Windows laptops are undergoing perhaps themost significant transformation in their chronicle , for the most part spurred by Apple ’s successful passage from Intel french-fried potatoes to its Apple Silicon Arm computer architecture that ’s open both fast performance and industry - leading efficiency .
Microsoft ’s Copilot+ PCis cite for new AI features , but it ’s rove out first on the fresh Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite subdivision chipset that call to gainsay Apple in both operation and battery life .
At the same time , HP has rebranded its laptopsas the OmniBook , put back the Pavilion , Envy , and Spectre brand . The OmniBook X is HP ’s first Copilot+ laptop computer and its current window on Arm machine base on the Snapdragon X Elite . It ’s secure to say that the OmniBook X is an all new variety of Windows laptop computer . It might notdefeat the MacBook Air M3 outright , but it propose a compelling alternative to the current excerption of Intel and AMD laptop computer available properly now .
Specs and configurations
The OmniBook X add up in just two configurations . For $ 1,150 , you get the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78 - 100 chipset , 16 GB of RAM , a 512 GB SSD , and a 14.0 - inch 2.2 K IPS exhibit . For $ 100 more , you’re able to kick upstairs to a 1 TB SSD .
Those are attractive price for a laptop computer with excellent performance and very good battery life . Its most direct competitor , the Apple MacBook Air M3 and Dell XPS 13 , are considerably more expensive .
Design
The big news program here is the introduction of the late windowpane on sleeve run on the Snapdragon X Elite , as well as the new Copilot+ AI have that , for now , be given exclusively on Qualcomm ’s chipset . I wo n’t be delving into AI , in part because the biggest feature — Recall — has been stay . The quietus of the features are n’t unique to the OmniBook X , and are n’t nearly as groundbreaking . But the feature film that are available today let in enhanced Studio Effects , Live Captions , andCocreator , and these features leverage the extra AI performance in the Snapdragon X Elite chipset .
Setting all of those concerns aside , we still require to evaluate the OmniBook X as a laptop . And in this respect , it ’s a strong start to HP ’s new stigmatization .
To start with , it ’s well - built , with an atomic number 13 anatomy and lid that are mostly set — only the hat show a bit of flexing under restrained pressure sensation . TheApple MacBook Air M3suffers from the same matter while the Dell XPS 13 is more self-colored overall . These are all quality laptop , though . The OmniBook X is also jolly thin and abstemious , with the MacBook Air being by far the thin at just 0.44 inch and 2.7 pounds . The OmniBook X is 0.56 column inch and 2.97 pounds and the XPS 13 is around the same heaviness ( 0.58 inches ) and is the lightest . Of of course , the OmniBook X is the largest with its 14 - inch exhibit and thicker display bezels .
esthetically , the OmniBook ten does’t give way any new ground . It ’s available in two color , Meteor Silver and Ceramic White . I reviewed the former , and it ’s attractive enough with smooth edges and a keyboard that ’s a slightly darker color . The MacBook Air M3 has a more refined simplicity while the XPS 13 stands out as more modernistic when you open up the lid . But nobody will likely choose from among them base on looks alone .
Keyboard and touchpad
The OmniBook X keyboard has the same comfortable layout as HP ’s other insurance premium laptop , with large keycaps , lots of spatial arrangement , and sheer lettering that ’s gentle to see in all lighting conditions ( include in the sullen thanks to quality backlighting ) . The switches are dapper and accurate , and they want a bit of extra force compared to some others , including the excellent Magic Keyboard on the MacBook Air . I get hold the keyboard a bit too firm for my tastes , but most multitude will plausibly love it .
The touchpad is a mechanical rendering , and it ’s OK . It ’s heavy enough , although there ’s way on the thenar rest for it to be slightly larger . It ’s responsive enough and the clicks are firm but a bit tatty . The MacBook Air ’s Force Touch tactual touchpad is much better , as is the haptic touchpad on the Spectre x360 14 . I would have liked to see it used here as well .
The display is spot - enabled . That ’s a plus and something the MacBook Air does n’t offer .
Connectivity and webcam
Connectivity is just OK for a 14 - inch laptop . You get USB4 , which bid much of the advantage of Thunderbolt 4 , along with a legacy port wine . There ’s no Mount Rushmore State card referee , which is inauspicious . Wireless connectivity can be upgraded to Wi - Fi 7 for those who want to remain current for as long as potential .
HP included its 5MP webcam , which works with the enhanced Microsoft Studio Effects AI feature for smooth backgrounds and such . That ’s a Copilot+ feature film that be in a presumably less form on the previous “ AI PC ” generation running on Intel ’s Meteor Lake and sure AMD chipsets . There ’s also an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial identification . The infrared camera had a inclination to stop work during my testing and needed a system reboot to resolve . So , mark that down as an early glitch that needs fix .
CPU performance
The OmniBook X Elite uses the Snapdragon X elect X1E-78 - 100 chipset . Like all Elite X variation , it has 12 cores — eight performance and four effective . The X1E-78 - 100 is the sluggish translation , running at a maximum of 3.4GHz , where the X1E-00 - 1DE , for illustration , runs at 3.8GHz . The X1E-78 - 100 does not have a treble - burden encouragement mode , where the X1E-00 - 1DE can supercharge to 4.3GHz . In addition , its Adreno GPU runs at 3.8 TFLOPS compare to 4.6 TFLOPS . The OmniBook X is n’t fanless , but its fans are reasonably placid at full throttle . The MacBook Air M3 has no fans and so is entirely tacit .
The braggy challenge with evaluating the OmniBook X ’s functioning is the deficiency of benchmarks for Windows on Arm . Only a few running play natively on the Arm chipset , some run in emulation , and some do n’t run away at all . While I could horn in around running various apps to see how responsive they are , this process is n’t as nonsubjective as I like it were properly now . For my own part , I launch the OmniBook X to be very prompt during my review and as quick as like Intel Meteor Lake and Apple Silicon laptop computer while do the same day - to - day tasks .
see at Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024 , both of which endure natively on Arm , the OmniBook X is slightly firm than Intel Meteor Lake laptop computer and the MacBook Air M3 in multi - core performance . The MacBook Air M3 is faster across the board in single - core , which can count in day - to - daylight carrying out when multitasking is at a lower limit . I also ran the PCMark 10 Applications bench mark that runs in emulation on Windows on Arm , but even so the OmniBook X was faster . This is the most real - world bench mark we currently have , and it show that the OmniBook X will be enough fast for productivity workflows based around thing like e-mail , web browsing , and authority practical software . Interestingly , the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x with the same chipset was a turn faster overall , which demonstrates that design still count .
The bottom line — and it ’s important — is that the Snapdragon X elect chipset is must faster than previous Windows on Arm implementations . In the past , Windows on Arm imposed a important execution penalty , and it no longer does . At the same time , contrary to some of the claims made since the young chipset was announced , I would n’t say that the OmniBook X is significantly faster than the option in the kinds of project these laptops will be ask to do .
I included scores from the MacBook Pro 16 with the M3 Max chipset to give an idea of how Apple Silicon scale by equivalence . While it might seem like the 14 - in model is a better equivalence , both MacBook Pros do similarly . It ’s obvious that the M3 Max is a stair above , even when compared with the faster Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84 - 100 .
GPU performance
The next question is how the Snapdragon X Elite ’s Adreno GPU perform . Here , we ’re again specify in how we can test performance , especially to equate against the MacBook Air M3 . And this is important for more than just play , which none of the laptop at this level with integrated GPUs can do with any real performance . Microsoft and Qualcomm have talked about the political platform ’s gaming chop shot , but that ’s a picayune misleading — they ’ve said that these Windows on Arm laptops can game as well as laptop with Intel Arc and AMD Radeon integrated graphics , but that ’s not a very gamy barroom . And even then , question bristle aboutthe platform ’s gambling performanceeven running older title with introduction - level place setting .
Probably more meaning is how the Adreno GPU performs in creative apps , such as Adobe ’s Premiere Pro and Photoshop , that can use the GPU to speed up sure tasks . Here , the MacBook Air M3 has an reward because of the M3 chipset ’s various optimizations , not so much because of its GPU cores . But look at the Pugetbench Premiere Pro bench mark that runs in a live interpretation of the app .
The MacBook Air M3 scored 3,633 liken to the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 9 with its Intel Arc art that scored just 2,349 . Neither even get closely to the 8,046 make by the MacBook Pro 16 with the M3 Max chipset — of course . This benchmark wo n’t ladder on Windows on Arm , but looking at these numbers , it ’s probable that the OmniBook X wo n’t perform as well as the MacBook Air M3 either . Again , the MacBook is n’t of necessity faster because of its GPU , but the point is that you ’ll still want a distinct GPU on a Windows on Arm laptop computer if you want to do things like video editing .
So , in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test that was design specifically to quiz across integrated artwork including Windows on Arm , the OmniBook X is just slightly slower than Intel Arc ( and the MacBook Air M3 ) . In the other tests , Adreno is significantly slow . None of these scores bodes in particular well for the OmniBook ’s power to lead demanding originative project , where even the entry - level RTX 4050 on the Dell XPS 14 is much faster — and that laptop computer scores 3,983 in the Pugetbench Premiere Pro bench mark .
The bottom line is that the OmniBook X , along with other laptops running the Snapdragon X Elite , likely wo n’t offer any graphical speed advantages over similar Windows laptop . None of these are practicable gambling laptop computer , and creators should also be wary .
AI performance
I would love to be able to tell you exactly how the OmniBook X performs in AI - bear on tasks . After all , the Snapdragon X Elite is marketed with a neural processing unit ( NPU ) that ’s importantly quicker at 40 Yamaltu functioning per second ( TOPS ) than Meteor Lake ’s 10 superlative and the Apple M3 ’s Neural Engine ( NE ) at 18 round top . unluckily , there are n’t good cross - platform bench mark yet for the machine eruditeness ( ML ) tasks underlying generative AI and declamatory language models ( LLMs ) .
For example , Geekbench ML can evaluate the NE in Apple Silicon but not in Intel or Qualcomm chipsets . And it also ca n’t value performance in ML tasks on Intel or AMD integrated GPUs , but it can prove the Snapdragon X Elite ’s Adreno GPU , discrete GPUs from Nvidia and AMD , and the GPU cores in Apple Silicon . Finally , it can valuate mainframe performance in ML tasks across all of these chipsets . However , of the three element , discrete GPUs are the fastest at ML processes , NPUs are next - fast , and CPUs are slowest .
UL Solutions wee a suite of AI benchmark in its Procyon tool , but I ’m still solve out how they can be used to liken different political platform . They use components other than and AI inferences are sustain differently as well . So , at this point , they ’re not helpful in value Qualcomm ’s NPU .
The most we can say correctly now is that the Snapdragon X Elite is potential to be profligate than Meteor Lake and Apple M3 laptops at on - equipment AI , to the extent that project use the NPU . If they apply the GPU , then laptops with discrete GPUs will be importantly quicker . Apple ’s M4 chipset , currently available in the latest iPad Pro , has an NE rat at 38 TOPS , so it should be roughly as fast at incline ML tasks on - gadget except for any departure in ML inferences on Windows for Intel , Windows on Arm , and macOS ( when the M4 rolls out on MacBooks ) . And then Intel hasLunar Lakeand AMD ’s AI 300 have even faster NPUs , on paper . rest tuned .
Battery life
There ’s no metric that ’s more crucial for this round of Windows on Arm laptop computer than bombardment life . That ’s where Apple ’s Silicon MacBooks impress the most — they ’re not only tight but they ’ve offered unparalleled battery life since their introduction . Where the typical Windows laptop computer might not make it through a full Clarence Shepard Day Jr. even running a lightweight work flow , MacBooks routinely last for multiple days . And where Windows laptops course down after a couple of hours when running demand tasks , MacBooks can make it past lunchtime .
The OmniBook X has a 54 watt - hr battery , which is n’t immense for a 14 - inch laptop computer , and it equips a 2.2 K IPS display , which is n’t as mightiness - athirst as the OLED displays in most of our comparison group below . The MacBook Air M3 has a 52.6 watt - hour battery and an IPS exhibit , making for a more lineal equivalence . And that ’s the comparison that ’s most relevant . After all , the MacBook Air is the OmniBook X ’s most important target .
Again , we ’re limited in how we can quiz a Windows on Arm laptop . In our web browse test , the OmniBook X lasted longer than most Meteor Lake laptops but considerably brusk than the MacBook Air M3 . It was n’t a terribly impressive performance . The OmniBook X lasted longer in our video looping test , where it again did well proportional to most Windows laptop , but it was n’t in another class whole and it was n’t as strong as the MacBook Air M3 .
It ’s a challenge to find a battery trial run to evaluate how long these laptops can run more demanding tasks . One approach was to run Cinebench 2024 multi - core with each core active . In this psychometric test , the OmniBook X lasted for roughly two hours while run at close to 100 % performance , while the XPS 13 made it to 1.5 hours in performance mode . The MacBook Air M3 , also running at 100 % , survive for 3.5 hours . Again , it ’s in another course of study entirely .
Therefore , I have to conclude at this dot that the MacBook Air retains its place as much more efficient than any Windows laptop available today . Windows on Arm is for sure more efficient than current Intel chipsets . Intel ’s Lunar Lake predict to be its most efficient yet , and Apple ’s M4 could also boost its already incredible efficiency .
Display and audio
The OmniBook X has one exhibit selection , a 14.0 - column inch 16:10 2.2 K ( 2240 x 1400 ) IPS board running at 60Hz . I find it a good enough experience for the kind of tasks I perform when putting together a review , but I ’ve been spoiled by so many OLED displays that cater a different kind of experience .
My tintometer says that this is a good but not great IPS display . It ’s bright enough at 325 nits , and it has the common IP colors at 100 % of sRGB , 78 % of AdobeRGB , and 79 % of DCI - P3 . Those are all average today . The colors were very precise though at a DeltaE of 0.98 . The contrast was very near for IPS at 1,400:1 , which is still well below OLED ’s near infinite direct contrast .
Overall , the display is good but not groovy , meeting the needs of productivity users but fall a bit short for creators and media consumers . That combines with just undecomposed enough audio offer by two down - firing Speaker that were just loud and well-defined enough but lack in bass and depth .
The OmniBook X is a better Windows laptop
There ’s still raft of piece of work to do in evaluating the raw Windows on Arm experience . The OmniBook X hold up well when considering performance and battery life story when compare with Intel ’s current generation . At the same clip , it does n’t quite take the crown from Apple Silicon , with the MacBook Air M3 being a more effective laptop computer .
Thanks to a substantial and attractive figure quality and an attractive toll , though , the OmniBook X should be on everyone ’s tilt for a new Windows laptop . We need more datum to see how it equate directly to other Copilot+ PCs , such asthe Modern Surface Laptop , but on its own , the OmniBook X is a great signboard for the future of Windows on Arm .
