Five Snapdragon X2 laptops now have device trees in the mainline Linux kernel, and only one of them, the ASUS Zenbook A16, is in a stable kernel you can install today. The other four land in the next release, which Phoronix expects around the end of December. If you’re hoping to run Linux on a Snapdragon X2 laptop, that gap decides what you can buy now and what you should wait for.
This guide shows you which X2 and first-generation X Elite laptops boot a mainline kernel and what works on each generation. You will also see which distro to pick and how to handle the firmware step your laptop needs. No Snapdragon laptop was booted for it. I checked every laptop against the kernel tree, linux-firmware and the Ubuntu 26.10 release notes in October 2026, so the tables show what has actually landed, not what was announced.
Know which Snapdragon chip you’re dealing with
Qualcomm sells three X2 families, and inside the X2 Elite family the kernel splits the chips by die: 18-core Glymur and 12-core Mahua. That matters because a laptop’s device tree is written for one die, and a model sold with a different chip inside will not match it. Use this table to map the name on your listing to the kernel’s name:
| Chip | Cores | Kernel codename | Mainline laptop support |
|---|---|---|---|
| X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96, X2E-94) | 18 | Glymur | Zenbook A16 |
| X2 Elite 18-core (X2E-90, X2E-88) | 18 | Glymur | Zenbook A14, Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11, EliteBook X G2q |
| X2 Elite 12-core (X2E-84, X2E-80, X2E-78) | 12 | Mahua | ThinkPad T14s Gen 7 |
| X2 Plus (X2P-64, X2P-42) | 10 or 6 | Kalambo for the 6-core X2P-42 (binding only) | no laptop |
| X Elite / X Plus (first generation) | 12, 10 or 8 | Hamoa, Purwa | about 20 laptops |
Qualcomm announced the X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme in September 2025 and the X2 Plus at CES 2026, with laptops shipping in the first half of 2026. Watch the middle rows. The Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11 and the HP EliteBook X G2q both ship with 12-core and 18-core chips, but their mainline device trees target the 18-core Glymur die, so buy the 18-core version if Linux is your goal.
See which laptops boot a mainline kernel
A Snapdragon laptop boots Linux only when the kernel ships a device tree for that exact model. This table lists the first mainline kernel that includes each laptop, and whether linux-firmware already ships its signed firmware so you don’t have to copy it from Windows:
| Laptop | Chip | First mainline kernel | Firmware in linux-firmware | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x | X Elite | 6.11 | Yes | Lenovo lists it as withdrawn |
| ASUS Vivobook S 15 | X Elite | 6.11 | No | No sound node in the device tree |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 | X Elite | 6.12 | Yes | Ubuntu says it works best |
| Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 | X Elite | 6.12 | No | Keyboard runs through the Surface SAM |
| Dell XPS 13 9345 | X Elite | 6.13 | Yes (no video codec file) | No sound node in mainline |
| HP OmniBook X 14 | X Elite | 6.14 | No | |
| ASUS Zenbook A16 (UX3607OA) | X2 Elite Extreme | 7.3 | No | First X2 laptop in a stable kernel |
| ASUS Zenbook A14 (UX3407NA) | X2 Elite 18-core | 7.4 | No | Phoronix reported HDMI unsupported |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11 | X2 Elite 18-core | 7.4 | No | Camera missing |
| HP EliteBook X G2q | X2 Elite 18-core | 7.4 | No | Camera missing; DisplayPort needs pending patches |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 7 | X2 Elite 12-core | 7.4 | No | USB webcam works |
| Surface Laptop (2026), X2 Plus laptops | X2 | none | No | No Linux path today |
Only three laptops get their DSP and GPU firmware from linux-firmware: the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, the first Yoga Slim 7x and the XPS 13 9345. Every other first-generation model, and every X2 laptop, needs you to copy the firmware from its Windows partition. That is a one-time step, and the firmware section below covers it. You can check any model yourself in the qcom device tree folder of the kernel tree.
Compare what works on X1 and X2
First-generation X Elite laptops have had over a year of upstream work, and it shows. X2 is a developer preview: the device trees exist, but Wi-Fi, audio, cameras, suspend and the keyboard all have open issues on at least one model. Check each part you rely on before you commit:
| Part | X Elite / X Plus (X1) | X2 Elite / Extreme |
|---|---|---|
| Boot | Generic Ubuntu ARM64 ISO; Secure Boot works on Ubuntu 25.10 and newer on supported models | Ubuntu 26.10 has early support for three laptops; the Zenbook A16 boots the Concept ISO |
| Firmware | Copy from Windows, except T14s Gen 6, Yoga Slim 7x, XPS 13 | Copy from Windows on every model |
| GPU | Freedreno and Turnip work; Phoronix saw one Acer fall back to software rendering on recent Ubuntu | Works with Mesa 26.0; Phoronix saw it working on the A16 |
| Display | Built-in screen and USB-C DisplayPort on most models | Built-in screen works; HDMI works on the A16, and Phoronix reported it unsupported on the A14 |
| Wi-Fi | Works; on Ubuntu 26.10 it may not return after suspend on some models | Listed working in the device trees, but Phoronix found it not yet supported out of the box on the A16 |
| Audio | Works on most models; no sound node for the XPS 13 or Vivobook S 15 | In all five device trees; needs extracted firmware and UCM files |
| Camera | Not in mainline; Ubuntu 26.10 adds it for at least five laptops | Missing on Yoga Gen 11 and EliteBook; USB webcam works on T14s Gen 7 |
| Keyboard | Works; the Surface uses its SAM controller | Can be dead on some X2 laptops with Ubuntu 26.10; install with a USB keyboard |
| USB4 / Thunderbolt | No USB4 support upstream | No USB4 support upstream |
| NPU | No documented Linux path | Qualcomm is upstreaming FastRPC access |
| Power readings | None | None |
Two rows catch people out. The dead keyboard on some X2 laptops is a known Ubuntu 26.10 issue (Launchpad bug 2169765), so keep a USB keyboard nearby when you install. And there is no USB4 or Thunderbolt tunnelling upstream on either generation, so your Thunderbolt dock will not behave the way it does on an x86 laptop. Plan on plain USB-C DisplayPort instead.
Pick the laptop that fits how you’ll use Linux
Amazon US sells most of these laptops only through third-party sellers, and some listings bundle a dock. Check the exact chip in the listing title before you buy, because the same model name can hide a chip that does not match its device tree. Each pick below says who it suits first, so you can skip the ones that are not for you.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (first generation)
If you want the smoothest Linux experience on Snapdragon today, start with a first-generation laptop that linux-firmware fully supports.
The Yoga Slim 7x has had a mainline device tree since kernel 6.11, its signed firmware ships in linux-firmware, and its device tree includes the sound card. Ubuntu 26.10 adds its built-in camera too. You will still want Windows on a small partition for BIOS updates.
Lenovo lists this model as withdrawn, so you are buying remaining stock. A third-party seller had it for about $1,000 on our check date, which makes it the cheapest well-supported option here.
Dell XPS 13 9345
The XPS 13 9345 is the other first-generation laptop with its firmware in linux-firmware, and it suits you if you can live without built-in speakers for now. You get the cleanest firmware story of any Dell here.
It has been in mainline since kernel 6.13, and Ubuntu 26.10 adds its camera. Audio is missing. The mainline device tree has no sound node for it, so the speakers will not work on a stock kernel. A USB or Bluetooth headset is the workaround until that changes.
Third-party sellers had the 32 GB model for about $1,400 to $1,500. If you’ve been eyeing the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, which Ubuntu calls the best-working X Elite laptop, Amazon only had used units without a buy box when we checked.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (13.8-inch)
If you would rather buy from Amazon itself, the X Elite Surface Laptop is the only Linux-capable Snapdragon laptop Amazon sells directly.
The 2024 model with the X Elite has had a device tree since kernel 6.12, and it is listed as working on Ubuntu’s Concept images. Its keyboard and touchpad run through Microsoft’s Surface Aggregator Module, and you will need to copy its firmware from Windows because linux-firmware does not ship it.
Amazon sold it for about $1,400. Don’t confuse it with the 2026 Surface Laptop, which uses an X2 chip and has no Linux device tree at all.
ASUS Zenbook A16 (X2 Elite Extreme)
If you want to tinker with X2 now, the Zenbook A16 is the only X2 laptop in a stable kernel, and it’s the one to buy.
Its device tree landed in kernel 7.3, and the engineer who wrote it listed audio, the GPU, display, HDMI, keyboard and touchpad, charging, USB, the SD card and Wi-Fi as working. Real-world testing is rougher. Phoronix wrote that Wi-Fi, audio and the web camera are not yet supported out of the box with Ubuntu’s Concept ISO, and community reports describe Wi-Fi dropping after sleep.
Treat it as a laptop you will fix things on, not one you hand to someone else. A third-party seller had the 48 GB model for about $2,050 to $2,300.
Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 7
The T14s Gen 7 is the X2 business laptop to watch, and its device tree matches the chip Lenovo actually ships.
Its 12-core Mahua device tree is in the next kernel, and the commit lists the built-in screen, audio, USB-C charging, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NVMe, keyboard, touchpad, TrackPoint, fingerprint reader and the internal USB camera as working. That camera is the one built-in X2 webcam that works upstream, because it’s a plain USB device.
You will have to wait for that kernel or build it yourself. The device tree covers the LCD model only, with no touchscreen or HDMI in its working list. Neither Ubuntu’s nor Debian’s firmware extraction script knows this laptop yet, so you would copy its firmware by hand for now. A third-party seller had the X2E-80 model for about $2,100. Avoid the X2 Plus listing, which has no device tree.
Two more X2 laptops are in the next kernel, but Amazon only had them as third-party bundles with a dock. The Zenbook A14 with the X2E-88 sold for about $1,350, and Phoronix reported its HDMI unsupported. For about $2,100, the Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11 with the X2E-88 still has no working camera. The Surface Laptop (2026) at about $1,600 is a fine Windows laptop, but you will only run Linux on it through WSL2.
Choose a distro that supports your laptop
Ubuntu is the only distro with official Snapdragon laptop support right now, so it is your default choice. The others work on first-generation laptops with more effort, and Debian’s story is easy to misread:
- Pick Ubuntu 26.10 if you have a Zenbook A14, EliteBook X G2q or Yoga Slim 7x Gen 11, the three X2 laptops it supports early; the A16 needs the Concept ISO and the T14s Gen 7 needs the next kernel.
- Pick Ubuntu 26.04 LTS on an X Elite laptop only if you want the longer support window, because it lacks the 26.10 camera support and ships an older firmware script.
- Use Fedora only on an X Elite laptop, and add the four kernel arguments its wiki lists to the installer.
- Expect community kernels only on Arch, because there’s no official image.
Our Ubuntu 26.10 install guide walks through the installer, and the Ubuntu 26.04 LTS features roundup covers the official ARM64 desktop ISO. Canonical says certified X2 images are targeted for 2027, so treat today’s support as early.
Debian is where the headlines mislead you. The line about Debian by the end of 2026 is Qualcomm’s. It is building preview images on Debian 13 user space with its own kernel, and it targets its first finished milestone for the end of November. That’s a Qualcomm image, not a Debian installer that boots X2 laptops, and Debian’s own stable and backports kernels don’t include the X2 laptop device trees yet.
Plan for the firmware step
Every Snapdragon laptop needs vendor-signed firmware for its audio, battery and compute DSPs and its GPU. Unless your laptop is one of the three that linux-firmware covers, you will copy those files from the Windows partition with qcom-firmware-extract. Ubuntu packages it, Fedora ships it in updates-testing and Debian has it in testing and unstable.
Use the newest version of the extraction script you can get, because older ones do not know the newer laptops. Ubuntu 26.04 shipped an older release that rejected one Acer laptop as unsupported until Phoronix installed a newer one. The version in Ubuntu 26.10 does not list any X2 laptop yet, and Debian’s newer version adds four of them but not the T14s Gen 7, so expect a “not supported” error on X2 until those packages update.
On a supported laptop running Ubuntu, install it first:
sudo apt install qcom-firmware-extractThen run it, and reboot so the kernel loads the new firmware. It reads the Windows partition read-only and cannot take a BitLocker key, so suspend BitLocker in Windows first if it is on:
sudo qcom-firmware-extractThat is why you should shrink Windows, not wipe it. You need it for the firmware extraction, and Ubuntu notes that Windows is also required for BIOS and firmware updates on these laptops. Our Fedora and Windows 11 dual boot guide shows how to resize the Windows partition safely.
Use WSL2 when native Linux isn’t ready
If your laptop isn’t in the tables above, or you need everything working on day one, WSL2 runs a full Linux user space on every Snapdragon laptop. It is supported on ARM64 Windows, and wsl --install gets you ARM64 builds of Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE and others.
You give up direct hardware access, but Wi-Fi, audio, suspend and the camera all keep working on the Windows side because Windows drives them. The webcam only reaches a WSL distro if you pass it through with usbipd-win. Our guide to Linux GUI apps on WSL covers the desktop side, and it is the safe way for you to try Linux on a Surface Laptop (2026) or any X2 Plus laptop.
Check a Snapdragon laptop before you buy it
A Snapdragon laptop that looks right can still be the wrong one for Linux. Run through these checks before you order:
- You’ve found the laptop’s device tree file in the kernel’s qcom folder.
- The chip in the listing matches the die the device tree targets, 18-core Glymur or 12-core Mahua.
- The laptop’s linux-firmware folder holds the qcadsp, qccdsp and qcdxkmsuc .mbn files, or qcom-firmware-extract lists it.
- You’ve read the known issues in your distro’s release notes, such as the Ubuntu 26.10 notes.
- You’ll keep Windows on a small partition for firmware and BIOS updates.
If a laptop fails the first two checks, it will not boot a stock kernel, however good its specs look to you. When you’d rather skip the trade-offs entirely, our Framework vs ThinkPad comparison covers x86 laptops that run Linux without any of these steps.
