Windows on ARM's Prism Emulation: Performance Tested Across 31 Apps

How Well Does Windows on Arm's Prism Emulation Work? We Tested With 31 Apps

For years, Microsoft floundered in its efforts to push Windows on Arm-based PCs as an alternative to Intel's and AMD's x86-based hegemony. (The two big hurdles were a lack of broad app compatibility, and disappointing CPU performance.) Those with long memories may recall that the Windows on Arm project started more than 10 years ago with the ill-fated Windows RT on Microsoft's first two Surface devices, which were tepidly received, to say the least. Windows on Arm made later cameos in the much-improved (but ultimately disappointing) Surface Pro X tablets from 2019 and 2020, and in a minor dusting of machines from the likes of Lenovo and Samsung. All had little impact. Microsoft's latest attempt is its big 2024 push for what it calls "Copilot+ PCs" -- the first wave of them powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X family of chips. When Microsoft recently introduced these Snapdragon X Copilot+ PCs to great fanfare, it ignited our hopes of finally getting on Windows that sweet battery life and fast performance that Arm-based Apple Silicon MacBooks have enjoyed for a few years. Our hopes rose further when the company claimed that apps comprising 90% of everyday PC use have been compiled specially for Windows on Arm and, therefore, run smoothly and fast. Those include apps like the crucial Google Chrome browser, the seminal Adobe Photoshop, and, as you'd expect, Microsoft's Office suite. You can view a wide list of Snapdragon X-optimized programs on Qualcomm's website. It includes many more popular Windows applications. But you'll find many other Windows apps that aren't on that list. Not to worry: This spring, when Microsoft launched the Copilot+ PC project (with most of the major Windows PC makers behind it), it announced Windows' new Arm emulator, Prism. The claim: "Your apps run great, whether native or emulated." Enter PCMag to test that claim (which we've heard before from Microsoft). To be fair, Microsoft provides this disclaimer in its documentation: "Note that emulation only supports user mode code and does not support drivers; any kernel mode components must be compiled as Arm64." That would seem to rule out tools like antivirus and VPNs, some of which we, indeed, were unable to use successfully on our test laptop. To figure out the lay of the land, we put on our metaphorical lab coats and got to work. Testing Prism: The First Wave of Snapdragon X We fired up one of the first Copilot+ PCs we received, an HP EliteBook Ultra 14 G1q, powered by a Snapdragon Elite X CPU, for some impromptu app-compatibility testing. First off: We have to emphasize the anecdotal nature of these tests: There are thousands of apps we could have tried. We tested 31; we could have tested 310, and it would still just be a representative sample. What we picked are some of our fast favorites in categories such as security software, productivity apps, and content creation. (We didn't get into gaming here: More about that at the end of this article.) We attempted to install and run 30-plus apps missing from Qualcomm's list of ready-for-Arm apps to try out the new Prism emulation. In a table further down this article, we've collected our results. Below that, we have more information about each of these apps and our experiences getting them to work under emulation. We didn't include any of the apps on Qualcomm's list of those optimized for Arm and Snapdragon X, since we're trying to test the Prism emulation specifically. We also didn't test all those thousands of drivers for printers and other devices you may have -- a sheer impossibility. But fear not: The included default Windows device drivers should do the trick, in many cases. For example, we were able to find, install, and use an Epson XP-6100 printer on a Snapdragon-powered Surface Laptop in seconds using Windows' own printer drivers. That's well and good, but you'll want to check support forums for any peripherals you own, such as printers or scanners, to suss out the Windows on Arm compatibility situation before opting for one of these Snapdragon X-based systems. It makes sense that a totally different CPU architecture requires new drivers. But until the hardware makers develop those for Windows on Arm, proceed with caution on this new flavor of PCs if you rely on specific driver functionality for any of your peripherals. (Or at least buy from a seller with a liberal return policy.) The 31 Apps: See How They Run (Or Not) Let's get down to the apps one by one and detail how they ran. We checked the Windows Task Manager to tell if each app was running in emulation or natively with Arm64, discounting any of the latter. (Task Manager has a tab that shows you which instruction set each app is using; if it is native, it will say Arm64, in this case.) The two other architectures that appeared here are x64 and x86, which appear when Prism is emulating those traditional instruction sets to run those programs. When an app did not run the first time, we typically tried relaunching it a couple more times. If that didn't work, we went into the program's Properties tab in Windows and tweaked the emulation settings to see if we could get the app to run. When we ran into trouble with an app, in some cases we also tried it on a Snapdragon X Elite-equipped 2024 Surface Laptop. In no cases did using that different machine make a difference. Here's a summary scorecard of the 31 apps we tried. Following the big table are breakouts with more detail of our experiences with each app on the Snapdragon system. 1Password, which PCMag recently ranked as the best password manager for new users, ran well under Prism. It launched without any issues, and it allowed us to generate new passwords, import existing passwords by connecting to iCloud, and upload CSV files. (There were other options for password-file uploads, but CSV is the method we tested after connecting to iCloud.) ACDSee Photo editor for novices; alternative to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator ACDSee, the budget-friendly photo editing program, ran smoothly in emulation mode, allowing us to launch the program and edit photos without problems. Adobe apps that aren't on the "optimized" list linked above were largely hit or miss with our testing. Adobe Acrobat Reader (the free program, not the full-featured Pro editor and PDF manipulator) was a hit. It installed and ran in emulation mode without a hitch. Illustrator was a nonstarter. Attempting to download the software returned an error message that the program could not install. Adobe's website says the application will be available in July 2024 for Arm-based Windows devices. Adobe InDesign, a seminal application for formatting books, magazines, and newspapers, is currently unavailable on Snapdragon X-based Copilot+ devices. We were unable to install it and got the same error that we did when trying to install Adobe Illustrator. Adobe's website says this application is also coming in July 2024. Adobe Photoshop Elements Budget-friendly counterpart of Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop Elements suffered the same fate as Premiere Elements below. The HP Snapdragon X laptop allowed us to install it, but the program returned the same error when we attempted to launch it. The program says the app needs to be removed and reinstalled. (We did so, to no avail.) Though the paid Adobe Photoshop Elements software didn't work on our HP CoPilot+ PC, its free equivalent did. Photoshop Express not only launched on our HP EliteBook, but it also allowed us to edit photos with no issues in a brief trial run through the program. Unlike the Pro version below, Adobe Premiere Elements, the consumer-friendly version of Premiere Pro, successfully installed but wouldn't launch. It gave us an error message saying we needed to remove and reinstall the program, which we did. The outcome was the same: no go. Adobe Premiere Pro is currently unavailable for Windows on Arm technology. Unlike some of the applications tested that were installed but failed to launch, Premiere Pro wouldn't let us install it at all. When we tried to install it, it kicked back the following error: "There was a problem installing Premiere Pro. Premiere Pro is not yet available for your device." Amazon's music streaming service, Amazon Music, worked seamlessly with our system. It installed, launched, and played music with no issues. Task Manager showed the architecture as x86. This 29-year-old program caused more issues than the rest of the apps we tested on the platform. Avast could not be installed and gave the following warning message: "This app can't run because it causes security or performance issues on Windows. A New Version may be available. [At the time of this writing, there wasn't one.] Check with your software provider for an updated version that runs on this version of Windows." Additionally, when we tried to launch this app, the device lost its wireless internet connection and had to be restarted to regain internet access. We attempted this several times and lost the connection every time. We are big fans of Bitwarden, and the program gave us no issues. It allowed us to generate passwords, share links to those passwords, and do everything that we tried as intended. Capcut, which PCMag previously ranked as the best free mobile video editing app, installed and worked as expected on a Surface Laptop with a Snapdragon X Elite processor. Task Manager reported it as running in emulation mode. Corel Painter Classic illustration tool for pen-based artists This app is an alternative to painting apps like FreshPaint or the in-house software on Surface Pro and Surface Studio devices. It facilitates digital art-making through touch-screen and stylus support. The app launched but would not progress past the splash screen. A photo app that optimizes raw camera files by reducing noise and recovering image details, DxO PureRAW installed and processed images normally. However, anecdotally speaking, doing the latter took much longer than on Intel- and AMD-based PCs. If you are looking to pull together your news sources in one UI on your new Snapdragon X-powered machine, you can do so with minimal problems using FeedLab. FeedLab allowed us to access most news articles. We did experience a minor hiccup when trying to access Google News within FeedLab -- it would not open articles from Google News unless we clicked Change View and then Website View. This was one of just a few cases where we could use most of the features but still encountered issues. The program reported x64 architecture in Task Manager. FreshPaint, one of Redmond's own, installed without incident and worked smoothly in emulation mode. Task Manager showed the architecture as x86. Fused Another alternative photo editor, focused on double exposures Fused works, but with limited functionality. It allows you to add a picture and set it as a "background," but according to our tests, that's where its functionality ends. All the features appear to be present, but nothing happens if you click on any of the buttons. Task Manager reported the architecture as x64. Google Drive for Desktop Desktop version of the ubiquitous cloud storage service While Google Drive, the cloud application, was perfectly accessible in-browser on our test machine, we could not install the desktop version. We received the following error message when we attempted to do so: "This Windows architecture is not supported." Google Earth Pro Desktop version of the ubiquitous planetary visualizer Google Earth's desktop application crashed at launch on the first try. However, after relaunching it, the program opened and ran without other problems. It also presented no problems on a second Snapdragon X Arm-based PC we tried. Earth Pro could present locations in aerial and street view with minimal issues. LDPlayer, itself an emulator (it allows PC users to play Android games on their computers), did not work during testing. The message it kicked back: "This app can't run on this device. This app can't run because it causes security or performance issues on Windows. A new version may be available. Check with your software provider for an updated version that runs on this version of Windows." Often called the most popular VPN in the US, NordVPN failed to launch during our tests with the Snapdragon X HP Elitebook. In a statement to Android Authority, Nord said, "We are building an Arm-native NordVPN application, and the launching process is in the final stages. We are now in close cooperation with Microsoft to receive a driver signing certificate. We expect to release the application in the near future." OpenIV, famous within the Grand Theft Auto modding community for editing vehicles, clothing, and map textures, installed and launched without any problems. (Note: We tooled around extensively in the program, but we did not attempt to edit any textures.) Pinnacle Studio, a popular video-editing software app, would not install. We tried installing both the trial and the full version, but neither would play ball. The application incorrectly reported that we were running a 32-bit system. Proton VPN started with promising results: Unlike NordVPN, it launched. However, that was the only positive. Upon attempting to connect to a VPN network, the application froze up and never connected. This happened every time we tried connecting. SomaFM Ad-free streaming service for curated underground/alternative music SomaFM, an internet radio streaming app focused on music discovery and hidden gems, gave us no issues and worked seamlessly with our system. Task Manager showed the architecture as x64. Sublime Text, a text editor that allows you to open a split-screen view of your code, ran smoothly on the Snapdragon X-based Elitebook. It installed and launched without issues, allowing us to edit some basic code, save a file, and relaunch the program without problems. Telegram, the encrypted-messaging application, gave us no issues. It launched without incident, after which we were able to sign in and send messages. It ran smoothly in emulation mode, with no apparent hiccups. Topaz DeNoise AI, the photo and video editing software, launched, but before jumping into the actual UI, it warned us, "Your CPU must support AVX instructions to install this program." While it did launch, you may encounter performance issues using it on Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PC devices due to the lack of AVX support. Topaz support notes that it is working an Arm version of its software, and some community members have noted the app runs in emulation, but slowly. TuneIn, the streaming app that allows you to listen to your favorite newscasts or TV programs without having a cable TV subscription, installed and launched with minimal issues. However, the UI immediately required an update to fit the laptop's screen size properly. After the update, it ran smoothly, and it was able to stream every channel we tested. Wondershare Filmora, ranked by PCMag as the best mobile video editing app for stickers and emoji usage, returned stable results in a brief trial. Wondershare launched, and we were able to edit video with effects and perform exports. We installed the app from the Microsoft Store. Initial Observations, and Some Notes on Gaming As you can see, our experience was not exactly hiccup-free, not quite the rosy picture that Microsoft paints for apps not optimized explicitly for Arm64. Many of the apps we tested would not install, and a few that did wouldn't work correctly after installation. We did note a bunch of bright spots, though. ACDSee, a venerable photo editing app, worked fully in emulation mode, as did some other image editing apps. Adobe's Elements enthusiast creative apps -- Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements -- were disappointments in the creative category, but InDesign and Illustrator should be coming as native soon, and Photoshop Express worked. The most critical gap here (besides the antivirus and VPN software we tried) is Google Drive. If you rely on the Google Drive desktop software (which lets you work from within Windows File Explorer, rather than just in the web interface), you should probably steer clear of an Arm-based PC for now. This is all before even considering the vast field of PC games. Though games are not the focus of this article (and Snapdragon X PCs aren't pushed as, or built to be, proper gaming PCs), we tried installing two ultra-popular titles that had reported known issues early on -- Fortnite and PUBG -- plus the venerable AAA game Rocket League. Indeed, only Rocket League installed and ran successfully. On the upside, separately we've been conducting extended testing on the integrated Adreno graphics for Snapdragon X Elite, using a list of eight AAA titles, all of which have launched and run successfully: We ditched a ninth game that didn't work properly, Returnal, early on in our trials. Watch for that gaming-focused story to follow this one. Verdict: So Far, Prism Proves Promising But Incomplete The bottom line? If you can get by with the big-name apps optimized for Arm processors, cited on Qualcomm's summary page, you will likely be satisfied with how an Arm-based Copilot+ PC meets your daily needs. Those apps do run quickly and reliably. But if you need to run lesser-known and more specialized apps, particular hardware drivers, or certain VPN and antivirus programs, you still, unfortunately, may have to wait. At the very least, if in doubt, you'll want to check the support sites for any "must run" software you have to see what the Arm compatibility situation looks like at the moment. Remember: Our testing is just a snapshot in time. If you're dead-set on buying a Copilot+ PC, the wait shouldn't be long for better software compatibility, regardless of whether the Windows on Arm Prism emulation improves: x86-based Copilot+ PCs packing AMD and Intel chips are due to land before the end of the year. Once those arrive, it's a different ballgame. Snapdragon X systems will have to compete with these x86 rivals without the special advantage of Copilot+ feature exclusivity. (Not up to speed on Copilot+? We've got lots more about the Copilot+ feature set in our deep dive review of the Snapdragon X-based Surface Laptop 2024.) That said, with Microsoft's renewed emphasis on the Windows on Arm platform, we're seeing way more such systems on the market than ever before: Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and others are on board with Snapdragon X Arm systems right now. As a result, expect more apps to support it down the road, and for Prism emulation to get better all the time. For now, though, just make sure that, software-wise, what you simply can't live without is on the optimized list, or look for support-forum guidance before diving in.

Dell XPS 13 (9345) review: Is the Copilot+ variant a winner? | Digital Trends

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us? Dell XPS 13 (9345) MSRP $1,300.00 Score Details "The Snapdragon X chip inside makes the Dell XPS 13 even better." Pros Excellent build quality Thin and light Fast productivity performance Very good battery life Quality IPS display Cons Some controversial design elements More expensive than Intel model No headphone jack The newest Windows on Arm platform based around Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chipset is off and running. Most of the major laptop manufacturers have introduced Microsoft Copilot+ PCs, with notable machines like the HP OmniBook X and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 offering strong performance and very good battery life. Contents Specs and configurationsDesignKeyboard and touchpadConnectivity and webcamPerformanceBattery lifeDisplay and audioThere's a lot to like here, but not as much as you might expectShow 3 more items Dell has also joined in the fray, with the XPS 13 9345 using the Snapdragon X Elite and sporting pretty much exactly the same design as the Intel version. I found it to have the same strengths and weaknesses, with some extra speed and longevity thrown into the mix. Specs and configurations Dell XPS 13 9345 (Copilot+) Dimensions 11.62 inches x 7.84 inches x 0.60 inches Weight 2.6 pounds Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 Graphics Qualcomm Adreno RAM 16GB 32GB 64GB Display 13.4-inch 16:10 FHD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS, 120Hz 13.4-inch 16:10 QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS, 120Hz 13.4-inch 16:10 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED, 120Hz Storage 512GB SSD 1TB SSD 2GB SSD Touch Optional Ports 2 x USB4 Wireless Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 Webcam 1080p with infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition Operating system Windows 11 on Arm Battery 55 watt-hour Price $1,300+ The XPS 13 9345 starts at $1,300 for a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 chipset, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 13.4-inch FHD+ IPS display. The laptop can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM, with a jump to 32GB being an additional $200 and a bump up to 64GB costing $600. It's $100 to upgrade to a 1TB SSD, and $300 to upgrade to 2TB of storage. A QHD+ IPS panel costs $300, while upgrading to a 3K OLED display costs $500. The most expensive XPS 13 will run you $2,500. That makes the XPS 13 a very expensive Windows on Arm laptop, with the HP OmniBook X and Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x both costing around $1,100, albeit with less RAM and storage and with the Lenovo including an OLED display. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is as expensive as the XPS 13, while the Apple MacBook Air M3 starts off at $1,099 and maxes out at $2,299 with 24GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. It should be noted that the current Intel version of the XPS 13 (9340) is $150 cheaper when similarly configured and is even offered at a cheaper starting configuration that costs $1,099. Design I could copy the a good portion of the text from our last two XPS 13 reviews into this one and save myself a bunch of time. I won't do that, but the fact is this: Nothing has changed in the XPS 13's design since the XPS 13 Plus introduced Dell's new ultramodern XPS design paradigm. Dell doesn't really change the underlying XPS design much from generation to generation until major overhauls, and in the case of the XPS 13, the company has doubled down on that approach. I just finished reviewing the 2024 Intel version of the XPS 13, and it was sitting next to this one as I was running through my benchmarks. I also had an XPS 13 Plus on hand (which I just shipped back), and it's a good thing I received the black version of the Snapdragon model because I might have gotten confused and put the wrong one in the box. I mean, it's impossible to tell the two silver machines apart without using a magnifying glass on the label or firing them up and looking for the chipset in Settings. The all-aluminum chassis has the same sleek, angular aesthetic that aims for a minimalist look, and when you open up the lid, you'll find the same zero-lattice keyboard, LED touch function keys, and all-glass palm rest with hidden haptic touchpad. It's strange to think these features have been around for a couple of years, because they still seem incredibly new and fresh. At least, visibly. The incredibly thin bezels complete the modern appearance. The XPS 13 looks a lot more contemporary than any other 13-inch laptop, including the MacBook Air M3 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7. And the XPS 13 is just as rigid as always. Of all these laptops, Dell managed to make the one that just feels the most solid. Even the MacBook Air M3, while as dense and luxurious as usual thanks to Apple's fastidious manufacturing, has a slightly flexible lid. The XPS 13 does not. Nothing bends or twists. Well done, Dell. Keyboard and touchpad However, while the XPS 13's design is certainly forward-looking, does it actually succeed in being better? In my opinion, it does not. Let's start with the worst culprit, the row of LED touch function keys. On the 13-inch model (and not so much the 14- and 16-inch models that share the same virtual keys), Dell has the excuse that a physical row of function keys would have taken up too much space. I guess that makes some sense. But, almost nobody is going to actually like the choice, because there's no haptic feedback to let you know that you've actually activated a key. And you have to physically look at the keyboard when you need to choose a function key. It's not a good solution. The zero-lattice keyboard has large keycaps, but absolutely no key spacing. The switches are light and crisp, with just enough travel, but I still found myself checking my finger placement because I couldn't run my fingers over any edges to orient myself. I'd say the keyboard is a bit of a wash overall, and I much prefer Apple's Magic Keyboard and even Lenovo's slightly refreshed keyboard on the Yoga Slim 7x. The haptic touchpad works great, as far as haptic touchpads go. It's quick and responsive, and it does a good job of providing feedback that's quiet and precise. There's just one problem: you can't see the edge, and you'll probably find yourself trying to swipe and press on the palm rest at one point or another. I've used the XPS 13 for some time now and I still get tripped up. Dell needed to include some LED outlines or something, because while the XPS 14 and XPS 16 have touchpads that are large enough that this problem doesn't often present itself, it still happens to me on the XPS 13. These are really awesome modern features. The problem is, they just don't work all that well in practice. Connectivity and webcam The XPS 13 has just two ports. On the Intel models, they're two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4. On the Snapdragon model, they're both USB4. Ultimately, USB4 provides most of the same performance and functionality of Thunderbolt 4, but they're compatible with Thunderbolt 3. That's a difference to keep in mind. Of course, two ports aren't a lot of connectivity, even for a 13-inch laptop. While the MacBook Air M3 also has just two (Thunderbolt 4) ports, it also has the MagSafe 3 connection for power. Plug in the XPS 13 power adapter and you're left with just one port free. And there's no 3.5mm audio jack, something that really makes little sense. Keep some dongles and hubs handy. At least wireless connectivity is fully up to date, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The webcam is a 1080p version, and it's fine. The infrared camera works well with Windows 11 Hello's facial recognition. And the Snapdragon X Elite's Neural Processing Unit (NPU) runs at more than the 40 tera operations per second (TOPS) required by Microsoft's Copilot+ PC specification. Right now, the AI features are limited to enhanced Microsoft Studio Effects, Live Captions, and Cocreator. The primary Copilot+ feature, Recall, is on hold. Performance The XPS 13 (9345) uses Qualcomm's third-fastest Snapdragon X Elite chipset, the X1E-80-100, with 12 cores (eight performance and four efficient) running at 3.4GHz and a dual-core boost to 4.0GHz. Those specifications are lower than those of the Snapdragon X1E-84-100 in the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16, which runs at 3.8GHz and has a 4.2GHz dual-core boost. At this point, we're limited in the benchmarks we can run given limited Windows on Arm compatibility. In the benchmarks we can run natively, the XPS 13 9345 was surprisingly quick. It's a lot faster than the Surface Laptop 7 with the same chipset, and even faster than the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16 in Cinebench 2024. It was a lot faster than the Intel model -- 26% faster in Cinebench 2024 in single-core and 44% faster in multi-core. It was also faster than the MacBook Air M3 in multi-core (57%), but slower in single-core (17%), with the MacBook held back in sustained performance by its lack of active cooling and very thin chassis. Its Adreno GPU performance was in line with the chipset, and the M3 GPU cores in the MacBook Air M3 were the fastest in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme benchmark among our comparison group. None of these laptops are bona fide gaming machines. Note that the Apple M3 chipset has CPU optimizations for various creativity processes like video encoding and decoding, which along with the faster GPU, makes the MacBook Air M3 a considerably faster laptop for creators. But for demanding productivity users, the XPS 13 9345 is a very fast laptop -- to be fair, that's true for all the laptops in this comparison group. Given the Qualcomm chipset's extra efficiency, the XPS 13 9345 should run cooler than the Intel model, which can get quite hot even with lighter workloads. That's an added bonus. Cinebench 2024 (single/multi) Geekbench 6 (single/multi) 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Dell XPS 13 9345 (Snapdragon X1E-80-100) 121 / 921 2,805 / 14,511 6,397 Dell XPS 13 9340 (Core Ultra 7 155H / Intel Arc) 96 / 658 2,109 / 11,134 6,667 Surface Laptop 7 (Snapdragon X1E-80-100) 105 / 826 2,388 / 13,215 5,880 HP OmniBook X (Snapdragon X1E-78-100) 101 / 749 2,377 / 13,490 6,165 Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16 (Snapdragon X1E-84-100) 126 / 766 2,957 / 15,358 7,153 Asus Zenbook 14 (Core Ultra 7 155H / Intel Arc) 95 / 468 2,270 / 12,149 n/a Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3) 141 / 601 3,102 / 12,078 8,098 Battery life Since the introduction of the Snapdragon X Elite, Microsoft and its partners have published some impressive battery life promises for the new chipset. Interestingly, the results I've seen in marketing materials have all been based on looping video, which is the least demanding of common battery tests. It's also the test likely most impacted by the display's power draw relative to other components. We also run a web-browsing test, which is slightly more demanding and more indicative of typical real-world usage. The tests we usually run that best duplicate productivity workloads, such as the PCMark 10 Complete battery benchmark, don't run yet on Windows on Arm. In order to test each laptop's efficiency when running demanding workflows, we use the Cinebench 2024 multi-core benchmark. Each of the laptops in our comparison group runs at roughly 100% performance in this benchmark when unplugged. Unsurprisingly, the XPS 13 9345 and other Snapdragon X Elite laptops had impressive battery life when looping our test video, even better than the very efficient MacBook Air M3. All of the comparison machines were running IPS panels except for the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7, Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16, and Asus Zenbook 14 Q425 that had OLED displays -- and they showed less battery life in this test. The Zenbook and XPS 13 displays were Full HD+ while the others were all higher-res, another important factor. What was surprising was that the XPS 13 9340 Intel model also got very good battery life in this test, as did the Zenbook. All of these results are much better than most other Intel Meteor Lake laptops, which come in at 14 hours or less. However, in the web-browsing test, the Snapdragon laptops fell off considerably. They're better than the eight hours or so of most Intel laptops, but well behind the MacBook Air M3's 19.5 hours. And again, the XPS 13 9345 wasn't significantly longer-lasting than the XPS 13 (9340) and Zenbook 14 Q425. In the Cinebench 2024 test, the Snapdragon machines weren't significantly more efficient than Intel laptops. The MacBook Air M3, meanwhile, lasted considerably longer. The bottom line is that the Snapdragon X Elite chipset doesn't seem to be as much of a battery life standout as we might have hoped, at least in these laptops. We'll need to do more testing, and the XPS 13 9345 still had very good battery life. But the MacBook Air M3, the XPS 13's most important competitor, remains way ahead -- at least, when it's doing real work. Web browsing Video Cinebench 2024 Dell XPS 13 9345 (Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100) 12 hours, 29 minutes 22 hours, 9 minutes 1 hour, 37 minutes Dell XPS 13 9340 (Core Ultra 7 155H) 12 hours, 14 minutes 19 hours, 35 minutes 1 hour, 27 minutes HP Omnibook X (Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100) 13 hours, 37 minutes 22 hours, 4 minutes 1 hour, 52 minutes Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100) 12 hours, 5 minutes 17 hours, 3 minutes 1 hour, 52 minutes Surface Laptop 7 (Snapdragon X1E-80-100) 14 hours, 21 minutes 22 hours, 39 minutes N/A Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16 (Snapdragon X1E-84-100) 12 hours, 31 minutes 14 hours, 33 minutes N/A Asus Zenbook 14 Q425 (Core Ultra 7 155H) 12 hours, 25 minutes 18 hours, 1 minute N/A Apple MacBook Air (Apple M3) 19 hours, 38 minutes 19 hours, 39 minutes 3 hours, 27 minutes Display and audio I reviewed the XPS 13 9345 with a 13.4-inch 16:10 Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS display. There are also QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS and 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED options. I found the display to be good enough for productivity work, with more than enough brightness and colors, but with less text sharpness than I like. The advantage of the display is better battery life, at least within the constraints discussed above. My colorimeter liked this display quite a bit. Brightness was excellent at 536 nits and contrast was among the best I've seen for a laptop IPS display at 1,940:1. Our baselines for good displays have been 300 nits and 1,000:1, and we need to adjust both because most IPS displays today exceed those measurements. Colors were closer to the IPS average, though, at 99% of sRGB, 77% of AdobeRGB, and 77% of DCI-P3, while accuracy was very good at a DeltaE of 1.08 (less than 1.0 is considered excellent). Certainly, this is a great display for productivity workflows. Creators and media consumers won't be too impressed with the colors, though. Dell built a nice little sound system into the XPS 13 9345, with four speakers, including two tweeters and two woofers. Things get plenty loud and there's only a little distortion at maximum volume. Turn things down to around 85% and you'll enjoy clear mids and highs. It's hard to get a small laptop like this to produce a lot of bass, so you'll want some headphones for music and action movies. There's a lot to like here, but not as much as you might expect The switch to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite was supposed to provide a serious uptick in performance and efficiency over Intel's Meteor Lake chipset. Surprisingly, while the performance is certainly there, battery life remained closer than I would have imagined. It's fair to say that you won't get better battery life than the Intel version of the XPS 13, and the MacBook Air M3 remains pretty far ahead. At the same time, the XPS 13 9345 ran a lot cooler, which is a major benefit. That alone is enough to warrant serious consideration. Then again, there will always be some degree of some uncertainty over compatibility with Windows on Arm, and it does cost an extra $150. I think that's worth the upgrade, but it may not be a straightforward choice. Either way, I can say that if you want a small, light, and fast laptop, the XPS 13 (9345) is a solid choice.