The arrival of Microsoft’s AI-soaked Copilot+ PC has somewhat overshadowed the simultaneous launch of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X CPU, an upgraded, ARM-based alternative to Intel and AMD processors that have long dominated the laptop world.

Qualcomm has made some incredible claims about what the Snapdragon X would be able to do since its announcement last fall, the most notable being a promise of double the performance over competing CPUs at one-third the power draw. Those competing CPUs have all been upgraded since that announcement, so examining the situation with the current environment fully accounted for is crucial. The catch is that Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs are only certified to run on Snapdragon X CPUs—for now, at least—so if you want the Copilot+ experience with all the new artificial intelligence features baked into Windows, a Snapdragon is the only way to fly.

Before we get to the CPU, let’s look at the laptop containing it more broadly. The Asus Vivobook S 15 (now featuring a space in the name, but sometimes not) dates back to 2017, when it began as an Intel-based product. Intel-powered Vivobooks are still around, mind you. The Qualcomm-based version reviewed here is model number S5507Q.

The silver laptop features a spacious 15.6-inch (non-touch) display running at 2,880 X 1,620 pixels of resolution. It’s plenty bright without being eye-searing, backing up its screen with a beefy Harman Kardon sound system. In addition to the Snapdragon X Elite X1E7810 CPU, the unit features 16 GB of RAM and a 1-terabyte solid-state drive, both standard on a modern laptop. The keyboard is roomy and responsive, even squeezing a tiny numeric keypad to the right.

Photograph: Chris Null

An intriguing addition is the inclusion of color LED backlighting for the keyboard—something you don’t often see outside the world of gaming laptops. The single-zone lighting effects can be tweaked in the preloaded MyAsus app, which controls a range of functions ranging from fan speed to audio effects. The backlighting is understated in large part because it is hard to see, due to the silver color of the keys. Whether the backlighting was on or off, I struggled to read the letters and symbols on the tops of the keys; there just wasn’t enough contrast.

Note that the unit does not include Asus’ new Ceraluminum shell—the S 15 has an all-metal chassis—nor does it include the older ScreenPad feature (where the touchpad doubles as a small display), which is present on some other Vivobook offerings.

Port selection is good and befitting of a 15.6-inch laptop, with two USB-C ports supporting USB4, two USB-A 3.2 ports, a full-size HDMI port, and a microSD card reader. All ports are side-mounted. The Vivobook weighs 3 pounds and is 20 millimeters thick, acceptable stats for a machine of this size.