A WELL-GREASED MACHINE

The OmniBook X14 laptop runs on first-generation Snapdragon X Elite, which bets big on Al-enabled productivity and battery life, but falls short when it comes to overall experience, says Deep Majumdar

- Deep Majumdar

THE HP OmniBook X 14 is a consumer-focused laptop that runs on the first-generation Snapdragon X Elite system on chip. 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 Series 2 (Lunar Lake) powered laptops like the Asus Zenbook S14.

Design The OmniBook X 14 is extremely basic in its design. The aluminium chassis is anything but intriguing. The laptop weighs a meagre 1.3 kilogrammes 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. What caught my eye was how slim HP had managed to make this laptop. On the right, we have 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 for all Qualcomm chip-powered laptops.

The audio from the speakers is less than desirable, which is not surprising considering that they are bottom-facing and just a few millimetres away from the ground.