Qualcomm Snapdragon C Targets $300 Laptops with AI and All-Day Battery
Targeting the budget market, this highly efficient 6nm processor promises all-day battery life and integrated AI capabilities for students and small businesses.
Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon C Platform, a new ARM-based SoC designed for entry-level Windows laptops priced from $300 and above. Announced during Computex 2026, the platform is primarily designed for students, families, and small businesses, with integrated AI acceleration and long battery life in thin, cool, and quiet notebook designs.
Unlike Qualcomm’s premium Snapdragon X series, designed for high-end Copilot+ PCs, the Snapdragon C is designed for entry-level laptops, where battery life, efficiency, and affordability often take precedence over peak performance. The company says the platform is intended for common workloads including web browsing, document editing, video streaming, video conferencing, and cloud-based productivity applications.
Qualcomm Snapdragon C platform targets affordable Windows laptops with integrated AI acceleration and long battery life
An IoT Chip Adapted for Windows Laptops
Technically, the Snapdragon C platform builds on Qualcomm’s proven QCS6490 chipset, originally developed for IoT and enterprise applications. By adapting this 6nm architecture for Windows on Arm, Qualcomm is providing a cost-effective solution that handles web browsing, HD video streaming, and everyday productivity tasks with ease.
The SoC also integrates Qualcomm’s 6th-generation AI Engine with a Hexagon 770 NPU with up to 12 TOPS of AI performance. Although it includes dedicated AI hardware, it does not meet Microsoft’s 40 TOPS requirement for Copilot+ PC features. Instead, the NPU is intended to accelerate supported on-device AI workloads such as video effects, image processing, and other AI-enabled applications.
Key Specifications
- Process Node: 6 nm manufacturing process
- CPU: 8-core Arm-based Kryo 670 (1x Cortex-A78 at 2.7 GHz, 3x Cortex-A78 at 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 at 1.9 GHz)
- GPU: Adreno 643 clocked at 812 MHz
- AI/NPU: 6th-gen Qualcomm AI Engine (Hexagon 770) delivering up to 12 TOPS
- Memory Support: Dual-channel LPDDR5 (3200 MHz) or LPDDR4x
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2+
- Display and Media: 4K video encode/decode with USB 3.1 Type-C DisplayPort support
First Devices and Availability
Qualcomm has partnered with OEMs, including Acer, HP, and Lenovo, to bring Snapdragon C devices to market later this year. The first confirmed device to feature the platform is the Acer Aspire Go 15. Designed for the budget segment, it features a 15.6-inch Full HD display, up to 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 53 Wh battery, demonstrating the practical, value-oriented hardware configurations this chip will support.
Upcoming Acer Aspire Go 15 based on the Snapdragon C Platform
For developers and hardware integrators, documentation and optimization tools for the GPU and NPU are available via the Windows on Snapdragon Developer Portal.
For more detailed information, you can check out the Qualcomm Snapdragon Laptops page or read the press release.
Images used courtesy of Qualcomm
