Laptop Mag Verdict
The HP OmniBook X offers incredible battery life and a clicky keyboard, but a slow SSD bogs down its killer performance.
Pros
- +
Sharp, colorful display
- +
Clicky keyboard
- +
Strong performance
- +
Incredible battery life
Cons
- -
Poor brightness
- -
Slow SSD
- -
Middling graphics
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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips have been pulling their weight like Atlas in these laptops, so getting a Copilot+ PC should be an easy win for you, but the HP OmniBook X makes a strong case against that notion.
For $1,199, the HP OmniBook X gets you that awesome Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 performance, a clicky keyboard, and an impressive battery life. However, a slow SSD has a chilling effect on that performance, and this laptop has the dimmest display I’ve seen all year.
The HP OmniBook X had plenty of potential, enough to make it one of the best HP laptops, but let me tell you how it squandered that opportunity.
HP OmniBook X: Specs
| Price | $1,199 (on sale for $899) |
| CPU | Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 |
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno |
| RAM | 16GB |
| Storage | 1TB SSD |
| Display | 14-inch, 2240 x 1400, 60Hz, touch |
| Battery | 16:18 |
| Size | 12.32 x 8.8 x 0.56~0.57 inches |
| Weight | 2.91 pounds |
HP OmniBook X: Price and configurations
I reviewed the $1,199 model of the HP OmniBook X (on sale for $899 at Best Buy), which boasts a Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 processor, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch, 2240 x 1400, 60Hz, touch display.
The base model drops to $849 and reduces storage to a 512GB SSD. It is on sale at the time of publication (from $1,149). Otherwise, you can upgrade to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD if you get the $1,499 model.
If you’re looking for something a little cheaper, check out our best laptops under $1,000.
HP OmniBook X: Design
With its Meteor Silver color scheme, the HP OmniBook X looks like most other premium laptops. Minus the “HP” logo, it wouldn’t look out of place in a line of MacBooks, so it’s fine, I suppose. However, If you want some variation, I’d recommend going with the Ceramic White color, which is $10 more, but absolutely worth it.
The interior offers more of the same dark silver design contrasted with a dark gray keyboard that doesn’t look that appealing. Laptop manufacturers need to hire someone obsessed with color theory. The touchpad takes up quite a bit of space, while the bezels on the display are pleasantly slim all around. There’s even a webcam on top with a privacy shutter.
At 2.91 pounds and 12.32 x 8.8 x 0.56~0.57 inches, the HP OmniBook X makes one hell of an impression, coming in as the lightest and the second thinnest among the competition, giving the MacBook Air a fight for its life. This is how HP OmniBook X compares:
- MacBook Air 15-inch M3: 3.3 pounds, 13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches
- Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: 3 pounds, 12.3 x 8.67 x 0.59 inches
- Acer Swift 14 AI: 3.2 pounds, 12.7 x 8.9 x 0.66~0.72 inches
HP OmniBook X: Ports
Being a thin laptop, the HP OmniBook X doesn’t offer many ports, but it covers the necessities.
These ports include two USB Type-C ports on the left side, and a USB Type-A port and a headphone jack on the right side.
Need more ports? Check out our best USB Type-C hubs and best laptop docking stations pages.
HP OmniBook X: Display
Wow, I haven’t seen a display this dim in a long while. The HP OmniBook X’s 14-inch, 2240 x 1400, 60Hz, touch display is sharp and offers a nice bit of color, bringing depth to your favorite content. But the brightness is so low that it has no right to wear a glossy panel.
In the trailer for Secret Level, the opening cinematic fell flat due to low brightness. I couldn’t catch the finer details of the characters due to how dark the scene was, and the ambient glare (not even directly) from my window made it even less enjoyable. The blue rocket exhaust from a speeder riding toward the dark sunset had a strong depth, but the laptop couldn’t capitalize on the higher color range because of the low brightness.
According to our colorimeter, the HP OmniBook X covered 80.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which isn’t as colorful as the average premium laptop (88.9%). However, it brings more life to Game of Thrones than the Swift 14 (75.6%), Zenbook 14 (79.8%), MacBook Air (77.5%), and the infamous D&D (not the TTRPG).
At 283 nits of brightness the OmniBook X crumbles against the average premium laptop (454 nits). It didn’t make it anywhere near the Swift 14 (367 nits), Zenbook 14 (339 nits), and MacBook Air (482 nits). With a glossy display, 283 nits is downright offensive. The worst part is that there are no other display configurations.
HP OmniBook X: Keyboard and touchpad
Don’t scoff at the HP OmniBook X’s low key travel because this baby’s keyboard is delightfully clicky. Between its well-spaced keys and their bouncy click, my fingers were tap dancing across the deck like they were at a talent show.
I typed at 87 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, soaring above my usual 81 wpm average. Deep key travel is pleasant, but there’s something about precise, low key travel that can keep your fingers bouncing to the next key with ease.
I was less impressed with the 4.9 x 3.2-inch touchpad. It’s fine, but it’s not glass so it’s not as smooth as I’d like. And the clicker is too shallow and sharp for my taste.
HP OmniBook X: Audio
The HP OmniBook X’s front-firing speakers threw me for a loop. Its part-hollow and part-wide range of sounds were bad one second and good the other.
I listened to the “Tom’s Diner” cover by AnnenMayKantereit x Giant Rooks (thanks TikTok), and the opening vocal stims sounded brassy and hollow. However, the guitar and trumpet were bright and pleasant. When the actual vocals kicked in, they were crisp albeit quiet. Meanwhile, the percussion had a tough time staying above the rest of the instruments.
There’s no audio app onboard the HP OmniBook X, which is odd because HP usually includes Bang & Olufsen speakers and its accompanying app in its laptops.
HP OmniBook X: Performance
The HP OmniBook X rocks up with Qualcomm’s star child, the Snapdragon X Elite chipset, specifically the X1E-78-100 processor. It could easily handle a couple dozen Google Chrome apps and a handful of YouTube videos without breaking a sweat.
On the Geekbench 6.3 overall performance test, the HP OmniBook X scored 12,861, speeding past the average premium laptop (9,907). It surpassed the MacBook Air’s M3 (12,052) and the ZenBook 14’s Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (12,707), but it couldn’t get past the Swift 14 (14,531) which matched its CPU.
In a real-world test, the OmniBook X took 5 minutes and 46 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p on our HandBrake test, swiping away the average premium laptop (6:37), the Zenbook 14 (6:36), and the MacBook Air (6:30). Meanwhile, it was a whole minute behind the Swift 14 (4:46).
Now, you may be wondering why the OmniBook X is slacking behind the Swift 14 if they share the same CPU. Well, it’s likely the SSD. The OmniBook X’s 1TB SSD clocked in at a transfer rate of 893 megabytes per second. Never mind fumbling against the category average (1,471 MBps) and Zenbook 14 (1,236 MBps), it is nearly 1GBps slower than the Swift 14 (1,891 MBps).
HP OmniBook X: AI performance and features
Like many of its Copilot+ PC siblings, the HP OmniBook X features the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 chipset, which offers dedicated AI performance and a slew of new features. We tested the HP OmniBook X’s AI performance (see how we test AI PCs), but keep in mind that since this is relatively new, our testing methods will adapt as necessary. Now, let’s see how the HP OmniBook X did.
On the Geekbench ML 0.6 AI performance test, the HP OmniBook X hit an ONNX/CPU score of 2,572, which falters against the Swift 14 (2,925) and the Zenbook 14 (2,971). The MacBook Air did not undergo this test, but the HP Spectre x360 14 2024 (2,876) did and the OmniBook X fell short of that as well. Despite that, Qualcomm’s CPU may not be optimized for Geekbench ML 0.6. Since this doesn’t test the NPU, it’s not an accurate depiction of Qualcomm’s AI capabilities.
As with the rest of the Copilot+ PCs, the most interesting and controversial feature is Recall. This tracks the history of your PC just like your browser history. So you can easily bounce around your timeline to see what you did hours ago. It’s a bit spooky, and while this information is supposed to be stored locally, it’s only sensical to be worried, especially with all these privacy lawsuits. However, you can adjust the information stored and Recall is limited to Windows Insiders and disabled by default.
Some of our favorite Copilot+ PC features include Windows Studio Effects and Live Captions. Of course, AI art programs are also available, but they are not without controversy.
Unique to the HP OmniBook X is the HP AI Companion (Beta) app, which offers a collection of AI tools that can “increase productivity.” You can ask the AI questions and it’ll provide information much like how AI Overviews works. You can use it to analyze files you add to a created library and it’ll create streamlined ways to sort and compare the documents. It’ll also give you access to system drivers, BIOS updates, and additional firmware.
HP OmniBook X: Graphics
As with the rest of its Snapdragon X Elite siblings, the HP OmniBook X doesn’t live up to the lofty aspirations that Qualcomm had for its graphics. The Qualcomm Adreno GPU won’t get you far.
On the 3DMark Fire Strike synthetic graphics test, the HP OmniBook X scored 5,330, falling in the back of the premium crowd (8,812). And that placement is consistent against the Swift 14’s Qualcomm Adreno (5,754) and Zenbook 14’s Intel Arc Graphics (8,064).
On the Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (Medium, 1080p) benchmark, the HP OmniBook X averaged 20 frames per second, making it unplayable (30-fps minimum). The Swift 14 (21 fps) landed in the same boat, but the Zenbook 14 (31 fps) made a reasonable effort.
HP OmniBook X: Battery life
As we’ve seen this year, with AI comes great battery life.
On the Laptop Mag battery test, the HP OmniBook X survived 16 hours and 18 minutes, outliving the average premium laptop (12:13) by half a workday. It even sideswiped the Zenbook 14 (15:52) and MacBook Air (15:03). However, the Swift 14 still managed to overcome the odds, with a time of 17:30.
HP OmniBook X: Webcam
Whoa — I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 2880 x 1620 webcam in a laptop before. It does a decent job but fails in the most basic respect.
The contrast is well-balanced, capturing each blind on the window behind me without overexposing the surface. The green in my shirt and the rainbow of colors in the My Hero Academia poster behind me were bold. However, the overall quality is fuzzy and distorts the color in noisy pixels all over the image. So, instead of my green shirt looking flat (the way it’s supposed to), It looks like it's caked in sand that matches the color of the shirt. The webcam is passable, so I don’t think it’s necessary to opt for the best webcams.
HP OmniBook X: Heat
You can put it in your lap, but your fingers might get toasty.
After streaming a 15-minute video, the HP OmniBook X climbed to 93 degrees Fahrenheit on the underside, which is safely below our 95-degree comfort threshold. The center of the keyboard and touchpad reached 101 and 82 degrees, respectively. However, the hottest was 112 degrees, located on the 2 key. I’m not too excited about the top of the keyboard being that warm.
HP OmniBook X: Software and warranty
Everything you need is in the myHP app. Well, the important stuff, there’s also plenty of HP software strewn about the PC, like HP Energy Star and HP System Event Utility. But myHP features your device information, diagnostics for your performance, network, audio, and operating system, and links out to HP’s manuals and support center. You can mess with Video and Audio controls as far as conferencing goes.
The OmniBook X comes with a one-year limited warranty. See how HP performed on our Tech Support Showdown ranking.
Bottom line
That dim display is tough to forgive, but HP really killed the OmniBook X’s chances with that dismal SSD. At the right price, it is worth considering thanks to its great performance, splendidly long battery life, and clicky keyboard, but there are far too many excellent options for around $1,000.
If you want something long-lasting and powerful, try the Acer Swift 14 AI. It trades a clicky keyboard for a silky touchpad, and while the color in the display isn’t as good, it’s considerably brighter.
Overall, the HP OmniBook X is a decent notebook, but that slow SSD will kill you in the long haul. You’re probably better off getting something else.
