Skip to main content

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx: Everything we know so far

Qualcomm is finally getting serious about laptops. Should Intel be scared?

Photo by David Cogen

The market is saturated with a wealth of the best laptops and is poised to become even more competitive as the year draws to a close. Alongside new entries from typical chip makers like Intel and AMD, Qualcomm is entering the laptop market in a big way with systems powered by its capable Snapdragon 8cx system on chip (SoC).

Set to go head to head with Intel’s mid-range Core i5 CPUs and the laptops they reside in, the Snapdragon 8cx is one of the most existing pieces of hardware to come along in years. Here’s everything we know so far.

Related Videos

Pricing and availability

The first Snapdragon 8cx-equipped laptop, the Samsung Galaxy Book S, will start shipping out in September 2019 with more laptops to follow towards the end of the year. Sampling of the SoC didn’t start until the third-quarter of the year, so there will be a trickle of new systems before a flood, but they’re coming down the pipeline.

The Samsung Galaxy Book S starts at $1,000, so Qualcomm is targeting the midrange of mainstream laptops with these devices. Expect there to be more expensive versions with other feature enhancements, but we doubt we’ll see this high-end chip in budget offerings.

Architecture

Like previous Snapdragon designs, the 8cx is a system on chip, or SoC, that combines a number of different controllers and processors into a single chip. It’s built on TSMC’s 7nm process — the same one used by AMD’s new 3000-series Ryzen processors — and combines four Kryo 495 Silver, high-efficiency CPU processing cores, with four high-performance Kryo 495 Gold processing cores. This is the big/little core setup that Qualcomm has used in its Snapdragon SoC designs for years, delivering high performance as and when required and high-efficiency otherwise, to provide great battery life without sacrificing power.

This 4 + 4 setup is slightly different to the 1 + 3 + 4 setup employed in Qualcomm’s other high-end Snapdragon SoCs, the 855 and 855+.

Alongside those general processing cores, the 8cx also integrates Qualcomm’s Adreno 680 graphics processor (GPU) with full support for DirectX12. Although we don’t know the clock speed it will run at yet, we know it’s an advanced form of the Adreno 640 found in the Snapdragon 855 and 855+. It also supports the latest H.265 video codec and HDR.

Performance

Snapdragon 8cx brings extreme multitasking to PCs

This is the big question for the new Snapdragon chip. Can it really compete with more typical laptop chip providers like AMD and Intel? Early, leaked benchmarks suggest it can. We’ve seen leaked performance numbers for the 8cx CPU cores compare favorably to Intel’s 8th-generation Core i5 CPUs. Early tests picked up by TomsHardware showed it achieving great scores in Microsoft Office tests, especially.

How it will compare against the more capable, upcoming Intel Ice Lake and Comet Lake mobile CPUs, remains to be seen.

Graphics performance should be impressive, with Qualcomm claiming that the 8cx could be twice as capable at 3D rendering than the Snapdragon 850 and three times that of the Snapdragon 835. Double the speed of a smartphone chip may not seem like much, but it should be at least comparable to Intel’s onboard UHD graphics. We would expect 11th generation graphics in Intel’s Ice Lake chips to be more impressive, but we’ll need to await direct comparisons to know for sure.

We do know that the 8cx will support up to 16GB of 8-channel DDR4 memory, so there’s plenty of scope for high-bandwidth memory access for each of the chip’s cores. It also suppots NVMe SSD storage, so devices built using the Snapdragon chip will support some of the fastest storage solutions available today, for snappy operation. That should help speed up system boot times and application load times over more traditional storage solutions, without impacting weight or laptop size.

It is worth noting, however, that now all Windows applications will run natively on Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs. Emulation makes that possible, but performance using such methods isn’t typically as strong.

Efficiency and connectivity

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

A big selling point of Qualcomm’s 8cx chip is that it will be efficient. Qualcomm has previously stated that with its big/little core design, we should see laptops that can last as long as 20 hours on a single charge, even while using an LTE cellular data connection. This will ultimately depend very much on the way the laptop is used and user settings like Windows mode and screen brightness. Samsung claims the Galaxy Book S will last up to 23 hours on a single charge.

Like Intel’s Ice Lake CPUs, which when combined with the new chipset give support for new wireless connection options, the Snapdragon 8cx also has some strong support of its own. It enjoys support for Wi-Fi 6 (802.11.ax) as well as 802.11ad, Bluetooth 5, LTE connectivity, and MU-MIMO for managing multiple high-speed connections. It also has USB 3.1 Gen 2 support for fast wired connections over USB-A and USB-C.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
This major Apple bug could let hackers steal your photos and wipe your device
A physical lock placed on a keyboard to represent a locked keyboard.

Apple’s macOS and iOS are often considered to be more secure than their rivals, but that doesn’t make them invulnerable. One security team recently proved that by showing how hackers could exploit Apple’s systems to access your messages, location data, and photos -- and even wipe your device entirely.

The discoveries were published on the blog of security research firm Trellix, and will be of major concern to iOS and macOS users alike, since the vulnerabilities can be exploited on both operating systems. Trellix explains that Apple patched the exploits in macOS 13.2 and iOS 16.3, which were released in January 2023, so you should update your devices as soon as you can.

Read more
We now know why Apple’s Reality Pro headset was delayed
A rendering of four Apple mixed-reality headsets (Reality Pro) in various colors sitting on a surface.

Until last week, Apple’s Reality Pro mixed-reality headset was expected at a spring event. Yet that news was spoiled when Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman reported that the device had been pushed back to June, and he has now shared exactly why that is -- along with another surprising revelation.

Why June, you ask? Well, that’s when Apple hosts its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), a massive showcase event where developers can learn about the latest Apple software releases and get hands-on in a weeklong series of demonstrations and seminars.

Read more
Apple delays unveiling of mixed-reality headset, report claims
A rendering of an Apple mixed-reality headset (Reality Pro) in a gray color seen from the front.

Apple’s highly anticipated mixed-reality headset is expected to be unveiled at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, according to a new report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

A Bloomberg report last month suggested the headset would land in April, but according to Gurman’s sources Apple has now delayed its appearance by three months after testing of the device surfaced software and hardware issues.

Read more