Hands On: Lenovo Embraces Snapdragon X Elite CPU in New Yoga, ThinkPad AI PCs

In advance of its 2024 Build conference in Seattle, Microsoft just announced a new generation of AI-enabled Windows machines with all three big Windows laptop chipmakers—AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm—in on the plan. This initiative gives Qualcomm a head start on the plan with its much-anticipated Snapdragon X processors, and Lenovo has followed with its first such laptops.

Lenovo’s first two machines out of the gate with this new silicon are the ThinkPad 14s Gen 6 and the Yoga Slim 7 X, both of which run Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chip. We went hands-on with these laptops in a private meeting with Lenovo before the Seattle announcement.

This is shaping up to be a new dawn for Arm-based Windows machines following some half-starts in the past, thanks to the promise of these new chips and Microsoft’s backing. Check out the video above for the rundown and a closer look at the systems, with more details below.

Next-Gen Windows AI PCs Are Here: Snapdragon X Elite Enters the Field

This wave of AI PCs will be the first to run on these Snapdragon chips, but it's not the first we're hearing of the new processors. You can read our testing deep dive, from when we attended Qualcomm's initial Snapdragon X Elite reveal event last year, to find out more. We knew then that we wouldn't see those products inside retail laptops until the middle of this year, and now that we're here, the first ones are decloaking from Lenovo, HP, Dell, Samsung, Asus, and others.

More recently, we conducted some additional firsthand Snapdragon X Elite testing ourselves, as well as a look at the stepped-down Snapdragon X Plus. (Neither of these machines uses the X Plus.) A lot of the performance claims are promising on paper, but they will need to be confirmed in reality; the results were impressive, albeit in a controlled environment. We'll have the retail models of these laptops in hand in the coming months for full-fledged testing. (One sure bet: You'll come across plenty of variables in the real world across different laptop models.)

The upshot is that the Snapdragon X Elite looks to be a very capable chip, made up of three parts (rather than the traditional CPU and GPU only). There's the 12-core CPU (based on the "Oryon" architecture), the Adreno integrated GPU, and now the advanced neural processing unit (NPU), the last in the same vein as the AI-related NPU tiles on recent AMD and Intel mobile chips. Local AI active and background tasks can be offloaded to the NPU, leaving the CPU free to operate the usual functions and workloads.

Additionally, as mentioned, the other major factor today is Microsoft's backing. This isn't the first attempt at Windows on Arm by any stretch—see the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 SQ3 as one of the most prominent recent examples—but Qualcomm is taking an unprecedented front-and-center position for this new generation of AI PCs. It is the first major push with Windows integration, AI hardware, cloud infrastructure, and backing from major PC makers all in place simultaneously. All of these factors pair with confident claims about the performance capabilities, which, putting past lackluster experiences with Snapdragon silicon in laptops aside, we’ll see for ourselves in these new machines soon.

Promises about performance join a growing list of compatible apps that can leverage the Snapdragon X Elite AI features, as well as Windows’ new built-in Copilot+ offerings. By leveraging the NPU, these applications can optimize and speed up your workflow, answer questions, and run background enhancements without taxing the CPU.

You can read our coverage of Microsoft's announcements for more details, which apply to all of the AI-enabled Snapdragon PCs rolling out soon. Now, let's take a closer look at Lenovo's specific hardware.

Yoga Slim 7 X Gen 9: Snapdragon X Elite for Consumers

While you'll find millions of ThinkPad units out there working for businesses, the average shopper will be more interested in the sleek new Yoga Slim 7 X Gen 9. This is a 14.5-inch device for general use, but with the new processor’s purported power and AI capabilities, you should be able to get real work done on it, too. It's only 0.5 inch thick and weighs 2.8 pounds, fitting well within the ultraportable class.

Part of the Snapdragon proposition is long-lasting battery life, supporting the mobile laptop design. Different use cases will cause the battery life to vary greatly, but Lenovo is touting "multi-day" battery life for these two systems. (There is a 70Whr battery inside the Slim 7 X.)

Leaving the ability to tweak configurations to the ThinkPad, Lenovo is keeping things simple with the X Elite Slim 7 X: You'll find just a single model of this laptop, and it’s reasonably priced, too, at $1,199.

That looks all the more palatable when you consider the specs outside of the Snapdragon X Elite and its sleek form: The screen is a 3K-resolution (2,944-by-1,840-pixel) OLED panel, and the laptop comes with 16GB of memory and a 1TB SSD.

Lenovo includes an improved full HD camera, an IR sensor, a physical camera shutter, and four microphones, which should altogether make for a better-than-average conference-calling experience. You'll find three USB Type-C ports, as well as support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3.

We weren’t sure where to expect laptops with the Snapdragon X Elite to fall in terms of price, and there will still be something of a range. Still, it’s positive for consumers that we’re seeing laptops in the $1,000-to-$1,200 tier, just below truly premium pricing. If the Yoga is any indication, these cutting-edge chips will not be reserved only for high-end systems.

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What's more, the build quality and design felt nice for that price. True, $1,199 is hardly budget pricing for a general-use laptop, but this Yoga's materials and solid build quality are more reasons I wouldn't have been too surprised if it was more expensive. The Yoga Slim 7 X looks sleek, feels well-made, and has a sharp-looking screen. And, if you were confused by the Yoga branding, one thing to realize: No, this is not a convertible device. Nowadays, Yoga is a Lenovo brand name, but not necessarily indicative of a 2-in-1 laptop. Clamshells can be Yogas now, too. The Yoga Slim 7 X will be available in June 2024.

The ThinkPad T14s Gen 6: Ready for AI-Enhanced Business

On to the commercial side of things, and the Snapdragon X Elite-equipped ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. A new ThinkPad is always welcomed by business users. Lenovo’s previous Snapdragon effort was the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s, which we thought needed more power. X Elite has been added to the mix to, ideally, bring that improved performance and Windows compatibility.

The T14s (as you can tell from the name) is a 14-inch laptop, slightly larger than the X13s. The default screen is a 16:10 full HD IPS display, but you can also upgrade to a 2.8K OLED screen. Snapdragon X Elite will power this version of the machine, too.

Despite the fresh internals, this model certainly looks and feels like a ThinkPad (a bit less adventurous than the Yoga, perhaps), but it's a tried and tested professional build. The keyboard is as comfortable as ever, the screen looks sharp, and it maintains portability at 2.72 pounds. The T14s being a business-ready machine, you can outfit it with up to a 1TB SSD and 64GB of memory. That corporate orientation also means a fingerprint reader (located on the power button), discrete TPM, and secured cores.

Also good are the business-calling bona fides: You'll find a full HD webcam, an IR camera with a privacy shutter, and two microphones, as well as Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 support. Physical connectivity includes two USB Type-C ports, two USA Type-A ports, an audio jack, and an HDMI output. The multi-day battery-life claim applies here, too, though this system has a smaller (58Whr) battery than the Yoga above.

The ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 will be available in June 2024 starting at $1,699. Check back this summer for full reviews of these laptops, other AI PCs, and our verdict on Snapdragon X Elite (and X Plus) performance as more machines with the new chips make the journey to PC Labs.