So what’s to not like? Effectively, early compatibility points slowed the preliminary adoption of Snapdragon X, and the CPU’s built-in graphics efficiency turned out to be fairly terrible. And to this point, most AI workloads are nonetheless working within the cloud, so sturdy onboard AI capabilities haven’t confirmed their significance. With the second-generation X2, Qualcomm has got down to ship on its unique promise of quicker efficiency.
However what precisely does “quicker” imply? Like most claims within the PC computing area, it is all about benchmarks. The checks we ran on the Zenbook A16 actually confirmed the X2 Elite Excessive’s exemplary efficiency on among the most generally used benchmark instruments, specifically Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024. (We do not but have sufficient Cinebench 2026 outcomes for this benchmark to make an in depth comparability.)
The efficiency enchancment on Geekbench is particularly noticeable, with the A16 scoring 50-100% quicker than competing methods from AMD and Intel. That is even quicker than the final Mac I had comparable benchmark scores with, the Apple MacBook M4 Professional. Nevertheless, whereas that Mac beat the Asus within the Cinebench benchmark, it wasn’t by a lot, and the Asus at the moment sits firmly in second place in my take a look at archive.
Graphics efficiency is a lot better than previous-generation Snapdragon X chips, with a median of 4x greater body charges in some checks. It is a dramatic and much-needed enchancment for the CPU, and whereas nobody will accuse the A16 of being a gaming machine, it does a minimum of present a usable expertise for much less demanding video games and graphics-intensive workloads.
beige berries efficiency
Photograph: Chris Null
Whereas we’re fairly proud of the Snapdragon X2 Elite Excessive’s efficiency and might settle for its efficiency claims, there’s much more to the Zenbook A16 than simply the CPU.
Below the hood, a Snapdragon X2 Elite Excessive X2E94100 CPU is complemented by 48GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The 16-inch touchscreen has a strong 2880 x 1800 pixel decision and is extremely brilliant. Its weight of two.9 kilos is spectacular (if not extraordinary) for the 16-inch class, and at 0.65 inches (at its thickest level) it is supple and really moveable. Asus’ CeraAluminum expertise (with the brand new addition of magnesium) is used within the machine’s lid, base, and keyboard body. This retains it skinny and light-weight, however after I adjusted or touched it, the display screen shook greater than I anticipated.
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