Qualcomm Launches $300 Windows Laptops With Snapdragon C Up to Eight Arm Cores

Qualcomm is aiming at one of the toughest parts of the PC market with its new Snapdragon C platform, a low-cost Arm-based solution designed for Windows laptops starting at around $300. The company is targeting students, families, and users who mainly need a laptop for web browsing, office work, streaming, and video calls, while promising better battery efficiency than Intel’s entry-level N250 platform.

The Snapdragon C platform uses Qualcomm’s Kryo CPU architecture with up to eight Arm cores. Clock speeds reach up to 3.0 GHz for single-core workloads and 2.0 GHz when multiple cores are being used. The chip also includes 2 MB of cache and an integrated Adreno A643 GPU running at up to 900 MHz. Qualcomm has even added a Hexagon NPU, bringing support for lighter AI workloads to a segment where dedicated AI hardware is still uncommon.

Memory support extends to 16 GB, with manufacturers able to choose LPDDR4x, LPDDR5, or LPDDR5x. Storage options include PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSDs, UFS 2.2, and UFS 3.1. The inclusion of LPDDR4x could help manufacturers keep costs under control as memory and NAND flash prices continue to put pressure on budget laptop designs.

Qualcomm is also making performance claims against Intel’s N250 “Twin Lake” platform. Its internal testing shows Snapdragon C delivering between 24% and 67% higher performance depending on the workload. Cinebench reportedly shows up to 50% higher single-threaded performance and as much as 67% higher multithreaded performance. Geekbench and Speedometer also favor Qualcomm’s platform in the company’s comparisons.

The company also reports better results in Geekbench and Speedometer. These tests can be more representative of everyday laptop use, particularly for web browsing and general productivity tasks.

Battery efficiency is another major part of the Snapdragon C pitch. Qualcomm claims up to 106% higher efficiency during Netflix playback, 68% during web browsing, and 74% during Microsoft Teams video calls compared with the Intel N250. These figures come from Qualcomm’s own testing, however, and actual battery life will depend on the laptop’s display, battery capacity, cooling, memory, storage, and software configuration.

Acer, ASUS, HP, and Lenovo are expected to launch Snapdragon C laptops, giving Qualcomm several established PC makers to work with as it expands Windows on Arm into lower price ranges. The platform could also provide a lower-cost entry point for users who may later consider more powerful Snapdragon X2 Plus or Snapdragon X2 Elite machines.

The biggest question is whether manufacturers can actually deliver a well-equipped Snapdragon C laptop at the $300 target. If systems at that price include adequate memory, fast storage, a decent display, and competitive battery life, Qualcomm could have a credible option for the budget Windows market. The first retail laptops will ultimately determine whether Snapdragon C can make that price point work in a market facing higher component costs.

Qualcomm Snapdragon C Specifications

Source: Tom’s Hardware