Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips in Dell XPS 13 Plus laptops will nearly double battery life over Intel, cost half as much

Jeff Butts
·2 min read
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The Dell XPS 13 laptop.
The Dell XPS 13 laptop.

According to leaked internal documents, buyers of upcoming Dell XPS 13 Plus laptops with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor could enjoy twice as much battery life during video playback. Dell has been testing the new Arm-based laptops and comparing them with older XPS 13 systems using the Intel Alder Lake-P chip.

In addition to the improved battery life, Dell’s estimates show the Snapdragon X will cost the company significantly less. The Intel Core i7-1360P found in the predecessor was valued at $293 in March 2023. The Snapdragon X, on the other hand, will cost Dell $145.

According to VideoCardz, citing a Dell executive summary, Dell’s internal testing reveals an estimated 68% to 98% battery life improvement with the Snapdragon X. The exact improvement varies depending on the display type. Qualcomm officially claims an additional 25 hours or more of continuous video playback compared to Intel Core Ultra CPUs. This 43% improvement, it’s important to note, is based on local video playback.

This improvement is due to the Snapdragon processor being much more efficient than Intel Core Ultra CPUs. It's worth noting that Dell doesn’t plan to increase the battery capacity for the new models. All variants of the XPS 13 will include a 55 Wh battery, the same as that found in its predecessors.

Breakdown of battery life for XPS 13
Breakdown of battery life for XPS 13

(Image credit: VideoCardz)

On laptops equipped with an FHD+ display, the Snapdragon X model provided 29.6 hours of video playback, compared to the Intel models’ 15.45 hours. With a QHD+ display, batteries lasted through 21.9 hours of video playback with the Snapdragon, while Intel could only run through 11.02 hours of video. While the Intel-equipped XPS 13 could play video for 9.95 hours on a single battery charge, newer Snapdragon X-based models kept going for 16.8 hours.

The reduced CPU cost means that there is more money for Dell to spend on other components inside its latest laptops. Dell intends to price the new Snapdragon-equipped XPS 13 starting at $1,199. That price will get you a Dell XPS 13 laptop with 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a full HD display.