Investing in new laptops to equip your mobile workforce requires careful thought about how end users plan to use their devices and what’s most important to them as they go through their workdays. High-travel jobs and hybrid- and work-from-home business models mean that strong, responsive device performance isn’t the only thing employees want. They’re also looking for systems they can bring with them without having to worry about their battery dying or applications slowing down while they’re working on the go.

We compared the general system performance and battery life of two laptops: a Dell^™ Latitude^™ 7455 with Snapdragon^® X Plus 10-core processor (X1P-64-100) and a Lenovo^® ThinkPad^® T14 Gen 6 with Intel^® Core^™ Ultra 7 268V vPro^® processor (codenamed: Lunar Lake). Across the benchmarks we tested, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop offered stronger performance on productivity apps while working unplugged and also delivered significantly longer battery life than the Lunar Lake-based system. This balance of strong unplugged performance and lengthy battery life can help give your team the flexibility they need to be productive from wherever their workdays take them.

Balancing strong performance and long battery life

Today’s workforce is mobile. They may carry their laptop from conference room to conference room in the office, work from their living room couch, or venture out for a cup of coffee in a cozy atmosphere. These modern work styles call for a laptop fleet that performs well to keep employees productive while also giving them the freedom to roam. That’s why it’s critical to assess performance as well as battery life—and to ensure that the systems you provide your team don’t perform poorly while they’re running on battery.

In our tests, we compared the general unplugged performance and battery life of two systems:

• Dell Latitude 7455
  • Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor (X1P-64-100) and Qualcomm^® Adreno^™ GPU, 32GB LPDDR5x memory, 512GB SSD storage, Windows 11 Pro, 54 Whr battery, 2,560 x 1,600 display
• Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 6
  • Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 268V vPro (Lunar Lake) and Intel Arc GPU, 32GB LPDDR5x memory, 512GB SSD storage, Windows 11 Pro, 57Whr battery, 1,920 x 1,200 display

To assess battery life, we set up a ten-person Microsoft Teams videoconference to see how long each system continued to run this common resource-hungry use case while unplugged. We also ran two battery life benchmarks to show expected battery life with lighter workloads: PCMark 10 Battery Life and Procyon Battery Life Benchmark.

We ran several industry-standard benchmarks while the systems were unplugged to form a picture of the overall productivity performance users might expect when using common apps on the go. These benchmarks included Cinebench 2024, Geekbench 6, CrossMark, Procyon Office Productivity, and PCMark 10.

We ran these benchmarks in two different Windows 11 power modes:

• Balanced, a middle ground option that adjusts power settings based on user activity to provide a mix of performance and efficiency
• Best Power Efficiency, which maximizes battery life by limiting background activity and performance, which conserves power

For results from our performance tests, visit page 5.

To learn more about the laptops we tested and the details of our testing process, read the science behind the report.

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.

Spend more time working—wherever you are—with longer battery life

Imagine your flight’s just been canceled, and you’re stuck in the packed airport with nowhere to plug in your laptop. Your headphones are ready so you can join a scheduled call and get the details about an upcoming project from your client. But halfway through the crucial details, your laptop shuts down because the battery died. For critical moments like this, and for better flexibility, end users need the option to work unplugged for as long as possible.

Microsoft Teams 3x3 video conference

Figure 1 compares the battery life duration and Figure 2 compares the battery efficiency of the two systems during a Teams videoconference with ten participants. The Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop lasted for two and a half hours longer during the meeting than the Lunar Lake processor-based system.

Procyon Battery Life Benchmark

The Procyon Battery Life Benchmark gives another look at battery life, this time using real-world scenarios around office productivity, which is less taxing than a video conference.³ In this test, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop lasted over 2 hours longer than the Lunar Lake processor-based system and delivered a 15 percent higher performance score (see Figures 3 and 4).

Stronger unplugged performance = better productivity on to go

Because mobile workers have various workflows they need to handle on their laptops while they can’t be plugged in, it’s crucial to look at demanding tasks (such as graphics rendering) as well as responsiveness on more generalized office productivity tasks. Across the benchmarks we tested, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop outperformed its Lunar Lake processor-based competitor.

Geekbench 6

Geekbench 6 is another benchmark that 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.”⁶

As Figure 8 shows, in Balanced mode, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop achieved a 28 percent higher Multi-core score and a 97 percent higher Single-core score than the Lunar Lake processor-based system.

In Best Power Efficiency mode, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop achieved a 6 percent lower Multi-core score and a 43 percent higher Single-core score than the Lunar Lake processor-based system (see Figure 9).

CrossMark v1.0.1.95

CrossMark is a “cross-platform benchmark that measures the overall system performance and system responsiveness using models of real-world applications.”⁷ In Balanced mode, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop achieved a 21 percent higher score than the Lunar Lake processor-based system (see Figure 10).

In Best Power Efficiency mode, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop achieved a 1 percent higher score than the Lunar Lake processor-based system (see Figure 11).

Procyon Office Productivity benchmark

We compared the systems’ unplugged performance for general productivity 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.”⁸ As Figure 12 shows, in Balanced mode, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop achieved a 52 percent better overall rating than the Lunar Lake processor-based system.

In Best Power Efficiency mode, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop achieved a 26 percent better overall rating than the Lunar Lake processor-based system (see Figure 13).

PCMark 10

PCMark 10 is another general performance benchmark that measures the performance of Windows systems across a wide variety of real-world applications and activities.⁹ Again, the Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processor-powered laptop outperformed the Lunar Lake processor-based system, achieving a 26 percent higher overall rating in Balanced mode and approximately the same overall rating in Best Power Efficiency mode (see Figures 14 and 15).

Conclusion

When your workforce travels or has the flexibility to work from home, top-tier laptop specs alone isn’t enough. Employees also need laptops they can reliably take anywhere, without concerns about their battery running out or their applications slowing down during critical moments. Based on our test results, upgrading your laptop fleet with systems powered by Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processors (X1P-64-100) like the Dell Latitude 7455 we tested could meet these joint needs better than an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V vPro (Lunar Lake) processor-based system.

With up to 52 percent better general performance and nearly 3 hours longer battery life than an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V vPro (Lunar Lake) processor-based system, the Snapdragon X Plus-powered Dell Latitude 7455 is a solid upgrade target for your laptop fleet. Give your team the tools they need to work productivity from anywhere with a laptop powered by Snapdragon X Plus 10-core processors.