For a long time, Microsoft has been trying to place Windows in combination with ARM in the market, but this hasn’t really worked well until now.
The first attempt, Windows RT in the Windows 8 era, failed because Windows RT wasn’t able to run any regular Win32 applications. With Windows 10, Microsoft introduced Win32 emulation, but only for 32-Bit applications. It is only since Windows 11, that 64-Bit applications can also be emulated, even if it still isn’t all of them.
However, the software is only one of the problems – another lies in the hardware. The previous ARM CPUs in Windows laptops have all been very energy efficient, but also extremely weak compared to Intel and AMD processors and also the Apple M CPUs. Without a suitably fast processor, the platform will probably never achieve its breakthrough.
Qualcomm has already made several attempts, and the newest is called Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3. Qualcomm promises the performance of an Intel Core i5 processor of the Tiger Lake generation. Even through the performance is significantly better than that of the older 8cx CPUs, Qualcomm is still unable to completely fulfill its promise:
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga G1 20QB0016GE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1 21BX000QGE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga G1 20QB0016GE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1 21BX000QGE |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga G1 20QB0016GE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1 21BX000QGE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1 21BX000QGE |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga G1 20QB0016GE |
As we found out in our detailed test of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s, the first laptop with the newest Snapdragon generation, the performance of the Qualcomm chips is still lower than that of the Tiger Lake CPUs. Of course, we also have to admit that the emulation takes some of the performance. In addition, at least compared to the UP4 series from Tiger Lake, things look slightly better in the Cinebench R23 benchmark. Here, the load lasts slightly longer, and the throttling to a lower TDP leads to the Tiger Lake chip in the ThinkPad X1 Titanium losing some of its performance.
However, the comparison to the current processor generation also shows how much work Qualcomm still has to do: The Snapdragon still continues to place last, behind Intel, AMD, and Apple.
But at least we can say that the competitors aren’t completely out of reach anymore. Perhaps the eagerly awaited Nuvia chips could actually bring the breakthrough for the Windows on ARM platform that has been due for many years.
I was an ardent reader of Notebookcheck’s laptop reviews even back in school. After writing reviews as a hobby, I then joined Notebookcheck in 2016 and have worked on device reviews and news articles ever since. My personal interest lies more with laptops than smartphones, with business laptops being the most interesting category for me. Technology should make our lives and work easier and good laptops are an essential tool for that to happen. This is why laptop reviews are not just my work but are also my passion.
Having worked as a programmer for 20 years (medical devices, AI, data management systems), I’ve been following the computer scene for many years and especially enjoy finding out about new technological advances. Originally from Germany but living in the US, I’ve been working as a translator more recently, with Notebookcheck allowing me to combine my interest in new devices and translation. Other interests include Buddhism, spending time in Tibetan monasteries, and translating ancient Tibetan texts.
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