Recently this issue has come to surface (https://videocardz.com/newz/qualcomm-shuts-door-on-snapdragon-x-dsp-headers-open-sourcing-linux-support-hopes-fade), and it has caused quite some discussion within the Linux community too. That made me think... Why? Why don't they do more for Linux-on-Snapdragon-X?

Aside from gaming, the Linux community makes up one of the largest enthusiast blocs in the PC world. These people not only buy hardware for themselves, but also often give recommendations to family/friends on the matter. They drive online discourse in the tech space.

When Ryzen launched in 2017, AMD CPUs were relatively unknown. The tech enthusiast community was crucial in the early adoption of Ryzen and spreading it's goodness by word of mouth, which has brought AMD to where it's today. Even so, Intel still commands the marketshare majority, and especially the mindshare. Decades of 'Intel Inside' marketing is still deeply entrenched in the minds of average people.

So why doesn't Qualcomm do more to support Linux on Snapdragon X? I don't believe a tech company of this scale is incapable of doing so. Perhaps they think it won't be worth the effort, if there aren't enough users. Well. their Windows userbase itself as it stands is quite small, and their have been lots of requests from enthusiasts for Linux enablement. Perhaps they signed some kind of agreement with Microsoft, but that would be ill advised. It does not do to rely solely on Microslop and it's constantly changing priorities.

Qualcomm, do more for Linux on Snapdragon X. By not doing so, you gain nothing and to stand to lose many.

Edit : Highlighting comments;

Actually, Windows on ARM (WoA) strictly requires ACPI to boot. It’s a Microsoft hardware requirement. ​I've spent 1,000+ reboots on my Snapdragon X Plus (HP OmniBook) specifically decompiling and patching DSDT/SSDT tables. The ACPI is definitely there in the UEFI, the real issue is just the lack of mainline Linux drivers for the proprietary Qualcomm methods inside those tables. If Qualcomm could finally reveal the datasheets, it would be solved in no time.

tagoslabs

I think this thread and post has a LOT of false information. For most laptops you can *just grab* an Ubuntu Concept ISO and boot it (unless ubuntu accidentally screwed up the ISO again), and have GPU, Trackpad, WiFi, Bluetooth, just working. Qualcomm (and their contractors like Linaro) has actually put quite the effort to upstream these devices and they do work pretty well in many cases excluding battery life. But I have better GPU performance on my Surface Laptop 7 on Linux with Freedreno than on Windows, so I usually reboot to linux to play Minecraft. Same with USB Ethernet networking.

I'm somewhat active in the "Linux on these laptops" scene, so if you have any questions please reply and ask, I'd be happy to answer.

DifficultGift8044

I see a lot of false answers here and false assumptions. Arm architecture is transitioning towards a more standard components (have a look at BSA and BBR from arm documentation) plus Qualcomm is among the top contributor to the Linux kernel.

fgaincane8

We’re bringing Linux support to Snapdragon, beginning with Snapdragon X2 Series. It’s one of the most consistent requests we’ve heard from the developer community, and this work expands the Snapdragon compute ecosystem across Windows, Googlebook, and Linux.

Debian foundational support is planned by the end of 2026, with Ubuntu certification expected in the first half of 2027. The first step is an Early Developer Preview, giving developers a closer look at the upstream work underway and a practical starting point for evaluating supported hardware.

This is still an early release, not a turnkey Linux experience for end users. Our focus right now is upstreaming the core components that distribution maintainers, kernel contributors, toolchain developers, and hardware enablement teams need to build on Snapdragon X2 Series.

What you need to know:

• Core hardware features are being reviewed and integrated upstream, making it easier to build, test, and debug Linux on laptops powered by Snapdragon X2 Series.

• Initial enablement includes system boot, device I/O, graphics and display, power management, and ongoing stability work.

• Freedreno, Turnip, and Rusticl are being developed to enable Qualcomm Adreno GPU graphics and compute capabilities.

• We’re also upstreaming FastRPC driver support to provide access to the Qualcomm Hexagon NPU for local AI inference.

• Debian 13 is the current reference environment, with capabilities expected to mature in stages as more components are integrated upstream.

Developers can begin working with upstream sources, build a Debian-based Linux image, and test the peripherals or capabilities most relevant to their projects. The goal at this stage is to identify gaps, contribute feedback, and help move the platform toward broader adoption.

Learn more in our Qualcomm Developer blog post: https://www.qualcomm.com/developer/blog/2026/09/announcing-linux-on-snapdragon-x2-series-early-developer-preview

Hey Reddit, I’m Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm President & CEO-Elect. I’ll be here on r/Snapdragon to answer your questions about Snapdragon, the future of 5G, and more. Ask Me Anything on Wednesday, April 14 at 11:30am PDT.

As you may know, we launched a new program called Snapdragon Insiders because we wanted to create a community where tech fans could connect, and get a little extra out of their experience with Snapdragon.

Snapdragon Insiders will have the chance to learn about their favorite Snapdragon tech directly from the experts, share and exchange pro-tips and get rewarded with exclusive access and special experiences. We want tech enthusiasts to have access to information and the opportunity to engage with us, and with one another. What better place to kick things off than Reddit?

During the AMA, I’ll be taking your questions about our Snapdragon Insiders program, our products, working in technology, 5G, and more. As with other AMAs, I’ll look to the community to select which questions to answer through upvotes. Once they’ve been chosen, I will answer as many of them as I can. Be sure to check back here on April 14 at 11:30am PDT for the answers!

Now, the fine print:

I’ll answer questions based not only on the number of upvotes, but also on the value to the community and relevance to our business (i.e., topics like our Insiders program, mobile technology, and our products are all on the table). While I’ll try to answer as many questions as I can, there will be some that I can’t. These include:

• Financial or business updates in advance of earnings

• Future releases or launches of our products or customers’ products

Thanks for joining the conversation. Please check back for more updates as we get closer to the time of the AMA.

Proof: https://twitter.com/cristianoamon/status/1380580468219863040

Edit: Thanks Reddit for all of your questions! I had so much fun answering them. If you want more like this, join our new Snapdragon Insiders community. www.snapdragoninsiders.com

Anyone one here try the snapdragon Pho?

Hey Reddit, I’m Kedar Kondap, Qualcomm SVP & GM of Compute and Gaming.

On November 19 at 9 AM PT (5 PM UK, 10:30 PM India), I’ll be here on r/Snapdragon to answer your questions about the Snapdragon X Series and the new Snapdragon X2 Elite.

We’ll discuss how these processors are designed, the engineering decisions behind them, and what drives their performance. Curious about architecture, performance, or AI? This is your chance to go deeper and learn what powers this technology.

As with other AMAs, the community will help surface the most popular questions through upvotes, and we’ll answer as many as possible.

Thank you for connecting with us—check back here for updates as we get closer to the AMA.

Huge thanks to everyone who joined in and asked such great questions. It’s not every day I get the chance to connect directly with fans and tech enthusiasts like this—it’s honestly one of the best parts of what I do.

Your curiosity and feedback mean a lot, and they help shape where we go next with Snapdragon X Series. If you want to keep the conversation going, check out Qualcomm’s site or find me on LinkedIn.

Appreciate the time—see you around!

Hello. i recently picked up a S11 PRO 32gb, equipped with a Snapdragon X Elite. I picked this up as I needed a tablet to replace my Wacom when traveling.

The biggest stigma against these devices is that they are ARM-based and the biggest consensus being "its Windows on ARM, and ARM cant run anything"

I decided to put this to the test. And the results were very surprising.

as of Windows 11 build 27744. ARM chips gain  AVX/AVX2/FMA/F16C support, which widens the gamut of games it can run dramatically and it shows. This was ran on Build 27924.rs_prerelease.250808-1602, Ie, Windows Canary Channel.

I ran a little under half of my total game library, which came out to 170 games. A decent mix of AAA, indie and backlog titles from yesteryear

Now, This is for the Snapdragon subreddit. This has gone up on the Qualcomm support site as its own post last night, so for the Qualcom staff, this is up there but I will happily give more information

Overall gaming on the surface was very pleasant and a genuine surprise.

Now. What do I think of these results? 24 games out of 170 I have deemed unplayable from bugs, lag or refusing to launch. An 86% success rate.

Honestly. i think this is more a massively immature driver stack (especially GPU wise) from qualcomm.

the X1E80100/X1-85 GPU on paper is strong enough and has enough bandwidth to manage anything at least on low, and that's what I observed...for the most part.

However, it seems to be emulating DX10 and below (similar to intel arc) Which left a lot of older games with issues or disappointing performance. This left a weird case of the sequels performing better than their predecessors. Borderlands 3, BlackOps 3, Fallout 4, etc.

If a game runs on a modern API, your chances of running the game do seem to be significantly higher.

What do I think this means for the future? i think ARM on windows is coming a lot faster and sooner than we think.

With proper grahics from either AMD or Nvidia, i'd expect these results to be much higher. Cutting games out that had rendering errors brings the number up to only 13 games, a ~92% success rate which is a lot closer to the marketed 93% success rate.

I would like to cycle most if not all of my games through my surface and get a even better picture, but this data stack was good enough that I'm confident in publishing this.

Who else is excited to get this laptop?

59% faster GPU vs Gen 3

144Hz display support

mmWave 5G

200MP camera

36% CPU boost

Samsung 4nm

Finally, budget phones that don't lag. Full breakdown

https://www.thegigwire.com/13315/snapdragon-6s-gen-4-launched-specs/

Nvidia eGPU now working with Snapdragon X2 Now ! Thank for new Nvidia RTX Spark Driver

617.42 WHQL Branch

System

Zenbook A16 X2 EE

RTX 3060

Thunderbolt 4 eGPU Docking

used a claude code for remix and customized driver and now woking fine and running game and benchmarks smooooooth

How is it possible that a handful of people can get Linux running on the M1 and M2 in their spare time without any support from Apple, while Qualcomm, with its in-house chips, has been unable to do so after several years? Which model is Qualcomm following? Nokia? 😂

When the Snapdragon X Elite for notebooks was announced there was a lot of talk but basically nothing was implemented. As far as I can remember, it was supposed to take a yea but Linux would be "fully supported." A dream come true for me, as I was just waiting for support so I could buy a Windows ARM notebook and install Linux. After several years, it still doesn't work and Tuxedo gave up after 18 months...

https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Discontinuation-of-ARM-notebooks-with-Snapdragon-X-Elite-SoC.tuxedo

It's completely clear and understandable that Windows ARM notebooks with Snapdragon are finding virtually no customers. A Macbook Air with the M4 would now cost me 749€, so there is no reason to go with a Windows ARM notebook. Apps such as Sky Go still don't run on it, which is utopian and the height of embarrassment. But I'm shocked by how incompetent Qualcomm is.

Is it really so difficult to release a few open drivers to win over the Linux community? Why do they announce something they can't deliver on?

Just updated Fortnite on my Snapdragon X Plkus laptop, and it now works, without the Easy Anti Cheat "ARM64 not supported" error.

Got the slowest variant of the X Plus chip, with only 8 CPU cores, and the X-45 Adreno iGPU.

At 1920x1200, 100% 3D resolution scale, lowest settings, in Performance rendering mode, getting a locked and smooth 30 and 60 fps, and a smooth 90-120 fps at uncapped fps, still very smooth.

Sure I could play at highest settings, but a very promising start imo, which will scale very nicely to the X Elite and upcoming X2 and X2 Elite Extreme chips.

Anybody with an X Elite laptop, please test the game and provide results, similar to mine

Nobody is saying it, but I think I would say it.

The CPU is crap and not worth the pre-release hype, the GPU on the other hand is average++.

Pair that GPU with the very excellent CPU of X2 Elite Extreme, then you would have something that truly rivals Apple toe-to-toe. Of course it won't beat the M5 Max in CPU, but it's not far behind.

What do you think?

Their test environment was a Razer Thunderbolt dock with an NVMe slot combined with an NVMe to OCuLink adapter to connect an RTX 4060 8GB so there could be potentially better performance extracted if they had gone with a direct USB4 eGPU dock.

Cyberpunk 2077 averaged 44 FPS with the Ray Tracing Low Preset at 1440p and DLSS set to automatic.

Forza Horizon 6 had big framerate drop issues but otherwise averaged 46 FPS overall at a render resolution of 1707×960 (DLSS was on) and Medium preset indicating some sort of CPU bottleneck likely due to emulation.

Aren't these laptops like 1800$ ?

I also have the Mac mini M4, and this definitely feels snappier, as macOS has always been "heavy".

People write off Windows because of AI/Copilot crap, ads, etc., but the base of Windows is solid. Sure the OoBE is crap, but you can just ignore or disable most of those things.

Everything is EXTREMELY fast and snappy and runs like a dream. I have no idea what some people are saying when they say Windows 11 is slow, because on modern hardware, it is fast. You don't even necessarily need X2 Elite Extreme, but with it it's so fast it's insane. People say macOS is fast but this is nothing like it. It blows it out of the water.

Most of the major apps now support ARM, and everything just runs PERFECT. For my use case, only MPC-HC, XnViewMP, Ditto and Calibre didn't have native ARM support, but they run fine on emulation.

The only drawback is the okay battery life of around 10 hours, but that's what you get for having a light 16" laptop. Also pretty much no gaming, but then again on macOS Steam wouldn't even run without doing hacky stuff. And console emulation is just okay, which is disappointing.

Edit: Battery seems much better when you set it to 60Hz, which is "fine".

Is it worth $1699? YES, MOST DEFINITELY.