HP OmniBook X and EliteBook Ultra Preview

I will be reviewing one of HP’s first Snapdragon X-based Copilot+ PCs soon. Here’s what HP told me to expect, and why I remain excited about this platform.

As I’m sure you know, HP is among those PC makers that is going all-in on Copilot+ PCs, and its first two models, the OmniBook X and the EliteBook Ultra, are available today. But HP is approaching this transition a bit differently than its competitors. For these first premium laptops, it will offer only the faster Snapdragon X Elite chipset because it feels its customers will demand the best possible performance. And the company isn’t just making Copilot+ PCs, it’s rebranding its entire PC product lineup for the AI era.

So let’s start there. HP today offers a bewildering lineup of PC product families for its commercial and consumer customers across multiple product segments. Looking just at consumer laptops, I see Envy, HP (Essential), Omen, Pavilion, Spectre, and Victus brands. And looking just at commercial laptops, there’s Dragonfly, EliteBook, ProBook, and ZBook. And HP sells desktops and all-in-ones as well, with a similar range of brands. And Chromebooks too.

To simplify this mess, HP is consolidating all its PC brands around two prefixes, Omni and Elite, with the Omni-branded products targeting consumers and Elite targeting commercial customers. Going forward, you will see OmniBook laptops, OmniDesk desktops, and OmniStudio AIOs for consumers and EliteBook laptops, EliteDesk desktops, and EliteStudio AIOs for the commercial market. And then logical subdivisions of each. For example, with OmniBook, HP expects to deliver OmniBook 3, OmniBook 5, OmniBook 7, OmniBook X, and OmniBook Ultra models in time, and similar lineups across its other product types.

HP will also use descriptive modifiers, as it does today, to clearly identify unique form factors. It will continue using Fold for its folding PCs, but will switch from x360 to Flip for convertible PCs. And it is further differentiating its AI-era PCs from their predecessors by giving them an HP Helix logo.

The OmniBook X and EliteBook Ultra are the first HP PCs in this new generation, and as you can tell from the names, the OmniBook X is a premium laptop model targeting consumers while the EliteBook Ultra is an ultra-premium laptop model for the commercial market. Intriguingly, the PCs are nearly identical inside and out: Both are based on the Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 chip, the 12-core entry-level X Elite processor, and both feature the same aluminum clamshell form factor with a new hinge designed for optimal thermal ventilation.

There are some differences, of course. The OmniBook X is available in Meteor Silver and Ceramic White colors, while the EliteBook Ultra comes in a Dragonfly-like Atmospheric Blue. The more expensive EliteBook also provides one year of free HP Wolf Pro Security and three years of warranty, vs. one for the OmniBook X.

As I write this, I’m not sure which I’m getting for review. I’m also not sure of the timing because I’m in Mexico, but HP tells me it should arrive here tomorrow, fingers crossed.

But the PCs are largely identical, with the review unit OmniBook X models costing $1199 and providing a 1 TB SSD, and the review unit EliteBook Ultra models costing $1699 and providing a 512 GB SSD. Each comes with 16 GB of LPDDR5x RAM, a 14-inch 16:10 2.2K (2240 x 1400) touch IPS display panel with 300 nits of brightness, a 5 MP Windows Hello-capable webcam, Wi-Fi 6E, and a 59-watt-hour battery. The OmniBook X ships with Windows 11 Home, while the EliteBook Ultra comes with Windows 11 Pro.

Diving in a bit further, it seems that HP will eventually offer one or both of these laptops with optional, higher-end Snapdragon X Elite processors, though I don’t see that on its website. This will include the best of the lot, the X1E-00-1DE, which provides a dual-core boost mode up to 4.3 GHz and a faster 4.6 TFLOPS GPU. The 1E-78-100 in the review unit features the same 12-core CPU with 42 MB of cache, but it runs at a lower 3.4 GHz clock speed with no boost mode, and its GPU is slower at 3.8 TFLOPS.

That said, the HPs are no slouch. Each outperforms the MacBook Pro M3 in key multicore benchmarks, HP says. They are roughly 14 percent faster in Cinebench 2024 and 19.5 percent faster in Geekbench 6.

The availability of better Snapdragon X Elite processors will improve matters further, but that should also unlock 32 GB RAM options. It appears that the first batch of these PCs, like the review unit, are 16 GB only. There are two storage options, 512 GB and 1 TB. And that display is what it is: There are no other display options. The bezels look small on the left and right, at least.

Both laptops weigh 2.9 pounds, and both measure 12.32 x 8.8 x 0.57 inches, with that 0.57-inch figure representing its thickest point (in the rear). By comparison, the M3 MacBook Air 15 is 0.45 inches, while the Surface Laptop 7th generation is 0.72 inches. But the HP is notably lighter than those laptops, with Mac coming in at 3.3 pounds and Surface landing at 3.67 pounds.

Each offers the same curious mix of USB expansion ports. There are three in total, and each one is different from the other. Sigh.

On the left, you’ll find a USB Type-C 40 Gbps port (basically USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 in all but name) and a USB Type-C 10 Mbps port, both with power delivery and DisplayPort 1.4 capabilities.

On the right, you’ll see a single full-sized USB Type-A 5 Gbps port (USB 3.2 Gen 1) that can charge devices when the PC is asleep and a 3.5-mm combo microphone/headphone jack.

The keyboard is backlit and full-sized, of course, and if my experiences with HP’s recent premium PC keyboards is any guide, it should be fantastic. There’s a Copilot key, of course, dedicated Calculator (for some reason) and customizable keys in the function row, and full-sized left and right arrow keys, which should be more reliable than the half-height versions on the HP ZBook Firefly I’m currently reviewing.

The touchpad is large-ish, but not obnoxiously big. I don’t know much about it yet, but it is an image sensor touchpad with Precision Touchpad capabilities and multitouch gesture support.

One of the big questions about Snapdragon X-based PCs concerns its need for active cooling. As I wrote in Not a Fan (Premium), I was expecting a MacBook Air-like fanless experience from at least some Copilot+ PCs, but they’re all actively cooled. I’ve learned that Surface Laptop 7 is almost silent in normal use, and HP tells me this is true of the OmniBook X and EliteBook Ultra as well: Both are “almost completely silent” most of the time, and when the fan does kick in under load, it’s “quiet, almost silent.”

To achieve this, HP redesigned its hinge opening to give more space for thermal venting out the rear. This is how Surface Laptop works, too: Instead of venting through the keyboard or out the bottom, the HPs provide a lot of airflow even when the laptop lids are closed, and the hinge knuckles are shaped in an angular way so that air can flow over them too.

I know you’re wondering about battery life. I am as well.

HP told me that the EliteBook Ultra outperforms the battery life of the 14-inch MacBook Pro by a wide margin. Using a Teams 3×3 battery life benchmark that emulates real-world usage, it delivers 11 hours and 23 minutes of battery life, compared to 8.5 hours for the MacBook Pro. That’s 11.6 minutes per watt-hour for the HPs vs. 8.5 minutes for the Mac, a 27 percent advantage.

Interestingly, the OmniBook X provides slightly better battery life than the EliteBook Ultra because of a bit of processor overhead associated with the latter’s HP Wolf Security software. In the less interesting video playback test, the OmniBook gets over 28 hours of battery life (28.6 minutes per watt-hour), compared to 25 hours and 40 minutes for the EliteBook (26.9 minutes per watt-hour).

Charging comes via a standard 65-watt HP USB-C power adapter, and you can fast-charge the 59 watt-hour battery in either unit to 50 percent in just 30 minutes.

Both review units offer Wi-Fi 6E, but Wi-Fi 7 will be an option at some point, perhaps on upgraded devices. Bluetooth 5.3 is standard, but there’s Bluetooth 5.4 out there somewhere too. What’s missing, oddly, is any 4G LTE or 5G cellular networking. That seems like a no-brainer for this type of PC.

I know very little about their respective A/V capabilities. Each provides stereo speakers with HP Audio Boost and Poly Studio. And each provides integrated dual array microphones. Neither supports a fingerprint reader, which feels off.

In addition to the AI capabilities that Microsoft is providing with Windows 11, HP has its own set of AI-based improvements, of course. The PCs both ship with Poly Camera Pro, which delivers all kinds of webcam improvements. And an HP AI Companion, because we all need yet another chatbot. Just kidding: It can be used to analyze the PC and optimize it best for your needs.

I’m not sure which I’d prefer. I like the Ceramic White color option on the OmniBook, as the HP Dragonfly Pro I used with the same color was quite attractive. But the Atmospheric Blue of the EliteBook is particularly striking. It’s a toss-up for now.

I can’t get wait to get started with Copilot+ PC, and either of these premium HP laptops would fit the bill quite nicely. But the performance, battery life, and quiet running information provided by HP is keeping the dream alive. And while these PCs each have a few curious omissions, those are small issues compared to what’s really important.

Hopefully, I’ll know more soon.