Snapdragon X2 Elite reviews show big improvements in gaming performance, but issues still persist

Reviews for laptops and Copilot+ PCs featuring Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite processor have begun to appear online, and the second-generation Windows on Arm platform is proving to be a winner in areas like battery life and even GPU-accelerated workloads.

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However, as the original Snapdragon X Elite struggled to even run games due to the Windows PRISM emulation layer required to play most titles, one of the big questions with this second generation is how gaming performance compares to the latest iGPU offerings from AMD and Intel. Right off the bat, the good news is that game compatibility appears to have dramatically improved.

The review from Hardware Canucks notes that 9 out of 12 games in its benchmark suite run fine on the new Snapdragon X2 Elite processor, with online titles like ARC Raiders, PUBG, and Battlefield 6 failing to load due to anti-cheat technologies. As for performance in games that run, it's mostly positive but also a mixed bag, with inconsistent performance and issues that go beyond FPS numbers.

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On the plus side, for the most part, the Snapdragon X2 Elite and its Adreno X2-90 GPU's gaming performance sits somewhere between the AMD Ryzen AI HX 370 and the Intel Core Ultra X7 Series, while falling short of the Apple M5 in titles like Baldur's Gate 3. Hardware Canucks points out that even though gaming performance has improved, there are still titles where the Snapdragon X2 Elite falls short of its potential, with performance in games like Counter-Strike 2 and DOTA 2 sitting well below the competition, and other games reporting lower-than-ideal 1% low FPS numbers.

NotebookCheck's review also highlights issues getting some games to run, such as F1 24 and F1 25, while noting that the Snapdragon X2 Elite can now play games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3 with high graphics settings. All in all, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite is a big step in the right direction for PC gaming; however, it's not quite at the level where you'd pick up an X2 Elite device like the new ASUS Zenbook A16 for productivity and gaming.