Qualcomm's slowest Snapdragon X Plus CPU quietly sneaks into the market — X1P-42-100 features eight cores up to 3.4 GHz, 1.7 TFLOPS GPU, and 45 TOPS NPU

Qualcomm and its partners have quietly started shipping systems based on the company's entry-level Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor. The CPU is not only the cheapest in the Snapdragon X lineup yet, but it also happens to support device TDP of up to 20W, making it Qualcomm's lowest-power PC processor. However, that lower power comes with significant performance tradeoffs, as reported by VideoCardz.

While Qualcomm's 12-core Snapdragon X Elite processors are aimed at ultra-high-end mobile devices that cost $1,500 and over and feature a 23W or 80W 'device TDP,' the Snapdragon X Plus with eight or ten cores is designed for mainstream devices that are significantly cheaper. In fact, Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm's chief executive, recently said that his company expects Snapdragon X to power PCs that cost $700.

"As we look forward to 2025, we are already working with OEMs on the next wave of Copilot+ PCs," said Amon at the company's earnings call in late July. "In addition to new design wins, our X-series product roadmap will expand to address PCs with retail prices as low as $700 without compromising NPU performance." 

We are not sure whether he meant the Snapdragon X Plus series, but the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor is cut down significantly enough compared to premium Snapdragon X Elite CPUs if the specifications published by VideoCardz are correct. 

The Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 not only has eight Oryon cores with cut-down cache and lacking boost (which is logical given the fact that the unit is said to support a 20W device TDP), but it has a severely downgraded GPU too (it is 2.7 times slower compared to the X11-84-100 CPU). The only thing not downgraded in the X1P-42-100 is the NPU for on-device AI workloads, which still offers 45 TOPS to meet Microsoft's requirements for Copilot+ PCs.

For now, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor seems to be exclusively used inside the Asus ProArt PZ13 'creative tablet' with a 20W 'device TDP and a 13.3-inch AMOLED display as well as inside the entry-level Asus Vivobook S 15 OLED laptop that comes with a 15.6-inch OLED display (as revealed by multiple retailers, including Shi.ca). While the products use Qualcomm's entry-level processor, they are not cheap. For example, Shi.ca charges CAD$1,552 (about $1,137) for the unit.