparison, the MacBook Air 13-inch M3 and Macbook Air 15-inch M3 lasted for a little over 15 hours. The 15-inch Surface Pro 7 endured for a minute over 15 hours but the 13-inch model lasted for an astonishing 15 hours and 44 minutes — beating both MacBook Air M3 models.
HP's notebooks weren't able to beat the MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 (17:16). Considering how the MacBook Air laptops don't have fans overheating, it makes sense that the 14-inch Pro with fans is more efficient.
While Snapdragon X laptops endure longer than M3 MacBook Airs, the M3-driven 14-inch MacBook Pro proves that Qualcomm silicon isn't completely dominant in terms of efficiency.
Copilot+ PCs vs Intel Core Ultra
Snapdragon X Elite (and Snapdragon X Plus) aren’t the only AI-focused processors for Windows laptops. We’ve also reviewed some notebooks sporting Intel Core Ultra or “Meteor Lake” processors. How well do Snapdragon X Elite laptops compare to machines with Intel Core Ultra 7 processors, battery-wise?
* bold = Snapdragon X Elite
The MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo (13:22), Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i (12:12) and Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 360 (12:04) all did very well for Windows laptops. However, except for the Surface Pro 11, none endured as long as Copilot+ PCs with the Snapdragon X Elite X1E78100 chip. Whereas Qualcomm traded blows with Apple, it completely demolished Intel in our battery life tests.
Outlook
It’s still unclear whether or not Copilot+ PCs will revolutionize the world with their AI capabilities. But even if AI doesn't live up to its lofty promises, we now have Windows laptops that can last as long or longer than MacBooks thanks to Snapdragon X.
We’ve only tested the first iteration of Snapdragon X laptops so it’ll be interesting to see what future versions will be able to deliver in terms of battery life and performance. Regardless, it’s safe to say Qualcomm has put Apple and Intel on notice.
