HP Omnibook X 14 review: An efficient and underrated Snapdragon laptop

The HP Omnibook X 14 is one of the earliest laptops to bring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chip to a mainstream ultraportable. While Microsoft’s Surface Laptop (read our review) has already shown what Windows on Arm can look like in a sleek chassis, HP’s take opts for something a little more understated – and, in my opinion, more affordable with an SRP of $2,099. If you’re in the market for a Snapdragon X Elite-based laptop and your expectations are in check, the Omnibook X 14 ends up being a surprisingly solid choice.

Aesthetically, the Omnibook X 14 doesn’t make much of a statement. You’d be forgiven for mistaking it for one of the swaths of generic grey ultrabooks in the market. There’s no over-designed hinge, no glowing accents, and no particular highlight in terms of materials. Still, the metal chassis feels sturdy, and it’s commendable that HP has incorporated recycled materials into the body, keyboard, and speaker assembly – the company says the aluminium used are 50% recycled. It’s also MIL-STD certified and should give owners the confidence for some rough handling – even its display is made from Corning’s tough Gorilla Glass NBT.

Weight-wise, the Omnibook X 14 sits at 1.34kg, and while it’s not the lightest Snapdragon laptop around it is still easy to sling it into a backpack without feeling like you’re dragging a brick around. That said, the laptop’s dimensions – measuring at 1.44cm at its thickest – don’t quite match the razor-thin aesthetic of Dell’s XPS 13 (read our review) or one of our all-time favourite, the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED (click here to read the review). What it does offer is practicality, especially in the port department. There’s a USB-A port tucked into the side with one of those drop-jaw mechanisms that I personally always find a bit nerve-wracking to use – it always felt like one of the laptop’s physical weak points. You also get two USB-C ports (including one capable of 40Gbps transfers) and a headphone jack. The lack of a HDMI output means that the Omnibook X 14 is dependent on dongles to connect to an external display.

Flip the laptop open, and we see a 14-inch 2.2K display that’s also a touchscreen, which is nice. HP has opted for an IPS panel here, ostensibly to keep the price lower but that also means you don’t get the vibrant punch of an OLED screen, and its peak brightness of 400 nits is just about passable for indoor use. In bright sunlight, it’ll struggle. Colour accuracy is average too and while it’s fine for general use, creative and content creators might want to consider other laptop options that come with an OLED display instead.

On the input side of things, the typing experience on the Omnibook X 14 is largely unremarkable, but dependable. The keys offer decent travel and tactile feedback, making it suitable for long stretches of writing or work. There’s nothing particularly premium about the keyboard deck, but it doesn’t feel flimsy either. The trackpad, on the other hand, is responsive enough and works as it should – with multi-finger gestures registering consistently, and pointer control feeling accurate. It’s not a glass surface, and you can tell, but it gets the job done without fuss.

Battery life and real-world performance

Performance, though, is where things start to get a bit more interesting. As mentioned earlier, the Omnibook X 14 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite – specifically the X1E-78-100, which is also the same chip that we have covered in our past Snapdragon-based laptops. Let’s see how it performs compared to the competition.

In the Microsoft Office Procyon test, which simulates real-world usage across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook – essentially your standard day-to-day productivity workloads – the Omnibook X 14 delivers solid numbers but doesn’t top the charts, posting a score of 5,895 on power and 5,238 on battery. What’s more notable is how it holds up on battery power. Unlike the ASUS Vivobook S 15, which dips dramatically to 2,997, the HP manages to maintain fairly consistent output even when away from the wall, suggesting good power efficiency and thermal balance.

Things shift, however, with heavier workloads. In the Handbrake video encoding test, which is a tougher CPU-bound task that involves transcoding a 4K video to 1080p, the Omnibook X 14 came in last, taking over 15 minutes (914 seconds) to complete the job. That’s a clear step behind the Dell XPS 13 and even the Surface Laptop 7, and it highlights one of the limitations of the Snapdragon X Elite platform in its current state. While it’s perfectly adequate for general use, it’s not quite up to the task for sustained performance under load compared to similarly sized Intel or AMD-based machines.

Battery life is where the HP Omnibook X 14 makes a stronger case for itself. Despite packing a smaller 59Wh battery compared to most of the competing laptops here, it managed run a video playback in repeated loops for over 18 hours – beating every other Snapdragon laptop that we have tested. In the office productivity test, however, the Omnbook X 14 may not have topped the chart but still sits in the middle, where it lasted for more than 15 hours. It couldn’t quite match the Surface Laptop 7’s class-leading battery life, but given the HP’s smaller battery and lower overall power draw, it’s a strong showing nonetheless.

Final thoughts

While other brands may chase ultra-premium materials or flashy OLED panels, HP has instead focused on nailing the fundamentals with the Omnibook X 14: good battery life, reliable productivity performance, a sturdy build, and a $2,099 price point that’s easier to justify if you're just looking to get work done without paying extra for style. But it’s not flawless, of course. The display lacks colour vibrancy, and I’m not entirely comfortable with its low brightness levels. Then there’s the chassis – while solidly built, it doesn’t quite carry the same visual polish or refinement as some of its competitors.

That said, the Omnibook X 14’s battery life is excellent, and that alone is a major selling point if you're often working on the go. The fact that it can keep up with general office workloads, stay cool and quiet, and still deliver close to all-day endurance without relying on a larger battery makes it one of the more efficient Snapdragon laptops we’ve tested so far.

So if you’re someone who values long battery life, quiet operation, and decent productivity chops in a laptop that won’t break the bank, the HP Omnibook X 14 has quietly made its case.

The HP Omnibook X 14 is available at HP's e-store for $2,099. Click here to buy.

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