The HP OmniBook X 14 is a consumer-focused laptop that runs on the first-generation Snapdragon X Elite system on chip which felt a bit weird after using the laptop for two weeks because HP might as well have called it a business laptop as increased productivity is the foundation on which this laptop is built and marketed. The laptop competes directly with other Snapdragon-powered laptops like the Dell XPS 13 and the Asus VivoBook S15. It also competes indirectly with Intel’s Core Ultra-powered laptops like the Asus Zenbook S14. It is priced at Rs 1,39,999 and promises a plethora of features that, going by the press release, should revolutionise the way we use computers.
The following is my review of the HP OmniBook X 14 AI laptop.
First things first, we will talk about the build quality and the design of the OmniBook X 14. The laptop is extremely basic in its design. Designers did not try and push the envelope as far as the structure of the OmniBook X 14 goes. The design is fairly basic, and to be honest, underwhelming. The aluminium chassis is anything but intriguing and by the looks of it was built to just hold everything valuable inside it. Nothing more, nothing less.
The laptop weighs a meagre 1.3 kilograms and is just 14.4mm in thickness. The curved edges try to add a little excitement to the design. HP claims that the laptop uses 50 per cent recycled aluminium and the keyboard uses 50 per cent recycled plastic.
One thing that caught my eye was how slim HP managed to make this laptop. On the right, we have got two USB Type C ports both equipped with power delivery and DisplayPort 1.4. On the left-hand side, we have a USB Type A (3.2 Gen 1) and a 3.5mm audio port. The minimal number of I/O ports did make me question the laptop’s claim of enhancing productivity but at the same time, I understand the limitations of an ultrabook. In fact, in terms of design and aesthetics, the OmniBook X 14 looks very similar to the 13-inch MacBook air which is essentially the benchmark all the Qualcomm chip-powered laptops are eyeing.
The speakers are placed directly at the edge of the laptop. They are bottom-facing and just a few millimetres away from the ground. It is no wonder that the audio from the speakers is not that good. The position of the speakers is also a concern of mine. They are placed apart from each other at the edges of the laptop which means you are more likely to block the sound if are typing at the same time.
Additionally, the display lid cannot be opened with one hand. The hinges are sturdy but at the same time, they feel the opposite of smooth.
The 16:10 aspect ratio of the LCD is on point as per the latest trends. The 2240 x 1400 pixel resolution is enough for a pleasant laptop experience. The display has Gorilla Glass protection as well. everything seems fine except for one thing. The display offers a peak brightness of 300 nits which will definitely be a deal breaker for many people. 300 nits of peak brightness is way less than what should be there is a laptop that costs Rs 1,39,999. This makes this laptop a bad fit for outdoor work. On the bright side, the display offers touch support.
The brightness is fine when you are indoors which will probably be 90 per cent of the time. The LCD does not feel underwhelming, though. The colours are crisp and the image is detailed. A full spectrum of sRGB and about 78 per cent of DCI-P3 means that the touchscreen display of the HP OmniBook X 14 is enough to give you a good experience with content streaming and multi-media. In contrast, the 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface laptop has a 120Hz refresh rate and a much brighter display.
This is honestly where the HP OmniBook X 14 truly shines. The laptop musters up a battery life of more than 15 hours which is insane. This battery test wasn’t very fancy, so to speak. All I did was open up a bunch of tabs which I thought I’d tend to later but my procrastinating self just left them there. While this was happening, regular work took its course which meant YouTube video streaming, Photoshop, Microsoft Word and the occasional Microsoft Excel. This amount of work takes a toll on the battery and by the time I reach half-day, the battery usually stoops down to 50 per cent. Well, not in the case of the OmniBook X 14.
The laptop houses a 59Wh battery that supports xxW charging speeds. The trick here is that unlike other Copilot Plus PCs such as the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge, the HP OmniBook X 14 uses a 60Hz IPS LCD that uses much less power compared to power-hungry OLEDs.
We’ll just jump to the specifics here. The 12-core Snapdragon X Elite system on chip is a potent processor and the Geekbench score of 2,380 (single core) and 13,300 (multi-core) is proof of that. In comparison, the MacBook M3 scores 2,446 and 13,190, respectively.
The issue of app compatibility is a serious one. Adobe, for instance, only recently added Premiere Pro to the list of available applications in its Creative Cloud suite. However, it is expected that with time the issue of app compatibility should get better. That being said, if the software you need for work is not supported in the OmniBook X 14, it automatically becomes an unviable option.
For those who were excited about Microsoft’s new Recall feature, the OmniBook X 14 sadly doesn’t have it. Microsoft ‘recalled’ this feature from Snapdragon-powered laptops back in June and as of now, this is placed under the ‘coming soon’ tag.
The HP AI Companion is a nice try to spice up the AI laptop experience but it falls short in the end. This Companion offers essentially three features. The first one, as mentioned above, is a ChatGPT-esque AI chatbot that allows up to eight follow-ups of a query. The second feature is the Analyse feature which is my favourite from the lot. This lets you create a repository of information by uploading any of the documents. The AI will retrieve data based on your queries. You can also as the AI Companion to compare and summarise documents. Finally, we have a hardware performance monitoring feature that downloads drivers automatically. Overall, this suite of AI features is not as impactful as one would think.
You need to think of this laptop as a well-greased machine that can handle a lot of tasks effortlessly without causing too much trouble. With an overall strong performance and the ability to tackle most of the work that a high-functioning office goer does, the HP OmniBook X 14 is a potent computer that comes with a capable NPU to handle AI-related work which is great if you want to pay for those models and run them on your system.
For Rs 1,39,999, I did expect it to have a bit more pizazz. I expected a display that had deeper blacks, contrasty colours and a higher refresh rate. However, the overlords at HOP decided to stick to a 60Hz refresh rate, 300 nits of peak brightness and an IPS LCD.
I’m not even going to go deeper on the issues regarding the speaker quality and the in-built AI features that didn’t really do much for me (except the Analyse feature which was a hoot to use). However, I will mention that Windows on Arm compatibility is still not as perfect as one would want it to be.
On the other hand, the laptop truly shocked me with its insane battery life. With a runtime of over 15 hours, the Snapdragon-powered HP OmniBook X 14 has the stamina to work throughout the working day and then some more. It’s true. The OmniBook X 14 broke all records in terms of battery life in a laptop. Qualcomm chips are meant to be power efficient and the OmniBook gives a really good glimpse of what that means.
The HP AI Companion is a nice touch. Apart from the regular chatbot feature, we also have the Analyse feature that offers a very interesting avenue. That being said, the AI features do begin to feel underwhelming pretty quickly. In fact, despite HP constantly reminding us of this laptop’s AI features, the best thing about this laptop is its hardware and how power-efficient it is. People do not realise this often but battery life is one of the most important aspects of a laptop and the way it seems, that is the only thing which is working for the HP OmniBook X 14 so far.
You need to consider the price, though. If spending Rs 1,39,999 of your money is viable for you for an exceptionally long battery life, the OmniBook X 14 is the laptop for you.
