Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon chips have rapidly turned Home windows on Arm right into a viable platform. We’ve examined over half a dozen laptops with the brand new processors, and even the least highly effective chip matches Intel and last-gen AMD on CPU efficiency and beats them on battery life. However I’ve been wanting to get my arms on a laptop computer with Qualcomm’s quickest Snapdragon processor to see if it might do much more. I obtained to see the high-end mannequin in motion again in April on a demo machine, and it appeared like it might be the chip to assist usher in a brand new period of quicker, extra power-efficient Home windows PCs and tackle Apple’s MacBook Air M3 in a method that Intel or AMD hadn’t been capable of accomplish.
That chip — the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 — is just accessible in a single Copilot Plus PC: Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 Edge. It’s Samsung’s thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptop computer, designed for on a regular basis net searching, a mixture of business- and creative-focused work, and operating Home windows Copilot Plus AI apps like Stay Captions and Cocreator. The Edge has comparable options to the Intel-based Galaxy Book4 Extremely, like an AMOLED show and a fingerprint reader, however it additionally presents quicker ports and quicker Wi-Fi.
The X1E-84-100 chip is meant to be as much as 20 % quicker than the following mannequin down. Samsung had an opportunity to make the laptop computer that might present the platform’s full potential. As a substitute, it underpowered the hell out of that chip to have the thinnest chassis doable. There’s nonetheless a superb laptop computer within the Book4, however you don’t want to purchase the perfect chip to get it — and also you’d truly be higher off saving the money.
Surprisingly transportable
Heavy, barely transportable 16-inch laptops have practically turn out to be a factor of the previous, making bigger screens an more and more interesting selection. The Book4 Edge pushes the boundaries of a 16-inch machine even additional. It’s one of some 16-inch laptops that’s beneath half an inch thick and beneath 3.5 kilos, making it one of the transportable massive laptops accessible. It doesn’t pressure my again once I carry it in my shoulder bag, and it seems like I may be nimbler with it since its weight is distributed throughout a bigger space in comparison with some lighter and smaller Copilot Plus PCs I examined. It’s simpler to carry, so I’m not afraid of dropping it.
The Edge’s construct high quality is stable. Its metallic chassis is completely inflexible, the lid doesn’t flex while you open or shut the laptop computer, and the hinge retains a agency grip on the lid no matter the way you tilt it. Aesthetically, the machine’s grey keys mix in properly with its silver physique. Samsung says the physique colour is definitely a sapphire blue, however I don’t see any blue in it.
The keyboard is responsive however not attention-grabbing. I like that the keys usually are not too shallow and that they don’t make quite a lot of noise, particularly for a heavy-fingered typist like myself. However they really feel sluggish. The precise press feels slower and softer than I anticipated. I don’t outright dislike them, however after typing on the Asus Zenbook S 16 — a competing 16-inch laptop computer that’s practically the identical dimension and weight — I don’t wish to return to Samsung’s.
Disappointing efficiency
The Book4 Edge can be nice for work, college, or any surroundings the place all you want is a quick, dependable machine to deal with the fundamentals. The laptop computer opens packages a smidge quicker than quite a lot of competing AMD or Intel-based machines, and it might deal with a bunch of browser tabs or streaming motion pictures simply as properly. However since Samsung prioritized design over efficiency, it handed over an opportunity to indicate off what Qualcomm’s quickest Snapdragon chip is able to at its finest.
The bottom Book4 Edge mannequin comes with a Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 processor, however the higher-end mannequin I reviewed has the X1E-84-100 chip, which is meant to be as much as 20 % quicker. It’s additionally purported to be able to boosting the max clock velocity of two of its cores from 3.8GHz to 4.2GHz.
I monitored the X1E-84-100’s clock speeds throughout testing. Even in our most punishing multicore benchmarks, none of its 12 cores hit 4.2GHz. Samsung wouldn’t inform me precisely how a lot energy it’s giving the CPU within the Book4 Edge, however it’s clearly not sufficient. I additionally monitor energy consumption throughout benchmarks. The Book4 Edge by no means drew greater than 35W from the wall in my testing; each different laptop computer I’ve examined with a Qualcomm chip drew nearer to 50W.
Like many processors, the Snapdragon X Elite chips can work inside a fairly vast energy vary: give it extra energy, and it’ll go quicker. It’ll additionally produce extra warmth. The thinner the laptop computer, the much less room there’s for the cooling system to dissipate that warmth, and the much less energy you can provide the processor consequently. By giving the chip much less energy, Samsung retains the temperature beneath management and the chassis skinny. Happily, the Book4 Edge not hitting its max clock velocity doesn’t have any impact on the way it feels to make use of day by day. It’s nonetheless across the identical velocity as the opposite Snapdragon X Elite laptops we’ve examined.
But it surely was a letdown once I in contrast its benchmark scores to laptops with lower-tier Snapdragon chips, just like the Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x, and noticed decrease numbers; the Book4 Edge was 13 to 16 % slower in multicore efficiency than these laptops, respectively. The Edge is presently the one laptop computer with Qualcomm’s quickest processor, and I wished to see it fly!
Lengthy battery life
The upside to the laptop computer not operating full tilt is that it’s pretty energy environment friendly: I sometimes obtained round 14 hours of battery life on a cost. I used to be in a position to make use of it for practically two full work days whereas loading up Microsoft Edge with dozens of tabs, streaming music, writing, and taking the occasional video name. I had the laptop computer’s energy mode set to essentially the most environment friendly setting, however there wasn’t a change in Book4 Edge’s responsiveness. (I didn’t see a notable distinction in energy draw between effectivity mode and efficiency mode.)
The factor that impressed me essentially the most about this laptop computer’s battery life was that it lasted that lengthy on a comparatively small 61.8Wh battery, exhibiting how power-efficient Qualcomm made its Snapdragon processors. Simply how environment friendly? Think about the just about an identical 16-inch Galaxy Book4 Extremely, which has an Intel Core Extremely chip and a 76Wh battery. The Book4 Edge outlasts it by about 20 minutes, even with a battery that’s 18 % smaller. Yeah, the chip is that environment friendly.
Its 2880 x 1800 (3K) AMOLED show additionally helps save energy. It has round half the pixel depend of a 4K show, so the laptop computer doesn’t must work as exhausting to energy it. However there are nonetheless loads of pixels to maintain photos trying clear and sharp whereas producing an expanse of correct, vibrant colours. It’s a contented center floor that doesn’t sacrifice picture high quality for battery life — an enormous purpose why shows with comparable resolutions are beginning to crop up extra typically in productiveness and gaming laptops alike.
A compelling base mannequin
The Book4 Edge is an effective, skinny, and light-weight laptop computer for somebody like a pupil who wants a big-screen machine that may deal with a number of open apps with ease. It has glorious battery life, a pleasant display, and beauty. I simply can’t see why Samsung put essentially the most highly effective Snapdragon X Elite chip right into a laptop computer after which didn’t reap the benefits of it. There’s no purpose to get the $1,750 mannequin I examined; the $1,450 base mannequin is a a lot better worth for 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 chip.
The Snapdragon processor makes the Book4 Edge one of many thinnest, lightest 16-inch Home windows laptops you may get, with nice battery life and efficiency. However energy customers who want a Home windows laptop computer for inventive work or gaming are nonetheless a lot better off with an AMD or Intel machine. These machines could have higher app compatibility and higher graphics efficiency, even when, sure, you’ll have to commerce at the least a couple of hours of battery life. Asus’ Zenbook S 16, as an illustration, begins at $1,699. It has quicker efficiency, comes with extra RAM, and prices rather less than the Book4 Edge, however it’s a few third of a pound heavier and will get round 11 hours of battery as an alternative of 14.
Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 Edge is an effective laptop computer for every little thing that it does provide. However I nonetheless haven’t seen what Qualcomm’s strongest Snapdragon X Elite chip is able to.
Images by Joanna Nelius / The Verge
