Hands on: HP OmniBook X AI PC – a brand revision gone mostly right

The HP OmniBook X AI PC is one of the first of HP's new brand profile

What is a hands on review?
grey laptop on table
(Image: © Future)

Early Verdict

The HP OmniBook X AI PC is the product of a concentrated effort to better consolidate brands into two major camps. Coupled with a host of new AI features and tools, and Qualcomm chips with an excellent battery life, this system represents a major brand shift within the company. The design is thin and lightweight, attractive for those looking for a productivity machine. Unfortunately, I couldn't try out the AI, which is a huge sticking point for this laptop.

Pros

  • +

    Gorgeous chassis and white color

  • +

    Excellent display

  • +

    Keyboard and touchpad are nice and responsive

  • +

    Thin and light chassis

Cons

  • -

    Couldn't test out AI tools, its selling point

  • -

    Performance capabilities unknown

  • -

    Terrible port selection

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

HP is not only getting in on the AI action with its brand-new laptop, but the HP OmniBook X AI PC represents another massive change for the HP brand - it's consolidating and rebranding to make for an easier consumer shopping experience and to reduce brand confusion.

With this comes both the OmniBook and EliteBook lines, which include all the previous versions of HP laptops but combined within two brands: OmniBook and EliteBook. Both are outfitted with Qualcomm's Snapdragon CPUs and NPU. The latter, in particular, complements each laptop's integrated AI processes.

HP OmniBook X AI PC: price and availability

The HP OmniBook X AI PC was revealed just before Computex 2024.

The HP OmniBook X AI PC will launch in the US through HP.com and Best Buy at a starting price of $1,199.99 (around £1,020 / AU$1,960) with 1TB storage and will begin shipping on June 18, 2024.

HP OmniBook X AI PC: specs

Here are the specs for the HP OmniBook X AI PC at a glance. 

Swipe to scroll horizontally
HP OmniBook X AI PC specs
ComponentSpec
Display14-inch, 2.2K (2240 x 1400), 300 nits
CPUSnapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100
GraphicsSnapdragon X Elite Qualcomm Adreno
RAM32GB LPDDR5X
Storage2TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD
Port selection2x USB Type-C ports, 1x USB Type-A port, 1x combo jack
Weight2.97lbs
Dimensions12.32 x 8.8 x 0.56 inches (WxDxH)

HP OmniBook X AI PC: design

One of the most striking aspects of the HP OmniBook X AI PC is its sleek and gorgeous design. It's also lightweight and thin, two features always welcome in what's supposed to be an everyday portable machine. 

It comes in two colors, grey and white, with the latter much more distinctive. The 'OmniBook' label is on the back outside of the laptop, as well as under the keyboard, and opposing it is the new Helix logo representing the line (it's supposed to represent 'AI' and 'DNA').

Opening it reveals an equally gorgeous display and a keyboard filled with wide snappy keys perfect for larger or shaky hands. The touchpad is also sizable, which is a preference of mine as it makes navigation much easier. 

The webcam, standard fare in terms of resolution but greatly enhanced by HP's signature lighting tools, has a much more secure physical privacy shutter. It features a poly camera pro-control setting, which automatically transfers over any camera settings to other cameras you connect to the laptop. And the Poly Studio partnership that enhances the camera also adds more audio options.

HP OmniBook X AI PC: performance

I wasn't able to take the laptop for a true test run, due to the AI features not being available to try out during the hands-on. But, looking at the impressive specs, there's plenty of expectation for the HP OmniBook X AI PC to churn out some excellent benchmark results.

HP did give me some impressive stats that, if they turn out to be true, would put Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite on the map for the foreseeable future. This laptop promises 26-hour video battery life, 22-hour Netflix (or other streaming services) battery life, 20-hour web browsing, nine hours of Teams (or another video conferencing service), and 20 days of battery life keeping the laptop on Standby mode.

It also apparently beat out the M3 MacBook Air on the multithreaded performance benchmark, which would also mean a massive win over Apple when coupled with the battery life. And as for the NPU, I was told that it runs at 45 TOPs

There are tons of AI tools to further enhance the webcam image including spotlight, background blur for conference calls, auto-framing, filters, and camera setting transferring. 

There's also the HP AI Companion, a chatbot and hub of AI tools. When used, the data is uploaded to cloud storage first, downloaded again, and then deleted from the cloud to maintain privacy. It seems to be a separate entity from Microsoft Copilot, though I couldn't test it out and see for myself how well it worked.

HP OmniBook X AI PC: early verdict

white laptop on table

(Image credit: Future)

Visually, the HP OmniBook X AI PC looks amazing, with a sleek and lovely lightweight design that's sure to appeal to many buyers investing in a productivity machine. Its display is beautiful, and the keyboard and touchpad are also well-crafted and feel responsive and snappy to use.

As for performance and AI, it's difficult to make any judgment calls as I wasn't able to properly benchmark for the former and couldn't test out the latter due to the tools not being available at this time. However, if both the specs and AI features hold up well during our proper review, then we'll have a well-balanced laptop that could easily be one of the best thin and light laptops on the market - even one of the best laptops period.

Allisa James
Computing Staff Writer

Named by the CTA as a CES 2023 Media Trailblazer, Allisa is a Computing Staff Writer who covers breaking news and rumors in the computing industry, as well as reviews, hands-on previews, featured articles, and the latest deals and trends. In her spare time you can find her chatting it up on her two podcasts, Megaten Marathon and Combo Chain, as well as playing any JRPGs she can get her hands on.

What is a hands on review?

Hands on reviews' are a journalist's first impressions of a piece of kit based on spending some time with it. It may be just a few moments, or a few hours. The important thing is we have been able to play with it ourselves and can give you some sense of what it's like to use, even if it's only an embryonic view. For more information, see TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee.

Read more
The closed lid of the HP Omnibook Ultra Flip, a new laptop from HP
HP’s resurrected OmniBook Ultra Flip is a premium laptop winner – after you disable the bloatware
HP EliteBook Ultra G1i
HP adds trio of Intel-powered EliteBook laptops as AI PC craze reaches fever pitch
HP OmniStudio X
HP unleashes its rival to Apple's iMac, one that can even 'charge and control' a laptop; and we can’t wait to review them
The HP Spectre x360 on a blue background with the TechRadar logo.
The best HP laptop in 2025: our top picks from this trusted laptop brand
HP ZBook Ultra G1a
Could this be the world's most powerful compact mobile workstation? HP thinks so
Asus Zenbook Duo (2025) in landscape mode on a desk at CES 2025
Asus Zenbook Duo (2025) hands on: the new king of on-the-go functionality
Latest in Laptops
Dell XPS 13 and Inspiron 15 on a red background next to TechRadar Price Cut badge
Get a powerful XPS 13 with Snapdragon CPU for a record-low price in the latest Dell sale
The MacBook Air 13-inch (M2) on a pink background with text saying Big Savings next to it.
The MacBook Air M2 has a massive price cut thanks to the M4 launch
apple macbook air against blue background
There's a huge MacBook Air sale right now – shop record-low prices from $629.99
Dell Inspiron, MacBook and Surface Pro laptop next to each other on a orange background
Best Buy has excellent laptop deals and I've picked the 9 best offers from $139
13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air M4 in Sky Blue
The new Apple MacBook Air M4 has a weird quirk with its performance cores - but it's nothing to worry about
MacBook Air 15-inch with M4 chip on a creative's desk with screen open
I've reviewed the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) - and it remains the best 15-inch laptop I'd recommend for most people
Latest in Reviews
Sage Oracle Jet coffee machine with cup of coffee and milk pitcher on kitchen counter
I tested the Sage Oracle Jet for a month, and it delivers top-notch espresso with minimal effort
Zorin OS 17 main image
I tried the latest version of Zorin OS - here's what I thought of this Linux distro
WatchGuard Firebox T45-CW main image
I tried the WatchGuard Firebox - here's what I thought of this 5G appliance
Ubuntu Desktop 23.10 main image
I tested the latest Ubuntu Desktop release - read what I thought of this popular Linux distro
Rocky Linux 9.3 main image
I tried the latest version of Rocky Linux - read how it compares to other distros
WWE 2K25
I've spent days in the ring with WWE 2K25, and it's like a five-star match ruined by the Million Dollar Man