A Principled Technologies report: Hands-on testing. Real-world results.
Get stronger app performance unplugged with Snapdragon X Plus processor-powered laptops
A Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered laptop outperformed an Intel Core Ultra 5 228V processor (Lunar Lake)-based system in productivity apps while delivering longer battery life for flexibility on the go
Standardizing on a system for your mobile-first PC fleet isn’t just a hardware refresh—it’s a way to cut help-desk workloads and battery-life complaints while giving teams the tools they need to be productive. Choosing the right laptop for your employees means weighing battery life as well as sustained performance on battery power, so employees have the freedom to work at high speed from anywhere. Laptops powered by Snapdragon® X Plus 8-core processors can help meet those needs so users can stay more productive, longer, whether they’re at their desk or away from it.
We compared the general productivity performance of a Dell™ Latitude™ 5455 with Snapdragon® X Plus 8-core processor (X1P-42-100) to the HP EliteBook 8 G1i 14" with Intel® Core™ Ultra 5 228V (Lunar Lake) processor. Using a suite of benchmarks, we found that the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered system offered longer battery life while undergoing a real-world Teams videoconference and delivered stronger productivity performance on common apps while unplugged. The performance advantages of Snapdragon X Plus-based systems can give your teams the responsiveness they need to maximize productivity, even while they’re running on battery power.
Which laptop balances strong performance and long battery life?
Today’s workers aren’t exclusively sitting at desks in an office setting—they’re working from home, traveling for business, or setting up in a local coffee shop to power through their business day. This mobility makes it important to assess laptop performance while running on battery life, since many end users spend only portions of their day near an outlet.
In our tests, we compared the general unplugged performance and battery life of two systems:
Dell Latitude 5455
Snapdragon X Plus 8-core X1P-42-100 processor, Qualcomm® Adreno™ GPU, 16GB LPDDR5x, 512GB SSD, Windows 11 Pro, 54 Whr battery, 1,920 x 1,200 display
We ran several industry-standard benchmarks while the systems were unplugged and in Balanced mode to form a picture of the overall productivity performance users might expect when using common apps on the go. These benchmarks included Geekbench 6, Procyon Office Productivity, PCMark 10, and Cinebench 2024. To see these performance results, visit the section titled Be more productive when working unplugged.
To assess battery life performance, we set up a ten-person Microsoft Teams videoconference (in Best Power Efficiency mode) to see how long each system continued to run this common resource-hungry use case while unplugged.
To learn more about the laptops we tested and the details of our testing process, read the science behind the report.
About Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processors
According to Qualcomm®, Snapdragon X Plus processors balance high performance and power efficiency, allowing “users to optimize workloads for productivity without interruption. Say goodbye to lag with incredibly fast responsiveness.”1
Codenamed Qualcomm Oryon, the 8-core Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor integrates a Qualcomm® Adreno™ GPU for strong graphics performance. This Snapdragon X Plus processor boasts 8 cores, 3.4GHz frequency, and 30MB cache.2 Learn more about Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processors, visit the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus landing page.
Note: The graphs in this report use different scales to keep a consistent size. Please be mindful of each graph’s data range as you compare.
Work from anywhere—longer—with over 3 hours longer battery life on a Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered laptop
When employees are working on the go and need to complete demanding work or take a video call that uses lots of resources, the impact these activities have on battery life is significant. To maximize productivity, end users need the option to work unplugged for as long as possible.
Figures 1 and 2 compare the battery life and efficiency of the two systems running unplugged and in Best Power Efficiency mode during a Teams videoconference with ten participants in a 3x3 on-screen grid, first in duration and then in minutes per watt hour of battery. The Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered laptop kept the meeting going 45 percent longer than the Lunar Lake processor-based system—continuing the Teams meeting for 10 hours and 52 minutes compared to 7 hours 29 minutes for the HP laptop. While the Lunar Lake-based system has a higher-capacity battery (62 Whr vs 54 Whr, the Snapdragon X Plus processor-powered laptop battery both lasts longer and uses its power more efficiently.
Battery life duration, in minutes, during a Teams meeting while the systems were unplugged and running in Best Power Efficiency mode. Source: PT.
Battery efficiency, in minutes per watt-hour, during a Teams meeting while the systems were unplugged and running in Best Power Efficiency mode. Source: PT.
Be more productive when working unplugged
Mobile employees’ workflows don’t all look alike, but assessing system performance using both demanding rendering tasks as well as responsiveness on common apps can indicate which system might be a good fit for your organization’s PC fleet.
Cinebench 2024
The Cinebench 2024 benchmark renders images and video to evaluate computers’ CPU and GPU capabilities.3 Figure 3 shows that the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered laptop offered stronger unplugged performance on this benchmark, achieving a multi-core processing score that was 37.4 percent higher than the Lunar Lake processor-based system. The stronger multi-core score for the Snapdragon X Plus processor-powered laptop shows that it can better handle multiple workloads across multiple cores for heavily threaded tasks such as video editing and rendering, meaning it offers stronger unplugged performance for even the most demanding work.
Cinebench 2024 performance while the systems were unplugged and running in Balanced mode. Source: PT.
Geekbench 6
Another general system benchmark we used was Geekbench 6, which measures both single-core and multi-core processing power “for everything from checking your email to taking a picture to playing music, or all of it at once. [It] also measures performance in new application areas including Augmented Reality and Machine Learning.”4 As Figure 4 shows, the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered laptop achieved a 5.8 percent higher score on the Geekbench 6 benchmark, showcasing its strong processing performance while running on battery.
Geekbench 6 performance while the systems were unplugged and running in Balanced mode. Source: PT.
Procyon Office Productivity benchmark
Many laptop users across industries and job descriptions use Office applications in their day-to-day workflows. We compared the systems’ unplugged performance in this area using the Procyon Office Productivity benchmark, which “uses Microsoft Office applications to measure Windows PC and Apple Mac performance in office productivity tasks. The benchmark workloads are built on relevant, real-world tasks using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.”5 As Figure 5 shows, the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered laptop achieved an 11.1 percent higher overall rating unplugged than the Lunar Lake processor-based system. This result shows that users working unplugged could expect more responsive performance on Office apps when they’re working on a Snapdragon X Plus processor-powered laptop.
Procyon Office Productivity benchmark ratings while the systems were unplugged and running in Balanced mode. Source: PT.
PCMark 10
Another general productivity benchmark is PCMark 10, which measures the performance of Windows 10 systems across a wide variety of real-world applications and activities.6 Again, the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered laptop outperformed the Lunar Lake processor-based system while unplugged, scoring 10.0 percent higher on the PCMark 10 Applications test (see Figure 6).
PCMark 10 Applications test ratings while the systems were unplugged and running in Balanced mode. Source: PT.
Conclusion
Organizations looking to standardize on a new system to refresh their laptop fleet would do well to choose a Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered laptop like the Dell Latitude 5455 we tested, which demonstrated clear advantages in both unplugged productivity performance and battery life compared to the Lunar Lake processor-based HP EliteBook8 G1i 14" laptop.
Because it delivered superior benchmark results on both demanding rendering tasks and real-world apps while unplugged, the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor-powered laptop could offer end users a more responsive, productive experience, even when they can’t be plugged in. These performance gains plus multiple additional hours of battery life make it a compelling choice for organizations seeking reliable, high-performing laptops for their mobile workforce. By choosing a device that excels in efficiency and endurance, businesses can empower their employees to stay productive and connected wherever they choose to work.
This project was commissioned by Dell Technologies.
December 2025
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Principled Technologies disclaimer
Principled Technologies is a registered trademark of Principled Technologies, Inc. All other product names are the trademarks of their respective owners.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: Principled Technologies, Inc. has made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and validity of its testing, however, Principled Technologies, Inc. specifically disclaims any warranty, expressed or implied, relating to the test results and analysis, their accuracy, completeness or quality, including any implied warranty of fitness for any particular purpose. All persons or entities relying on the results of any testing do so at their own risk, and agree that Principled Technologies, Inc., its employees and its subcontractors shall have no liability whatsoever from any claim of loss or damage on account of any alleged error or defect in any testing procedure or result.
In no event shall Principled Technologies, Inc. be liable for indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages in connection with its testing, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall Principled Technologies, Inc.’s liability, including for direct damages, exceed the amounts paid in connection with Principled Technologies, Inc.’s testing. Customer’s sole and exclusive remedies are as set forth herein.
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