Just this afternoon, Qualcomm, a world-famous tech company, reiterated their push to have AI PCs in the hands of the everyone in the Snapdragon South East Asia Summit. Joining them in Singapore are representatives from Microsoft and PC manufacturers such as ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. In the event, Qualcomm showcased the capabilities and possibilities of AI PCs powered by their recently unveiled Snapdragon X chips.
But before we get to the details, let’s clear some things first.
You might be familiar with the name of the chip as it is widely adopted in smartphones. The Snapdragon that you know of powers a huge number of mobile devices, not just smartphones. However, Qualcomm decided to push for more and take the battle to the PC market, challenging established giants such as Intel and AMD. Packed with more than a decade of experience in designing chips for the mobile market, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon entry and development in the PC market is definitely something to watch out for.
For easy reference, the main differentiator for the chips are the X (which designates them as PC chips) and the name following it. Below are the Snapdragon chips for the PC:
Key differences between the processors, aside from the price, are the cores and frequencies. However, it is important to note that all of them, regardless of range or price, have the same number of NPUs (neural processing unit) or the processors meant to handle AI-related tasks. This means that even the entry level one, Snapdragon X, is made to do AI-related tasks natively.
Get to know more about it via the official Snapdragon X website.
With the naming convention out of the way, let’s discuss what was talked about during the Snapdragon South East Asia Summit. The event mostly revolved around the goal to have AI PCs go mainstream and the different use case scenarios. Also included in the discussion were how the current Snapdragon chips are different and can compete in the market. Below are some keypoints that the speakers pointed out that make the Snapdragon chips competitive in today’s AI PC hardware field:
A thing highlighted during the summit was the low power consumption of the laptops powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X. These laptops significantly run for a longer duration than what their rivals can offer. However, as models do vary together with features, no solid number was given.
Rest assured, we’ll let you know if such is really the case once we get our hands on a Snapdragon X-powered PC in the next couple of weeks.
Given the low power consumption, Snapdragon X chips also operate with low temperatures. Not only are they efficient but the PC manufacturers also mentioned that the laptop can run heavy AI-based tasks. This also means that it won’t burn your skin or leave you uncomfortable after having it for extended hours on your lap.
The kicker of what was mentioned during the event is the claim to better performance. Given the low power consumption and low operation temperatures, it’s a testament to good design if your chip can still give more than what’s available in the market. Snapdragon X chips can do this. Benchmarked with a contemporary laptop, the Snapdragon X-powered chip ran significantly higher with a score that is more or less double than the PC powered by Intel.
Aside from the evidence, Nitin Kumar, VP and Product Management of Qualcomm, also presented the slide above.
Qualcomm representatives reiterated the goal of the company to push for more in the southeast asian region. With a growing population and rising middle class, the region is a hotbed for innovation and prospective buyers. As AI continues to push for more better efficiency and increased productivity, it’s not far to think that the region will greatly benefit and grow from the recent developments in AI technology. Qualcomm seeks to capitalize on this and push for more Snapdragon AI PC adoption in the region.
Yes. Aside from a new competitor in the market bringing forth more innovation, Qualcomm is keen to develop further the advancements in AI and are looking to make it more mainstream. The PCs presented during the Snapdragon South East Asia Summit are not that different from their Intel or AMD counterparts but what really matters is what’s inside (wow!)
The summit also gave us an idea on how the Snapdragon X chips would run in real-world scenarios. One booth showcased the possibilities of AI assistance in the music industry, with AI helping in transforming audio. This results in the removal of heavy equipment such as amplifiers, mixers, and such. Another booth demonstrated the help of AI in isolating audio in music, separating the volume controls for instruments and vocals. With that said, it’s definitely going to be an exciting year for Qualcomm given that they do plan on making Snapdragon X run more applications natively.
Snapdragon X-powered AI PCs are available locally in the Philippines with more brands set to launch in the next couple of months.
