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Qualcomm Introduces New Snapdragon X2 Plus and Snapdragon C Chip Families; Asus Announces First Snapdragon Desktop PC

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CES 2026: Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon X2 Plus, Budget C Platform, and Asus Mini PC

Qualcomm expands its Windows PC lineup with mid-range and budget offerings, while Asus launches the first desktop powered by the flagship Snapdragon X2 Elite chip.

In a series of announcements at CES 2026, Qualcomm detailed new processors for Windows PCs, including the mid-range Snapdragon X2 Plus and the budget-oriented Snapdragon C platform. Separately, Asus unveiled a mini PC powered by the flagship Snapdragon X2 Elite chip.

Snapdragon X2 Plus Processors

Product Positioning and Availability

Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon X2 Plus processors at CES 2026, positioning them as the mid-range offering within the Snapdragon X2 Series, which was initially announced in September 2025. According to Qualcomm, PCs featuring both the X2 Elite and X2 Plus are expected to be available around the end of the first quarter of 2026.

Qualcomm Senior Director Mandar Deshpande stated that Snapdragon X2 products target similar market segments as the previous generation, where the "Elite" tier started at $1,000 and the "Plus" at $800.

The company described the target users for the X2 Plus as "modern professionals," "aspiring creators," and "everyday users."

Performance Specifications

Qualcomm reported the following performance improvements for the Snapdragon X2 Plus compared to the previous-generation Snapdragon X Plus chips released in 2024:

  • CPU single-core performance: Up to 35% increase
  • CPU multi-core performance: Up to 17% increase
  • GPU performance: Up to 29% to 39% increase (depending on the model)
  • NPU performance: Up to 78% increase

Technical Details

The Snapdragon X2 Plus series includes two processor variants:

  • A 10-core configuration using Qualcomm's third-generation Oryon cores with a GPU frequency of 1.7GHz
  • A 6-core configuration using Qualcomm's third-generation Oryon cores with a GPU frequency of 0.9GHz

The Snapdragon X2 Plus features fewer CPU cores than the X2 Elite, which offers 18 and 12 core configurations. The Plus chips utilize Qualcomm's next-generation Adreno graphics architecture and offer a maximum multi-threaded frequency of 4.0GHz. The processors support LPDDR5x memory with a transfer rate of 9,523 megatransfers per second and up to 128GB capacity.

AI and Neural Processing

The X2 Plus models integrate the same NPU as Qualcomm's higher-end chips, capable of 80 trillion operations per second (TOPS). The company stated this is "the fastest NPU in a laptop" in its class.

Power Efficiency

Qualcomm reported that the X2 Plus requires up to 43 percent less power than its predecessor and claims the chips deliver "multi-day battery life" with consistent performance when operating on battery power.

Graphics and Gaming

The company announced quarterly graphics driver updates for Windows laptops. Qualcomm reported support for approximately 1,400 game titles, covering 90 percent of the most played games. The Snapdragon Control Panel app is designed to automatically update GPU drivers, which natively support DX 12.2 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenCL 3.0.

Enterprise Management

An optional feature for the Snapdragon X2 Plus, Elite, and Elite Extreme chips is the Snapdragon Guardian, an out-of-band PC management solution. Qualcomm has described this as an equivalent to Intel's vPro platform. The company has invested in channel partners to support marketing and sales of Snapdragon-powered PCs, though two key channel leaders departed within the last four months.

Design Flexibility

Qualcomm stated that both the Plus and Elite chips can scale to various wattages. Most laptop designs are expected to fall within the 12–35W range, with some fanless designs possible. Mini PCs using the chip could incorporate an additional 10W of headroom for enhanced performance.

Snapdragon C Platform

Product Positioning

Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon C system-on-a-chip (SoC), designed for budget Windows laptops priced between $300 and $500. The 'C' stands for 'Compute,' according to the company.

Qualcomm Senior Director Mandar Deshpande stated the platform aims to provide responsive performance, all-day battery life, and reduced fan noise for budget-conscious buyers.

Technical Specifications

The Snapdragon C chip is based on Qualcomm's Kryo architecture, which uses Arm Cortex cores, rather than the higher-end Oryon architecture used in the Snapdragon X and X2 series. Deshpande acknowledged that older CPU cores were used to achieve the target price point. The SoC uses a big.LITTLE configuration with high-performance and efficiency cores. It includes a dedicated NPU for AI features, though the NPU's performance in TOPS has not been disclosed. The NPU is not powerful enough to meet Microsoft's Copilot+ PC requirements.

Market Context

Qualcomm is positioning the Snapdragon C against Intel's upcoming 'Wildcat Lake' processors (Core 3 Series) and Apple's MacBook Neo, which uses the A18 Pro processor. Googlebooks, a new Android-based laptop category, may also use Snapdragon C chips.

First Laptop Model

Acer announced a configuration of the Aspire Go 15 (AG15-Q31P) featuring the Snapdragon C chip. The laptop specifications include:

  • 15.6-inch 1080p display
  • Up to 8GB memory and 512GB storage
  • Two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, HDMI 1.4
  • Headphone jack, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4
  • 1080p webcam and 53Wh battery

OEM Partners and Availability

Qualcomm stated that Snapdragon C processors will appear in laptops from Acer, HP, and Lenovo. HP and Lenovo have not yet announced specific models. The company stated that shipments are expected later in 2026 and that more technical details will be released in a few months.

Asus Ascent QN10 Mini PC

Product Details

Asus introduced the Ascent QN10, a mini PC powered by the 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite processor. The device claims to be the first mini PC to achieve 80 TOPS of AI performance via its dedicated Hexagon NPU. The system supports up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory at 9600MHz.

Context and Significance

Prior to this announcement, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X series was used primarily in notebook computers. The Ascent QN10 marks the first desktop implementation of Qualcomm's flagship PC chip. The device supports Microsoft's Copilot+ PC experiences. According to Asus, the device offers a balance of performance and efficiency while maintaining cool, quiet operation.

The device positions Snapdragon-based desktops as potential competitors to Apple's Mac mini and Mac Studio.

Demonstrations

At Microsoft Build, Asus and Qualcomm demonstrated the QN10 running development tools like Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot. The system also ran private large language models using LLMWare and AnythingLLM without cloud reliance.

Upcoming Considerations

Qualcomm is currently not discussing support for operating systems other than Windows or for Windows on Arm handhelds. Potential announcements regarding Windows handhelds are anticipated at the 2026 Game Developers Conference, scheduled for March 9th to 13th.