First Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs arrive to buyers and initial tests do not look very good

A Reddit user under the name cponica23 has already received their first Copilot+ PC, namely the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge with the Snapdragon X Elite processor. The happy owner took some time to perform initial tests and benchmarks, and the result turned out to be interesting, if not underwhelming.

When Qualcomm showcased its new shiny chips for Windows PCs, it promised quite impressive results in Geekbench, such as about 3,000 in single-core and over 15,000 in multi-core. In reality, the tested model running with the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 scored 1,841 in the single-core test and 11,537 in the multi-core, which is a pretty far cry from the promised values. For reference, that is lower than Apple's A14 processors from 2020.

A quick dive into Task Manager revealed that the device was running at 2.5GHz max, again, far from the promised 3.4GHz for the X1E-78100 model. This might explain why the processor fails so short of its promised performance envelope. Another guess is that Samsung is throttling down the CPU to achieve better battery life. The NPU, however, a big part of the Copilot+ PCs thing, was not tested.

As for the battery life, the initial test showed solid performance, which can get you through an entire day, but Apple's M2-powered MacBook Air (referred to as 'MBA' by the Reddit user), which Microsoft tries so hard to beat, is still showing better results.

Early Impressions are good, not MBA M2 level but far better than a Core Ultra 9 185H Zenbook Duo using just one Screen. The ZDuo had to plug it at around 17/18H this one is lasting till 22:00. You can count on a whole day battery for sure.

Whatever the case, at this point, it is too early to grab pitchforks. Samsung and Qualcomm may release new firmware to address the problem with low CPU clocks.

Finally, in games, cponica23 tested the laptop using Resident Evil Village, and the game managed to output 40 to 50 FPS with severe frame droops at 1080p Medium with FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) in Performance mode. Although Qualcomm said Snapdragon X chips should be capable of decent gaming, Copilot+ PCs clearly should not be on your list if you want something more than the simplest casual gaming.

Microsoft will start shipping its Copilot+ PCs on June 18. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the lineup behaves in the hands of their owners.