Ever since discovering first-hand how strong Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips perform in Copilot+ PCs, there's been one thing on my mind. This stuff would be great in a gaming handheld. The performance is clearly available, and if paired with the battery life efficiencies you can expect using one, it just makes too much good sense.
I'm not here to proclaim that Snapdragon X is, right now, in February 2025, perfect for a handheld. Because it isn't, but I've been testing out gaming performance on a Snapdragon X Plus this past week courtesy of the Acer Swift 14 AI, and I have a much clearer vision of what I think should happen. I've already tried a Snapdragon X Elite, but this is my first time using the lower-tier chip, and I've compared it to playing games on my Steam Deck to get a real-world idea of how a Snapdragon handheld might actually perform.
