Intel Core Ultra, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus or AMD Ryzen AI: tested in the same Lenovo ThinkBook 16

Intel Core Ultra, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus or AMD Ryzen AI: tested in the same Lenovo ThinkBook 16

Which processor is best for your laptop? You can configure the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 with chips from AMD, Intel and Qualcomm, in the same case. That allows a direct comparison between the three chip manufacturers.

If you buy a laptop today, you have a choice of CPU from three processor manufacturers. AMD and Intel make classic x86 chips, and both claim to make the best option. Newcomer Qualcomm makes an alternative based on the ARM architecture with the Snapdragon X series, and for its part thinks it has the future in its hands.

At the launch of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and Plus processors, we already put the chips against the ones from AMD and Intel. From the comparison between Intel Core i and AMD Ryzen 7, Qualcomm came out very well. We conducted that test as best we could with laptops from a similar category (including the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7), but with variable specifications from different manufacturers.

Same body, different heart

Today with the ThinkBook 16, Lenovo is making more direct analysis possible. The manufacturer lets you configure the same ThinkBook 16 chassis with chips from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm. We get to work with three ThinkBook 16s, all equipped with a 16-inch screen (1,920 x 1,200 pixels), all the same size, and all the same weight (1.8 kg).

Our Intel specimen has an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H on board. That Meteor Lake processor has six P cores (1.4 GHz – 4.8 GHz), eight E cores (900 MHz – 3.8 GHz) and two Low Power E cores (700 MHz – 2.5 GHz). Only the P cores support multithreading, giving this chip 22 threads. Lenovo puts an “H” variant in the 16-inch chassis and it comes with a base TDP of 28 watts. In other words, the chip has room to stretch its legs a bit, and should perform quite robustly.

The AMD variant of the ThinkBook 16 is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS. This is another slightly more powerful laptop chip, equipped with a base TDP of 35 watts. Built on the slightly older Zen 3+ architecture, the CPU has eight computing cores on board (3.2 GHz – 4.75 GHz), good for sixteen threads.

Finally, from Qualcomm, we are testing the Qualcomm Snapdragon X1P-42-100. This is one of the lighter CPUs in the Snapdragon X range, equipped with eight Kryo arithmetic cores (3.2 GHz – 3.4 GHz), good for 16 threads. This chip has a TDP of 30 watts.

The three chips are fairly close to each other. AMD’s CPU and Qualcomm’s are still the most similar in terms of specifications. However, Intel’s processor is baked on an Intel 4-band, which the manufacturer considers similar to the TSMC 4 nm that Qualcomm used. AMD is at a disadvantage with its Zen 3+ 6 nm chip, as the company meanwhile has more modern Zen 4 CPUs on offer.

The advantage of threads

An initial comparison could basically be in Intel’s favor, since the Intel processor has by far the most threads. That’s an advantage for CPU-centric workloads, such as Geekbench 6.

The results do not surprise. The Intel Core Ultra 7 processor is close to Qualcomm’s ARM CPU in terms of single core performance, but the extra threads provide a performance advantage. AMD’s slightly older processor logically scores a bit worse.

Less tangible in real life

That makes itself less felt in a test of realistic performance. The Intel Core Ultra 155H has a mishmash of cores on board, and it’s not a given that software will take full advantage of them. We take a quick look at Office software performance. Know that for this comparison we could not get our hands on 100 percent identical versions of the Lenovo ThinkBook 16: the AMD model has 16 GB of RAM, the other laptops can go with 32 GB screens.

Here we clearly see that the Intel Core Ultra 155H cannot live up to GeekBench’s promises in practice. The CPU loses its advantage to the simpler Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus. The ARM chip is clearly the fastest, but AMD can still keep up significantly. Even with a slightly older architecture, the more simple composition of the 8-core chip has its advantage.

Big difference in battery

Intel is working with P and E cores in the name of efficiency. Is that worth anything?

Unfortunately: despite the more complex composition of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 with Intel Inside has by far the worst autonomy. That the ARM laptop wins does not surprise us that much, but it is striking that the device with the older AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS also does better.

That surprise is less of a surprise when you know that Lenovo has not divided the battery capacity fairly. Despite the similar price and weight of the devices, the Intel version has the smallest battery (45 Wh), followed by the AMD-ThinkBook (65 Wh) and finally the ARM-ThinkBook 16 (84 Wh).

ARM: efficiency king

That makes us curious about CPU efficiency. Which laptop squeezes the most out of every watt-hour of battery capacity?

ARM is clearly the most efficient architecture here. Even with an identical battery, the ARM laptop would always outperform the one with x86 CPU on board. It is notable that the efficiency difference between the two x86 chips is negligible. This substantiates AMD’s claim that it does not need complex P and E cores to match Intel’s power consumption.

For completeness, we examine how fast each ThinkBook 16 charges. That doesn’t have much to do with the CPU, but is relevant for those hesitating between the three laptops.

No surprises here: the smaller the battery, the faster it recharges.

Which Lenovo ThinkBook 16 is the best?

We can draw a number of conclusions from this test. First, we look at the Lenovo ThinkBook 16. Lenovo charges 1,188 euros, 1,205 euros and 1,031 euros (excluding VAT) respectively for the ThinkBook with Intel, Qualcomm and AMD. The laptops otherwise look the same and weigh the same. The price difference is not great, but the Qualcomm laptop is the most expensive. That’s OK: the tests show that it is also the best.

For office work, the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 with Qualcomm is the fastest, and its (large) battery lasts the longest. The ARM-based laptop is the fastest of the three, with the best endurance.

The AMD laptop is the cheapest, but in practice it really shouldn’t be inferior to the ThinkBook with Intel inside. You get more battery, which is an advantage, but less RAM. This is where you have to make a choice: the AMD ThinkBook can go longer without an outlet and can handle office work perfectly, but the Intel laptop, with its 32 GB of RAM, will swallow memory-intensive workloads a little more smoothly.

Which CPU is the best?

Next, we look at the CPUs. We immediately see that the “H” processors from both AMD and Intel play more to the level of Qualcomm Snapdragon X than the U chips we tested earlier. The performance difference is not immense, although the ARM processor is faster.

It is especially the efficiency that stands out. The ARM chip is about 40 percent more efficient than the x86 chips, in terms of minutes per watt-hour at the same workload. Moreover, overall, the more efficient chip is also more powerful.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus is the best processor. The only caveat here is compatibility. Unique applications, legacy software or older hardware that rarely uses updated drivers do not always work with the ARM architecture today. For classic office work, however, there is no comparison.

The CPU comparison does not play in Intel’s favor. The Intel Core 155H is a generation more recent than the AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, and also a lot more complex. Still, Intel cannot leave the AMD chip behind. The complexity with the P and E cores only gives it an advantage during our tests in focused benchmarks, but not when the tests become more hands-on.

Choose ARM

Our overall conclusion remains unchanged since the launch of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X series: the chips are rock solid, and those who do not have incompatible workloads or hardware are best choosing an ARM laptop when all other specifications are equal.