Computex 2019: Lenovo, Qualcomm partner to announce the world's first 5G PC

5G is undoubtedly one of the emerging trends in the tech world. Most major smartphone manufacturers like LG, Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo and Huawei have already launched 5G smartphones in countries with operational 5G networks.

Most 5G handsets currently run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 SoC with the X50 5G modem. At MWC 2019, the chipmaker announced a second generation X55 5G modem for computers that will be paired with the 8cx processor. However, at Computex 2019, Qualcomm has partnered with Lenovo on “Project Limitless” to announce the first 5G laptop prototype.

Lenovo’s Project Limitless is being touted as an “Always-connected PC,” which will use a Snapdragon 8cx processor and X55 5G modem. The laptop used in Project Limitless looks very similar to a regular convertible, 2-in-1 notebook. Lenovo and Qualcomm describe Project Limitless as “the world’s first 7nm platform purpose-built for PCs that offers 5G connectivity.”

Project Limitless will shun traditional x86 silicon for an ARM-based Snapdragon 8cx. In the past, ARM-based Windows laptops haven’t been able to compete with x86 in terms of performance. But all that changes with the 8cx.

The Snapdragon 8cx is based on the 7nm process node, while the Intel Core i5-8250U CPU is based on Intel’s 14nm Skylake architecture. The Snapdragon 8cx is an octa-core processor, which means it will have eight cores, while the Intel Core i5-8250U features four cores and eight threads.

Qualcomm recently debuted the capability of its 8cx chip in benchmark tests for performance and battery. Not only did the Snapdragon 8cx go toe-to-toe with Core i5 chip in terms of performance but beat it out at some tasks. Battery life wasn’t even close, with the Snapdragon chip (17 hours) offering almost seven hours of battery life more than the Core i5 (10 hrs 21 mins).

Lenovo’s vision with the “always-connected PC” is to bring popular smartphones features like all-day battery life and continuous connectivity to PC. Although the 5G Lenovo laptop on display at Computex 2019 was only a prototype, you can expect more devices to release with the 8cx chips later this year or early next year.