The HP OmniBook X 14 is an intriguing addition to the new Windows Copilot Plus lineup, offering great battery performance at a competitive price compared to Microsoft’s Surface Laptop. However, it leans heavily into its business laptop roots, resulting in a device with some notable shortcomings.
Design and Features
The OmniBook X 14 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processor, tailored for productivity tasks. It starts at $1,150, featuring a 14-inch LCD screen, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, with the option to upgrade to a 1TB drive for $1,200. Visually, the laptop sports a sleek white finish, but the design is otherwise unremarkable, closely resembling the HP EliteBook Ultra, a model built for large-scale office deployment.
At just under 3 pounds and 0.57 inches thick, the OmniBook X is lightweight and compact, making it a decent alternative to the 13-inch MacBook Air. The standout feature is its impressive battery life. The laptop can last up to 15 hours under regular workloads, such as browsing with multiple Chrome tabs open, streaming music, and participating in video meetings. It also handles standby well, losing just 10% charge over a weekend when left idle.
Performance and Drawbacks
While the OmniBook X performs solidly for basic tasks, it falls short in some key areas. The screen, while crisp, has a max brightness of 300 nits, which makes it less than ideal for outdoor use. The 60Hz refresh rate also pales in comparison to competitors that offer brighter and more vibrant displays.
The trackpad has a hinge design that results in more resistance as you click higher up, and inconsistent two-finger right-clicks can be frustrating. The speakers are perhaps the biggest letdown, delivering thin, muffled audio that’s barely sufficient for video calls and certainly subpar for music or movies.
Port Selection and Usability
In terms of connectivity, the OmniBook X offers two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a combo headphone/mic jack. The chiclet-style keyboard is comfortable for extended typing sessions, but the layout of the arrow keys is not ideal for quick, no-look navigation. Additionally, the AI features, like HP’s AI Companion, feel like little more than bloatware at this stage, offering limited functionality and gimmicky tools.
Conclusion
The HP OmniBook X 14 excels in battery life but lags in almost every other department, from screen brightness to audio quality. If battery life is your top priority and you can overlook these trade-offs, the OmniBook X might be worth considering. However, for around the same price, other options like the Surface Laptop provide a more balanced experience with better screens, trackpads, and speakers.
In short, unless your employer is covering the cost, the OmniBook X 14 is a hard sell as a personal purchase for anyone looking for more than just long-lasting battery life.
