OnePlus 16 leaks point to a 9,000mAh battery, 200MP camera, 185Hz display, and new Snapdragon chip, though most specs remain unconfirmed.
The post OnePlus 16 Details Leak: 9,000mAh Battery Could Be Its Biggest Upgrade appeared first on TechRepublic.
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 11) is one of the best laptops we've reviewed all year. Our Cale Hunt called the PC a "top choice for students, small business pros, and even casual Windows users who want a premium laptop." Now, thanks to a YouTuber, the laptop can also claim the title of a streaming battlestation.
YouTuber "DevonDoesTech" used the Yoga Slim 7x to power his streaming and content creation setup for a 17-hour stream marathon. DevonDoesTech was sent the laptop by Qualcomm and tested the PC by using it as the heart of his stream.
The latest Yoga Slim 7x runs on a Snapdragon X2 processor. The one DevonDoesTech used has the Snapdragon X2 Elite inside. The idea behind the stream was to see how the chip handled real-world usage.
It's a clever way to showcase the new chip from Qualcomm. Snapdragon X processors have had respectable specs for a while, but posts about the chips on social media often include people asking about app compatibility.
An Arm blog post from July 2025 stated that 90% of time spent on Windows on ARM PCs is spent on natively compiled apps. Since then, NVIDIA has announced RTX Spark, which adds another major name to the Windows on ARM platform.
But boasting about how many apps are natively compiled is not the same as showing ARM-based PCs can actually be used to get work done. The DevonDoesTech stream required OBS Studio, Meld Studio, DaVinci Resolve, Discord, and other apps.
DevonDoesTech streamed for over 1,000 minutes during his stream. The setup had both a horizontal stream on YouTube and a vertical stream on Twitch that ran simultaneously.
"I didn't notice a difference. Never once during the 17-hour stream, never once during my testing, never once during my road trip did I say 'Dang, I really wish that I had the power of my desktop computer.'"
He added that the Yoga Slim 7x is "kind of blowing [his] mind."
While ARM-based computing has come a long way, there are still games that do not work with Snapdragon X chips. Kernel-level anti-cheat is required for some games and is still an awkward spot. But even in that area there's promise for improvement.
Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 11): was $2099.99 now $1449.99
This laptop has a sleek design and enough power to handle everything from daily productivity to creative work. This model has 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.View Deal
Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 11): was $1499.99 now $899.99
If you love the look and design of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x but don't need the power and specs shown off in DevonDoesTech's video, this model is for you. It runs on a Snapdragon X2 Plus processor and is part of a massive doorbuster deal.View Deal
DevonDoesTech's praise is quite effusive, but it aligns with our own experience. The Yoga Slim 7x earned a 4.5 out of 5 in our review and Hunt said the Snapdragon X2 Elite chip and the laptop are a "blast" to use.
After using a PC with a Snapdragon X2 for one month, Hunt was "totally sold on Snapdragon X2." He also spoke on app compatibility:
"For a fairly casual Windows user like me, ARM64 app compatibility is a complete non-issue. You can see for yourself if the apps you use are native or emulated on the extremely useful WorksOnWOA website."
There was a time when ARM-based laptops were lackluster compared to their x86 counterparts. I'm happy to see those days are behind us.
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.
A laptop on a wooden table displays a vibrant, colorful chrysanthemum on its screen. Background: a bookshelf lined with assorted books. Cozy ambiance.
A laptop on a wooden table displays a vibrant, colorful chrysanthemum on its screen. Background: a bookshelf lined with assorted books. Cozy ambiance.
We now have more details about Qualcomm's Snapdragon C chips. The processors were officially announced in May, but we did not have full specs or details at the time.
Snapdragon C chips are designed to power budget laptops that start around $300. Qualcomm has updated its product pages for the processors, including full specs.
The specs are promising and stack up well against offerings from competitors, such as the Intel N250. Qualcomm shared some favorable comparisons between Snapdragon C and Intel N250 that suggest Qualcomm's new chip could compete very well in the budget laptop space.
Snapdragon C promises up to 67% faster performance than Intel N250 according to Qualcomm. The biggest difference between the chips appeared in Cinebench MT testing, but Snapdragon C defeated Intel across a range of Qualcomm's tests.
Those performance tests are when both chips are running on battery power, which leans in Qualcomm's favor. Snapdragon processors often thrive in unplugged testing.
Qualcomm claims Snapdragon C delivers 106% better power efficiency during Netflix playback. Microsoft Teams (99% better) and YouTube (86% better) are both wins for Snapdragon C as well.
Power usage by idle apps is 39% better in power efficiency, according to Qualcomm.
CPU | Qualcomm Kryo CPU (6nm) | |
CPU cores | 8 | |
CPU max clock speed | 3.0 GHz | |
GPU | Qualcomm Adreno | |
NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon | |
Memory | LPDDR5x | |
Maximum memory | 16GB | |
Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6 | |
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 6.0 |
Snapdragon C has a dedicated NPU, which helps with AI tasks. I doubt AI usage will be heavy among budget laptop users, so CPU performance and other specs will likely be bigger factors for those shopping for affordable PCs.
Windows 11 on ARM has improved greatly when it comes to app compatibility, so that should not be as much of a concern as it would have been just a few years ago. For many people, app compatibility is no longer a concern for Windows 11 on ARM.
There are some legacy and enterprise apps that are not compatible with Snapdragon C and other ARM-based processors, but the list of the best native Windows on ARM apps continues to grow and includes big-name and niche apps.
For non-native apps, Microsoft's Prism emulation has improved over the years as well. That means even apps running in emulation perform better.
The official specs of Snapdragon C are promising, as are the figures shared by Qualcomm. But there are still several key facts we do not know, some of which won't be confirmed until laptops with the new chips launch.
We also need to know how the chips perform when laptops are plugged in and how that performance compares to that of Intel chips.
All of the claims about performance and efficiency come straight from Qualcomm, so we'll need to see them verified independently.
Qualcomm has a good track record with claims like this. Benchmarks and comparisons shared with the press about previous chips proved accurate in real-world testing.
Qualcomm has always been bullish about how well its Snapdragon processors perform when unplugged compared to Intel's chips. Qualcomm had an entire ad campaign highlighting differences on that front.
I'm confident that Snapdragon C chips will perform well and compete with similar chips from Intel, but we need concrete figures from the wild and hands-on experiences to know exactly how the new chips stack up.
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.
Snapdragon C logo on a colorized transparent motherboard component.
Snapdragon C logo on a colorized transparent motherboard component.
Je m'intéresse à la sécurité mobile depuis un paquet d'années, et cette attaque-là, je ne l'avais jamais vue. Le point de départ n'est ni le réseau, ni un SMS piégé, ni une appli vérolée. C'est la carte SIM elle-même ! En effet, des chercheurs de l'université de Birmingham et de Fuzzware lui ont fait donner des ordres au modem qui l'héberge.
Le mécanisme s'appelle RUN AT et c'est une commande proactive puisque la carte ne se contente pas de répondre à l'appareil, mais elle lui demande aussi d'exécuter une commande AT. C'est ce même langage qui pilote les modems depuis le Hayes Smartmodem de 1981 donc autant dire qu'on a là, une vraie console générique dispo sur un bout de plastique.
Et sur une borne de recharge Autel, ça donne tout simplement une exécution de code. Le module Quectel qui l'équipe, fait passer le texte reçu dans un appel shell, avec une liste noire de caractères censée bloquer les échappements. Mais un simple retour à la ligne passe au travers... Et voilà comment 2 étapes plus loin, les chercheurs sont parvenus à faire tourner leur propre code, piloté depuis la SIM. Décidément, les bornes de recharge collectionnent les mauvaises surprises .
Autre exemple sur un smartphone OPPO Reno 14 F 5G, où une seule commande coince le téléphone en 2G... Son propriétaire ne peut alors plus revenir en arrière : ni le mode avion, ni la sélection manuelle du réseau, ni la désactivation de la SIM dans les réglages ne permet de restaurer de la 5G ou de la 4G. Or la 2G n'a pas d'authentification mutuelle, donc une fausse antenne redevient un facteur de risque sur ce genre de matos récent. Deux autres commandes éteignent même le téléphone ou tuent son modem.
Reste la condition d'entrée, et elle est lourde : la carte doit déjà être hostile. Cela passe au choix par un échange physique, un interposeur glissé sous la puce, un opérateur compromis, ou du sabotage en usine... Mais surtout, rien là-dedans n'exploite de bug exotique. En fait, cette capacité est écrite dans les spécifications cellulaires, ce qui fait dire au chercheur Marius Muench que ces attaques sont conformes au standard.
Maintenant sur votre téléphone perso, le scénario d'une telle attaque reste assez serré. Mais sur un boîtier 4G oublié dans un local technique, beaucoup moins. Sur 26 appareils testés, 9 exposent l'interface, dont 6 modems IoT sur 8, contre 3 téléphones sur 18. Par contre, ni iPhone ni Pixel ne sont faillibles et Qualcomm a préparé une configuration durcie qui la coupe par défaut. De son côté, Quectel travaille encore dessus...
Bref, si vous exploitez des équipements cellulaires sur le terrain, une seule question au fournisseur du module suffit : RUN AT est-il activé, et peut-on le couper ? Notez qu'aucune attaque de ce type n'a été signalée pour le moment.
Higher Qualcomm chip prices could push Android manufacturers to reuse older processors, trim specifications, or sell different hardware configurations across regions.
The post Qualcomm Price Hike Could Deepen Android Hardware Fragmentation appeared first on TechRepublic.
The ASUS Zenbook A16 is not a gaming laptop, but what if it were a gaming desktop? One YouTuber sought to find out what happens when you connect an eGPU to the Zenbook A16. The results are surprising and show a promising potential future for gaming on Arm processors.
Connecting the Zenbook A16 is not something for the faint of heart. Until recently, it was not possible to connect any GPU to a Snapdragon X-powered laptop, even if you were willing to use unofficial methods.
ETA Prime connected an RTX 4060 to a Zenbook A16 using the developer driver for RTX Spark. That GPU is also from NVIDIA, and its driver can be installed on a PC like the Zenbook A16 to connect an RTX 4060.
Obviously the setup is not official or optimized, but it does work to an extent. Some other NVIDIA GPUs were also successfully connected, but ETA Prime saw the best performance with the RTX 4060.
ETA Prime runs through all of the specific hardware used, but the heart of it all is the AOOSTAR AG03 Thunderbolt 5 & OCuLink eGPU Dock.
The Zenbook A16 was able to hit impressive framerates and settings when connected to the RTX 4060.
In ETA Prime's video, you'll see Forza Horizon 6, Cyberpunk 2077, Project Cars 2, and DOOM: The Dark Ages at very respectable framerates and settings.
Hitting those framerates often required frame generation, but gameplay looks smooth. In Cyberpunk 2077, ETA Prime was able to hit the low 40s at high settings without frame generation and the low 70s with frame generation.
The Zenbook A16 runs on a Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, which is quite speedy. But the chip leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to graphics. On top of that, games are not always optimized for Windows on Arm, so you can end up with issues like Halo: Campaign Evolved missing textures and having a transparent ground.
Experimentation by ETA Prime and Ghobso Gaming (who tested Halo: Campaign Evolved) shows that Snapdragon X2 chips are capable of playing games. But those processors lack support and optimization.
If drivers ship and game developers embrace Snapdragon X-powered PCs, we could see a significant jump in gaming on Windows 11 on Arm.
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.
Studio photos of the 2026 ASUS Zenbook A16 laptop featuring the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor.
Studio photos of the 2026 ASUS Zenbook A16 laptop featuring the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor.
Qualcomm will raise processor prices for products shipped after September 1, adding new cost pressure for Android phone makers and future devices.
The post Qualcomm Confirms Snapdragon Price Hike, Android Phones May Cost More appeared first on TechRepublic.
An animated character with a large nose looks out of a window at a microchip labeled "Snapdragon X2." Blue stripes and a warm color palette set a humorous tone.
An animated character with a large nose looks out of a window at a microchip labeled "Snapdragon X2." Blue stripes and a warm color palette set a humorous tone.
Images of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, benchmarks from reference design laptops, and pictures from the announcement at the Snapdragon Summit (2025).
Images of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, benchmarks from reference design laptops, and pictures from the announcement at the Snapdragon Summit (2025).
Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme vs. Apple M4
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