A leaked presentation of its new laptop line running on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X processors indicates that Dell is more than just keeping up with the rapidly changing pace of innovation in technology; it is also leaping ahead – literally in every sense. Not just efficiency, nor simply battery life, but almost every existing pricing and performance norm in the laptop world is now up for grabs.
At the core of the transformation Dell hopes to implement is the Qualcomm Snapdragon X: a new processor that promises unmatched energy efficiency alongside exquisite price-performance. Certain Snapdragon X-powered laptops promise battery life lasting 98 per cent longer than their counterparts with more recent Intel chips, including the forthcoming Intel Meteor Lake line. And that’s not the only relevant comparison: these Intel processors cost twice as much as the Snapdragon derivatives.
A detailed comparison on Dell’s website between laptops powered by Snapdragon X chips and those powered by Alder Lake or Meteor Lake CPUs from Intel also turns up a few game-changing facts. On a common workload such as local video playback, a Snapdragon X-powered laptop requires half the energy over its Alder lake equivalent – a powerful indicator of its potential to provide battery backup for over 21 hours of continuous playback for laptops whose design is optimised for that purpose. No one in a wired world can deny that the ubiquity of streaming and media use on the go is the rule now.
But perhaps the most shocking stat is the price tag. Dell’s calculations show that there isn’t a great tradeoff in getting a Snapdragon X Plus 10-core chip – a comparable 12-core i7 1360P comes in at $296 versus $145. That’s a price that gives Dell an enviable edge over competitors in the laptop wars, letting it create leading experiences at more price-friendly levels.
That probably means we’re not going to see any of these reduced costs directly reflected in bargain-basement retail pricing for buyers. Nonetheless, the implications are huge: a Snapdragon-powered XPS 13 should cost slightly under $1,289 to produce, about $100 less than its Intel-based counterpart. At that price, Dell sits squarely in the sweetest part of the S-Curve of value for ‘young metropolitan’ customers who, in its words, ‘want performance, long battery life, and good value for money – not just a name brand.
Dell’s presentation names Apple as its chief competitor with Snapdragon X-powered Dell laptops taking aim at the MacBook Air market segment, then. While features such as battery life, performance and design enable high profit margins, there’s another reason to take advantage of the ARM architecture and use Snapdragon X: building a viable laptop means competing on more than just the bottom shelf.
I like Snapdragon X’s chances of handling Windows-based apps and games well. I’ll reserve judgment until they have been subjected to real-world testing, but the early signs are positive. X looks to be another milestone in the headlong journey towards ARM PCs going mainstream. ARM’s advantage of starting from a clean sheet is clearly driving competitiveness. If you had asked me four to five years ago whether we could expect an ARM PC with Windows to achieve the kind of performance we saw at Dell’s press conference, I would have looked at you incredulously – we wouldn’t have passed the qualifiers. But they have now done just that.
Headquartered in the tech hub of Round Rock, Texas, Dell Technologies has become a household name primarily through a commitment to quality, performance and customer satisfaction. For years, the company has been at the forefront of transformational technologies to design and manufacture sustainable, efficient and affordable hardware. The idea behind the Snapdragon X is to integrate powerful technologies into a compact package under a single roof.
With this kind of longevity, further cost savings thanks to reduced energy consumption, and nearly 50 per cent cheaper than competing laptops with 10th-generation Intel chips, Dell laptops enabled by Snapdragon X processors offer users what’s bound to be an attractive combination of battery life and high performance, making them much more competitive on the secondhand market.
Power efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the Snapdragon X processor directly translate to lesser expenditure on running costs and enhanced battery life for these laptops – factors that are as important to end-consumers as they determine the resale value of these laptops.
If you decide to sell your Dell laptop, make sure it’s in good shape, backed up, and that you’ve double-checked all of your data is actually erased in an irreversible form. You should emphasise the Snapdragon X processor, as this is what the phone’s efficiency and long battery life is based on.
Indeed, with their innovative processor technology, extended battery life and better performance, Dell laptops powered by Snapdragon X are being found more frequently on re-commerce sites.
As ARM-based processors continue to proliferate, and consumers in general accept those slower speeds in return for greater energy efficiency and longer battery life, I’m guessing that this sort of device will be in higher demand, which could make such a Dell laptop with an Snapdragon X processor even more sought-after on the used market.
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