It's finally happening! Snapdragon X powered mini PCs are going to take over in 2025, and Lenovo is joining the fray with its new IdeaCentre Mini X and ThinkCentre Neo 50q, designed for both consumer and commercial customers respectively.
Both devices will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X or Snapdragon X Plus SoC, which both feature an NPU that can output 45 TOPS of power and makes them eligible for Copilot+ features. Unfortunately, Lenovo doesn't appear be offering these mini PCs with a Snapdragon X Elite SoC, at least not yet.
The Snapdragon X is the latest PC SoC from Qualcomm, and is the most entry-level chip yet. It's designed to bring the cost of Snapdragon PCs down to the $600 price range, which should be good news for anyone looking to pay similar prices to an Apple Mac Mini M4, but powered by Windows and with Snapdragon.
Lenovo says these PCs are aimed at professionals, creatives, and developers, and may even be a good alternative to Qualcomm's own canceled Developer Kit. The IdeaCentre Mini can be configured with up to 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD storage, and the ThinkCentre Neo 50q can be configured with 16GB RAM and has two replaceable M.2 storage slots.
Most people will want to buy the IdeaCentre Mini for the best experience, as the ThinkCentre is designed primarily for commercial customers and is generally not as nice looking as the IdeaCentre. The IdeaCentre also has better connectivity, with Wi-Fi 7 support over the ThinkCentre's Wi-Fi 6E.
"The introduction of Snapdragon X Series Platforms into mini-PCs marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of personal computing" says Peter Burns, senior director of product marketing at Lenovo. "With a mini-PC powered by Snapdragon, you’re not just investing in a powerful device; you’re choosing a computing experience that delivers responsive performance, incredible power efficiency and next-level intelligence. Whether for professional use or personal enjoyment, mini-PCs powered by Snapdragon are set to revolutionize the way we think about desktops, offering an unrivaled experience that is more powerful."
The IdeaCentre Mini will be available for purchase in April for a starting price of around $659.99. The ThinkCentre Neo 50q will be available for purchase a couple of months later in June for $699.99. These are quite affordable for their price, and while they might not match Apple's Mac Mini M4 when it comes to raw performance, it's good to see the Windows space have something that competes relatively well with great performance at an affordable price point.
