Trying out Snapdragon/ARM64 for size, with the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 9
Since the Qualcomm Snapdragon was released last year, along with Microsoft’s significant push to make ARM64 an acceptable version of Windows 11, I’ve been intrigued and eager to find out if it would suit my needs. Battery life is the main attraction, despite concerns that not all apps work with ARM64; however, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that most users will be fine. But they would say that, wouldn’t they!?
Like many others, I’ve looked at Apple MacBook hardware, with its long battery life and excellent performance, and been jealous as hell for too long. I’ve considered switching to Apple and macOS, but it would be too much work and expense — especially since I have more than one computer and prefer not to run a mixed environment.
Anyway, ARM64 seems to be the answer from Microsoft. However, the initial hardware releases came at a rather high cost - too high for me to jump in. Also, I currently have a Lenovo X1 Gen 9 that is functioning well; it is wonderfully light (1.15 kg) and still capable, although its battery only lasts about three hours due to degradation to 80% of its original capacity. I also purchased the X1 with a four-year warranty, which is still valid - if it runs out this summer. Whatever, inevitably I’m starting to think what might follow it.
I came across the following HotUKDeal:
It’s a fantastic price for a machine with 32GB and a quality screen, so I delved deeper and ultimately purchased one together with a three-year onsite warranty, which is a great bargain in itself. I posted the following comment on the above HotUKDeals thread, which elaborates on my reasoning and details about the deal:
Well I cracked and decided to go for a deal based on the Slim 5.
I wanted one with the 400 Nit OLED display with 100% DCI-P3 - useful for working with colour. I also selected the backlit keyboard option. The page you need (pre any discount from Student Beans / Perks At Work / Discounts For Carers): https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=83HLCTO1WWGB4
In the end I went to the Lenovo site via Discounts For Carers and got the above config + I added in the 3YR Onsite warranty upgrade for £50.38. That took the total to £710.38
I decided to go with the low spec Snapdragon after reading this page: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Qualcomm-Snapdragon-X-Plus-X1P-42-100-Processor-Benchmarks-and-Specs.838787.0.html
and also a number of reviews of Laptops with the chip. My general reading is that the single core results are generally pretty good and that multi-core are somewhat down. The main difficulty is that graphics take a big hit from the GPU being 50% down. But in general most reviews say it can do normal workloads (including Photoshop) pretty well and you get the big bonus of long life on battery.
It’s also the case that most reviews of the chip are with only 16GB of memory and this deal has 32GB. I’m hoping that will help take some pressure off the CPU and support slightly better performance in real life.
However this is not a Laptop I have to rely on if I don’t want to. I’m seeing this as a cost effective way of checking out Windows on Arm and how my mix of apps work in that context. Ultimately Lenovo allow returns for 14 days and if it’s too bad I will return.
Final thing - I was a bit surprised the Slim 5 doesn’t include the IR Camera kit needed for Hello Facial recognition. But as a glasses wearer I have found that can be hit and miss and prefer fingerprint log-in - which the Slim 5 does have.
The Slim 5 arrives directly from China via UPS, and I received it about 9 or 10 days after ordering.
Setting it up was largely as I remember for any Windows 10/11 machine. There is a slight oddity regarding Lenovo driver/firmware updates, which are not managed via Lenovo Vantage (the usual method) but are handled entirely by Microsoft Update along with the normal Windows updates. Long-term, I don’t know how effective that will be, but no alternative is readily available.
Naturally, the big question I wanted to answer was whether my usual apps and peripherals would work under ARM64. Here’s a quick rundown - note all apps were latest versions:
- Firefox - ARM64 version - Works fine, with multi-row tabs and Bitwarden, etc.
- Brave browser - ARM64 version - Works fine.
- Affinity Photo 2 for photo editing - Has an ARM64 version and works well.
- UltraEdit text editor - No ARM64 version, but the standard edition works fine with both large (1.5GB) and small files, and supports macros. Performs adequately.
- TextPad text editor - This is my fallback editor if UltraEdit has issues or proves unreliable. I didn’t check TextPad, but they do have an ARM64 version.
- Printing - Can print on my Epson ET 3750 printer, but there is no Epson driver; Microsoft seems to provide a stripped-back and more basic version. It works well enough. Scanning is not supported. Period. I haven’t scanned anything in two years, so while it’s annoying, it’s not the end of the world.
- Apple Music - Works fine, though it could play louder.
- IrfanView - For viewing picture files, it works but lacks an ARM64 version.
- FastStone Photo Resizer - No ARM64 version but worked with a minor hiccup (unrecorded — sorry). However all photos were resized. So seems usable.
- Start 11 - Seems to work as expected.
- Everything search - Works and finds text in daily files and directories fairly quickly. ARM64 version.
- PureText - Yes, works.
- aText text expansion/macros - Yes, works.
- SumatraPDF - Works fine and has an ARM64 version.
My initial conclusion is that all my usual apps function well, and on that basis I wouldn’t hesitate to opt for a Snapdragon/ARM64 machine. Of course, that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be occasional problems if I made the switch, but I’m not overly concerned.
Another observation is that performance was perfectly acceptable. It didn’t feel meaningfully slow — despite concerns about the lower-end Snapdragon. However, I’m comparing it to a nearly four-year-old Intel-powered Carbon X1. There was none of the excitement that usually accompanies a new laptop where everything feels faster than what you had. Overall, it’s fine, especially for the price, but I hoped for a bit more fizz, perhaps.
One more thing I noticed was the weight of the Slim 5x — it feels quite heavy at 1.46 kg (or 3.22 lbs). The Carbon X1 Gen 9 weighs in at 1.13 kg (or 2.49 lbs), making the Slim 5x 30% heavier. Since I carry my laptop everywhere, weight is a significant factor for me. Typically, you pay a premium for something in the 1.0–1.1 kg range, and, if necessary, I could live with a heavier machine… I would just prefer not to.
So, what did I decide to do with the Slim 5x? I returned it for a full refund. Instead, I spent £80 on eBay for a new battery for the X1 Gen 9, hoping to get at least another year out of it. By then, the Snapdragon/ARM64 landscape will have progressed and matured even further.
However, if my X1 fails this summer (after four years and the end of the warranty), I know that ARM64 would be a viable option in the mix of replacements. If that situation arises, I think I would currently opt for an upmarket Asus A14 with a Snapdragon Elite chip, currently priced between £1100–£1300. The main attraction is that they weigh less than 1 kg and offer incredible battery life. And the Snapdragon Elite would offer a bit more pep compared to the more lowly Snapdragon tried here.