Lenovo Announces ThinkPad X13s Powered by Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 Chip

Lenovo unveiled today the new ThinkPad X13s, the company’s first Windows on ARM laptop powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 chip. Windows on ARM PCs have yet to start flying off shelves, but Qualcomm’s latest ARM chip designed for Windows PCs may finally start to move the needle.

According to Lenovo, the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 “delivers processing speeds with system-level performance boosts of up to 57% and handles multi-tasking up to 85% faster for incredibly smooth, responsive performance.” Lenovo also promises up to 28 hours of video playback on the ThinkPad X13s, as well as seamless connectivity thanks to Wi-Fi 6E and a built-in 5G modem.

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The ThinkPad X13s will also leverage Qualcomm’s latest chip to provide immersive video and audio experiences for video conferencing in applications like Teams or Zoom. The communication bar at the top of the laptop includes a 5MP camera with AI-based auto framing, an optional infrared camera, as well as triple-array microphones that support noise suppression.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s comes with a lightweight body (2.35 pounds, or 1.06kg)  made from 90% certified recycled magnesium, and there’s a 13.3-inch 16:10 display with optional touch and Eyesafe low blue light options. The ThinkPad X13s will launch in the US in May 2022 with a starting price of $1099.00, and we hope to get more details about the specs soon.

If Lenovo is the first PC OEM to announce a new laptop using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, it’s safe to expect that other manufacturers should follow later this year. Lenovo also announced many other new devices today including the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5 and updated ThinkPad T series laptops.

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Conversation 12 comments

  • digiguy

    Premium Member
    28 February, 2022 - 5:56 am

    <p>Very curious to see how this much faster ARM chip will compare to Intel</p>

    • MikeCerm

      28 February, 2022 - 5:27 pm

      <p>Single-core performance is about the same as one of Intel’s 8th-gen U-series processors. Multi-core performance is closer 11th gen, because the 8CX has 8 cores instead of just 4. Really not bad, perfectly fine for normal laptop stuff, but not really competitive with Intel’s or AMD’s current generation, unless you take battery life into account. Without actual real-world battery life tests it’s hard to know how the 8CX gen 3 will do. Previous generations got decent battery life, but not radically better than similar devices running x86 chips. If all they have done is just pushed clock speeds up higher, then battery life might not have improved much over the gen 2.</p>

  • fishnet37222

    Premium Member
    28 February, 2022 - 10:00 am

    <p>I won’t consider Windows on ARM viable until all my x86 apps can run on it.</p>

    • tehpenguin

      28 February, 2022 - 10:58 am

      <p>Now that Win11 has x64 emulation, what x86 apps are missing?</p><p>The only thing that I can think of is anything that has a kernel mode driver, or requires 16 bit support.</p>

      • thewarragulman

        Premium Member
        01 March, 2022 - 1:14 am

        <p>I’d imagine some software, such as virtual machine software would run poorly under x64 emulation or not run at all, which is a shame. Until Microsoft make ARM versions of both Windows Server and client available to run in an ARM version of Hyper-V, or VMware make an ARM specific version of VMware Workstation, people who rely on VMs, such as IT guys and software devs may not consider ARM based PCs.</p><p><br></p><p>I know it’s a niche market but considering it’s a ThinkPad, ThinkPads usually cater to these types of people so ARM isn’t fully there yet for some folk. That being said I adore the X13s and really want one despite this.</p>

  • Craig Hinners

    28 February, 2022 - 11:14 am

    <p>Good god, engineers are so bad at knowing what people want. Name one average consumer who cares whether the processor is x86 or ARM, much less wants to spend a nanosecond of their life thinking about it. And no, there is no “average consumer” who needs to watch video for 28 straight hours.</p><p><br></p><p>Nothing demonstrates the marketing gap between MS/Windows and Apple better than this article and better explains why the former is continuing its decent into irrelevancy. Engineers should stick to solving technical problems, and not just those technical problems that <em>they</em> perceive to be “problems”. And I say this as an engineer! ?</p>

    • geschinger

      Premium Member
      28 February, 2022 - 12:27 pm

      <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Hmm, what is the marketing gap you are referring to? Apple marketing certainly has a much better / easier story to tell since Apple Silicon is legitimately better than Intel but they seem to use an identical approach. </span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Apple marketing over the past year has been all about the difference between two types of processors and the excellent battery life of the newer processor type also using a similar metric. No "average consumer" needs to watch Apple TV app movie playback for 21 hours but that is something Apple stresses in their marketing.</span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

    • darkgrayknight

      Premium Member
      28 February, 2022 - 2:18 pm

      <p>The point isn’t that customers are clamoring for 28 hours of video playing, but rather that they want longer battery life. 28 hours of video playback is longer battery life than a lot of non-Arm laptops. So this is an actual solution to an actual problem.</p>

  • Cardch

    01 March, 2022 - 2:59 am

    <p>I’ve been using a Gen 2 ARM laptop for the last few months and for general purpose use it is fantastic. It’s incredible how quickly you get used to instant resume, long battery life and totally silent operation. Going back to a ‘normal’ laptop really feels like getting in a petrol car after spending time in an electric. I get they are not there for high powered use yet, so very interested to see how the Gen 3 performs in real life. But I do know I have hardly picked up my iPad since getting the Gen 2. For general browsing, document creation and *most* day to day stuff, this is the future to me, as long as MS stick with it.</p>

    • alpensturm

      02 March, 2022 - 4:58 am

      <p>I am curious – which <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Gen 2 ARM laptop are you using?</span></p>

      • Cardch

        03 March, 2022 - 2:40 am

        <p>It is the HP Elite Folio. A very nice laptop overall…..and as I say (while typing on it), totally silent and instant-on is a game changer.</p>

        • alpensturm

          06 March, 2022 - 9:49 am

          <p>Thanks, that one is worth considering, although quite expensive. I love the form factor!</p>

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