Microsoft Surface Laptop's Snapdragon X Elite tears through the MacBook Pro in performance
Yet another trend is making its way onto our doorstep: Copilot+ PCs. Naturally, I'm skeptical about any marketing tactic from big tech companies, but something about Qualcomm revitalizing its effort into the laptop chip-making game is exciting. Competition is healthy, but did it help the new Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition?
Our lab testers ran Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100 processor ragged, testing its mettle in the critical performance tests you'd find in our reviews. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition's new CPU is going head-to-head with the Dell XPS 14, Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M), and the MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023).
As you might've guessed, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition tears through its competitors — including the MacBook M3 Pro — on overall performance thanks to its Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100 CPU. However, its Qualcomm Adreno GPU suffers quite a bit in the graphics department.
Does Microsoft finally stand a chance against the biggest competitors in the laptop space? Let's find out.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition: Geekbench 6
On the Geekbench 6 overall performance test, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition scored 2,809 on single-core performance and 14,426 on multicore performance. That surpasses the average premium laptop (8,799) by miles.
Did it beat the MacBook Pro 14 M3, though? Technically, yes. It beat the M3 (11,968) and the M3 Pro (14,357). I say technically because the M3 and M3 Pro scored higher on single-core performance, with 3,163 and 3,154, respectively.
But how does that compare to the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor? The Dell XPS 14 (multicore: 12,711; single-core: 2,373) and Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (multicore: 12,707; single-core: 2,453) lagged.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition: HandBrake
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in just 5 minutes and 10 seconds on our HandBrake benchmark, crushing the average premium laptop (7:45).
It easily outpaced the Dell XPS 14 (5:44) and Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (6:36). Even the MacBook Pro 14 M3 didn't stand a chance (5:38). However, the M3 Pro comes in with a killing blow, completing the test in just 4 minutes and 26 seconds.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition: 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme
How well does the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition's new Qualcomm Adreno GPU do under pressure?
On the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme synthetic graphics benchmark, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition scored 6,499. A solid score, but not relatively as high as the MacBook Pro 14 M3 (7,861) or M3 Pro (7,311)
Since this is an ARM-optimized test, the x86 Zenbook and XPS 14 couldn't participate.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition: Gaming
Forget about synthetic graphics benchmarks. Let's throw the Adreno GPU back in time. That's right, it's time for the Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark.
At Medium, 1080p settings, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition scored... oof. That's just 21 frames per second, which fails to hit the minimum 30 fps for playability.
And that's not the worst of it. Every single competitor outpaced the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition. The Dell XPS 14 (88 fps; RTX 4050 GPU), MacBook Pro 14 M3 (51 fps), and M3 Pro (54 fps) excelled, and even the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (31 fps; Intel Arc Graphics) managed a playable frame rate.
Bottom line
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition is a champ when it comes to CPU performance, and that's all thanks to the Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100. Qualcomm put its best in this.
However, I'm not excited to play games on this rig. The Qualcomm Adreno GPU is not even capable of 30 fps on our lowest gaming benchmark. It's possible that the GPU doesn't play well with that specific game. I plan on loading up a number of games on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition and writing about that experience this week.
Following that, you'll see the full review of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition. From what I'm seeing so far, it will score well. The question is how well. Gaming is disappointing, but that's not the point of the laptop, despite Qualcomm showing off demos of Baldur’s Gate III, Control, and Redout II.
If you're as excited about this new age of laptops as I am, stay tuned for my full review and benchmarks of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition.
