Qualcomm has unveiled a new laptop processor that it says will last multiple days and has ‘extreme’ performance. With built-in 4G, it wants to persuade you that Intel is dead and ARM is the future for Windows. Here’s what you need to know.
Qualcomm says current thin and light laptops aren’t good enough. They take too long to start up, their batteries run out too fast and they’re not connected.
And, naturally, it has the answer: a Qualcomm chip instead of an Intel or AMD processor.
These have been available for a while, with the Snapdragon 835 then the 850. Not a whole lot of laptop makers decided to use the chips, with only Samsung and Lenovo opting for the 850. You can read our Samsung Galaxy Book 2 review to find out more about the 850.
Today, though, Qualcomm announced a brand new Snapdragon for laptops, the Snapdragon 8cx. This isn’t just a smartphone chip that has been tweaked for use in laptops, it’s designed specifically for the task.
The company says this is the best yet, and that the x stands for ‘extreme’. To this end it offers better performance, better battery life and – importantly, built-in 2Gb/s LTE just like the Snapdragon 855.
And like the 855, the 8cx is a 7mn chip. This refers to the manufacturing process used, and the smaller number the better.
