So, what’s to not like? Properly, early compatibility issues slowed the preliminary uptake of Snapdragon X, and the CPU’s built-in graphics efficiency turned out to be fairly horrible. And thus far, highly effective onboard AI options simply haven’t confirmed vital, as most AI workloads are nonetheless being accomplished within the cloud. With the second-generation X2, Qualcomm got down to ship on the unique promise of quicker efficiency.
However what precisely does “quicker” imply? As with most claims within the PC computing area, it’s all concerning the benchmarks. On the Zenbook A16, the exams I ran certainly showcased exemplary efficiency from the X2 Elite Excessive, in among the most generally used benchmarking instruments, particularly Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024. (I don’t have sufficient aggressive Cinebench 2026 outcomes to make huge comparisons but on that benchmark.)
The efficiency enhance on Geekbench is especially putting, with the A16 scoring 50 to one hundred pc quicker than competing techniques from AMD and Intel. It’s even quicker than the Apple MacBook M4 Professional, the final Mac for which I’ve comparable benchmark scores. Nevertheless, that Mac did beat the Asus on the Cinebench benchmark, however not by a lot, and the Asus now stands solidly in second place in my testing archive.
Graphics efficiency is a lot better than in earlier generations of Snapdragon X chips, with body charges quadrupling on common, relying on the check. That’s a dramatic and much-needed enchancment for the CPU, and whereas nobody will accuse the A16 of being a gaming rig, it does at the least make for a workable expertise with much less taxing video games and graphics-heavy workloads.
Beige Belies Efficiency
{Photograph}: Chris Null
I’m completely happy sufficient with how the Snapdragon X2 Elite Excessive performs to log off on its efficiency claims, however there’s much more to the Zenbook A16 than its CPU.
Below the hood, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Excessive X2E94100 CPU is complemented by 48 GB of RAM and a 1-TB SSD. The 16-inch touchscreen gives a strong decision of 2880 x 1800 pixels, and it’s extremely shiny. A weight of two.9 kilos is spectacular (if not remarkable) for the 16-inch class, and at 0.65 inches (at its thickest), it has a svelte, fairly moveable carrying expertise. Asus’s Ceraluminum expertise (now with added magnesium) is used within the machine’s lid, base, and keyboard body. That helps hold it skinny and lightweight, although when adjusted or touched, the display screen shimmied greater than I anticipated.
