HP OmniBook X 14" A2PJ5UA#ABL 2024, Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100, 16GB, 512GB SSD, Silver

The HP OmniBook X pairs a top-tier Snapdragon X Elite CPU with excellent battery life, making it a great productivity laptop for browser and Office work. The 14-inch 2240x1400 touchscreen is sharp, but the 300 nits brightness and weak Adreno GPU are real trade-offs. Canadian pricing swings from CAD 715 to CAD 1,600, so shop carefully, Memory Express has the better deal. Buy it for work, skip it for gaming.

The Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 is the star here, and it earns its 99th percentile CPU ranking. For everyday productivity, web browsing, Office, Slack, video calls, this thing feels fast. Apps open quickly, multitasking with a dozen browser tabs is smooth, and the fans rarely need to spin up. The 16GB of LPDDR5X is adequate for this class of work, though it sits at the 66th percentile, so power users who keep 50 Chrome tabs and a few VMs open might feel the ceiling. The 512GB NVMe SSD is solidly middle of the pack at the 52nd percentile, which is fine for most people but not a standout.

The integrated Adreno GPU is where the story changes. It lands at the 28th percentile, which means gaming is not this laptop's job. Our gaming score for this machine is 14.8 out of 100, and that's not a typo. Light indie games and older titles will run, but anything modern or demanding will struggle. The screen is actually quite good for the price, sitting at the 81st percentile, with the 2240x1400 resolution giving you sharp text and the 100% sRGB coverage making colors look accurate. Just don't expect to use it in direct sunlight, 300 nits is dimmer than many competing Snapdragon laptops.

The most direct competitor here is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition. Both run Snapdragon X Elite chips, both target the same productivity-focused buyer, and both have ARM compatibility caveats. The Surface gets you a brighter screen and a more premium build, but the OmniBook X undercuts it on price when you find a good deal. If you want the best ARM Windows experience and money isn't the main factor, the Surface is the safer bet. If you want to save a few hundred bucks and can live with a dimmer panel and fewer ports, the OmniBook X makes a strong case.

Against the Apple MacBook Pro M5, this HP is not really in the same conversation for creative work or GPU-heavy tasks. The M5's integrated graphics run circles around the Adreno here, and macOS has none of the ARM compatibility headaches that Windows on ARM still deals with. But the MacBook Pro costs significantly more, and if your work is browser-based or Office-centric, the OmniBook X gets you 90% of the way there for a lot less money. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i and ASUS ROG Zephyrus are gaming machines first, and they'll crush this HP in any GPU-bound workload, but they're heavier, hotter, and their batteries won't last nearly as long. Different tools for different jobs.

Pricing on this OmniBook X is all over the place. In Canada, we're seeing listings from CAD 715 to CAD 1,600 across two vendors. That's a CAD 885 spread, which is wild. At CAD 715, this laptop is a steal for the CPU performance and battery life you're getting. At CAD 1,600, you're paying a premium that's harder to justify, especially when you factor in the weak GPU and limited ports. Memory Express has the better deal in our data, so if you're in Canada and shopping this model, that's where we'd point you.

Compared to the competition, the value proposition depends entirely on what you need. The Apple MacBook Pro M5 will outclass this in GPU work and build quality, but it costs more. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition runs the same Snapdragon platform with a brighter screen and better port selection, though you'll pay for it. If you can find the OmniBook X at the low end of that price range, it's a compelling budget productivity machine. At the high end, you're better off looking elsewhere.

The HP OmniBook X is HP's swing at the ARM-based Windows laptop, and it's a swing that mostly connects. You get a Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100, a 12-core chip that sits at the very top of our CPU rankings, paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X and a 512GB NVMe SSD. On paper, this is a productivity machine aimed at people who live in a browser, Office apps, and video calls, not someone trying to run Cyberpunk at max settings. And for that crowd, it's genuinely interesting.

What makes this laptop worth a look is the efficiency story. HP claims more than a day of battery from the 59Wh cell, and the Snapdragon platform is designed to sip power while staying snappy. The 14-inch 2240x1400 IPS touchscreen with 100% sRGB coverage is a nice bonus at this price point, even if the 300 nits brightness is a bit shy of what you'd want for outdoor use. It's also got a 5MP IR camera with a physical HDR switch, which is more than most laptops in this class bother with.

But here's the thing: this is an ARM laptop running Windows 11, and that comes with real caveats. App compatibility is better than it was a year ago, but it's not perfect. If your workflow depends on niche x86 software, drivers, or certain games, you'll hit walls. The port selection is also thin, just two USB-C and one USB-A, and the 2.44kg weight is heavier than you'd expect for a 14-inch ultraportable. This is a laptop for a specific kind of buyer, and we'll get into exactly who that is.

Gamers should skip this without a second thought. The Adreno GPU and 14.8 gaming score mean you'll be frustrated the moment you try anything beyond casual titles. Look at the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i or ASUS ROG Zephyrus instead, they're built for that and will handle both gaming and GPU-heavy creative work far better.

Also skip it if you rely on specific x86-only software that doesn't have an ARM version. Things like certain VPN clients, older Adobe plugins, or specialized engineering tools can be a nightmare under emulation. And if you need more than one USB-A port or frequently connect external displays and peripherals, the limited I/O will annoy you daily. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition or a traditional x86 ultrabook would serve you better in those cases.

If you're a student, a writer, a remote worker, or anyone whose day revolves around a browser, Office, and video calls, the OmniBook X is a genuinely good laptop, provided you find it at the right price. The Snapdragon X Elite is fast enough for all of that, the battery life is excellent, and the touchscreen is a nice bonus. Just make sure the software you rely on has native ARM versions or runs well under emulation before you commit.

If you're a gamer, a video editor, a 3D artist, or anyone who needs serious GPU performance, this is not your laptop. The Adreno graphics are a weak spot, and the gaming score of 14.8 out of 100 tells you everything you need to know. You'd be much happier with a Legion Pro 7i or a ROG Zephyrus, or even a MacBook Pro if you're open to macOS. The OmniBook X is a specialist, and it's very good at its specialty. Just don't ask it to do things it wasn't built for.