ASUS X2 Elite laptop series sees up to $350 price hike across the lineup just one day after launch

ASUS just unveiled its Snapdragon X2 Elite laptop series to widespread praise, with the verdict on its Zenbook A16 landing as "pretty much unbeatable at $1,599." Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip proved to be a winner in areas like battery life and GPU-accelerated workloads, paired with a whopping 48GB of RAM amid a RAM shortage and a 1TB SSD, making the A16 a formidable alternative to Apple's MacBook Pro lineup.

However, the Taiwanese firm may have gotten too greedy, as many have noticed shady pricing changes across Snapdragon X2 systems. ASUS was one of the first to list laptops powered by Qualcomm's new chips before the embargo ended. Soon after reviews went live, ASUS and Best Buy appear to have quietly raised prices across parts of the Snapdragon X2 Elite lineup without explanation.

According to Hardware Canucks on X, the Zenbook A16, which offered the best bang for the buck, saw a $100 MSRP bump, going from $1,599 to $1,700. Its less powerful sibling, the A14, took an even bigger hit, with a $350 increase from $1,000 to $1,350. Hardware Canucks said its review was based on pricing communicated before publication, but the numbers changed significantly after going live. That is not a good look for a launch that was built entirely around price and positioning.

The price increase hits differently depending on who the laptop is aimed at. A $100 bump on a premium machine is easier to absorb, but pushing a budget-oriented laptop past the $1,000 mark changes the conversation entirely.

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At the moment, neither ASUS nor Qualcomm has publicly explained whether this was a retailer-side change, a vendor adjustment, or placeholder pricing being swapped out. That said, the A16, even at $1,700, still delivers exceptional value compared to competitors, especially at a time when RAM is practically a luxury. However, the same cannot be said for the Zenbook A14. At $1,350, the A14 has priced itself out of the audience it was built for.