HP's OmniBook X 14 trades flash for focus, and it's built for work from day one

Published Nov 10, 2026, 9:00 AM EST Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek, Joe has been writing about technology since starting his career in 2018 at KnowTechie. He's covered everything from Apple to apps and crowdfunding and loves getting to the bottom of complicated topics. In that time, he's also written for SlashGear and numerous corporate clients before finding his home at XDA in the spring of 2023. He was the kid who took apart every toy to see how it worked, even if it didn't exactly go back together afterward. That's given him a solid background for explaining how complex systems work together, and he promises he's gotten better at the putting things back together stage since then. Sign in to your XDA account We've long admired HP's top ultraportable range, but how well does it fare in this age of NAND scarcity? The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 got high marks for the new redesign, and now it's time for the next rung down. The HP OmniBook X 14 isn't quite as slim as the Ultra model, but it's no less attractive or performant. It's a wonderful business laptop with some style, and I'd have no problem recommending it against any of the competition. About this review: HP provided the OmniBook X 14 used in this review and had no input into its contents. HP OmniBook X (2026) $2680 $3080 Save $400 8/10 Operating System Windows 11 CPU Up to Intel Core Ultra X9 388H GPU Intel Graphics, Intel Arc B390 iGPU The HP OmniBook X 14 is a great ultraportable laptop, with plenty of performance shoehorned into its slimline chassis. Battery life is a standout feature, as is the gorgeous OLED display option. Pros & Cons Excellent OLED screen Touchpad and keyboard are wonderful to use Good performance Gets expensive fast as you go up the CPU tiers Only dual speakers Screen is glossy which will be a problem for some users Price, specs, and availability The HP OmniBook X 14 is the new name for the Spectre range, which was always HP's best option for business laptops. The starting price is $1,520, which gets you an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, paired with a 1200p IPS panel, but you can get Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 9 options, or a variety of Snapdragon chips if you prefer. The upgrade to the sublime OLED is $90, which makes it well worth it even on the cheaper models, and it's brighter than the IPS option while adding multi-touch. Our review unit was a top-flight model with the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage. At the time of writing, HP doesn't list that configuration on its website; the top option is the Intel Core Ultra 9 386H on sale for $2,680. Expect a few hundred dollars more if and when the Core Ultra X9 288H flagship is back in stock. HP OmniBook X (2026) CPU Up to Intel Core Ultra X9 388H GPU Intel Graphics, Intel Arc B390 iGPU Display type IPS, OLED Display (Size, Resolution) 14-inch, 2K (1920 x 1200) IPS, 400 nits; 14-inch 3K (2,880 x 1,800) OLED, touch, 500 nits RAM Up to 32GB Storage 512GB, 1TB, 2TB SSD Battery 3-cell 59 Wh, 4-cell 70 Wh Charge speed 65W USB-C Ports 2x USB-A 10 Gbps, HDMI 2.1, 2x Thunderbolt 4 Operating System Windows 11 Webcam 5MP IR Cellular connectivity No Wi-Fi connectivity Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth Bluetooth 6.0 Form factor Clamshell Dimensions 12.35 x 8.87 x 0.5 in Weight 2.87 lb Speakers Dual speakers, DTS:X Ultra Colors Glacier silver, Atmospheric blue NPU 47 TOPS What I liked about the HP OmniBook X 14 (2026) It's a joy to type on and the screen is sublime Do you like boring laptop colors? No? Then spring for the blue color instead of the silver, and you won't be disappointed. It's gorgeous from all angles and hard to capture in pictures, since it changes with local lighting conditions. It's one of my favorites currently, with the sandstone color that Asus is using on the EliteBooks, and really stands out in person. The new curves of the slimline HP OmniBook X14 suit it, and you still get USB-A and USB-C on both sides of the keyboard, along with an HDMI and audio jack. No SD card reader, which would have been a nice addition, but at least you can use an external one without filling all your ports. The 3K OLED display is HDR TrueBlack 1000 certified, and peaks at 517 nits in SDR. It's got low variance in both luminosity and color accuracy across the panel, covers 100% sRGB and 100% P3, and the touchscreen is pretty responsive. That does make it glossier than some manufacturers' OLED options, but no more than a MacBook. Performance is where you'd expect it to be Panther Lake is fantastic on all tiers, and you don't really need the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H for everyday tasks. I mean, it does make things marginally faster, but the Intel Core Ultra 7 options will be better for most people's needs. That said, the laptop lands where I expected it to in synthetic benchmarks, and it'll handle most people's computing needs. HP OmniBook X 14 (2026) (Intel Core Ultra X 9 388H) HP OmniBook Ultra 14 (2026) (Intel Core Ultra X9 388H) Asus EliteBook Ultra (Intel Core Ultra X7 358H) Asus Zenbook A16 (Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-94-100) HP OmniBook Ultra AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 PCMark 10 (AC / battery (best perf) / battery (balanced) 8,432 / 9,325 / 7,011 8,567 / 10,055 / 7,268 10,197 / 9,385 / 6,356 - / -/ - 7,723 / 6,697 / 5,962 Geekbench 6 (single / multi) 2,933 / 17,264 2,939 / 15,613 2,751 / 16,076 3,521 / 22,978 2,842 / 15,030 Cinebench 2024 (single / multi) 113 / 776 128 / 999 121 /931 146 / 1,490 114 / 965 3DMark (Time Spy / Wild Life / Night Raid) 6,589 / 36,089 / 43,077 7,094 / 38,538 / 45,838 6,934 / 39,763 / 43,618 4,516 / 38,708 / 50,653 3,863 / 22,134 / 32,476 CrossMark (Overall) 1,928 2,275 2,128 2,091 1,825 Battery life is on par with the OmniBook Ultra, with both scoring 25 hours on our looping video test. That's some serious going, and easily enough for several workdays without plugging in. And the charger is only slightly larger than a phone brick, so carrying it around is no hassle. The keyboard is a joy to use With few exceptions, laptop keyboards aren't fun to type on. This is one of the exceptions. The sloped keycaps feel more like typing on a desktop keyboard than the usual flat keys, and there's a nice amount of tactile feedback. That made it easier to get used to and I was able to touch type pretty quickly without many mistyped letters. The touchpad is responsive enough, but it is of the mechanical type. You'll need the Ultra model for a haptic touchpad, I'm afraid. Things I didn't like about the HP OmniBook X 14 If I can't have large SSDs, release us from bloatware The good news is that the mics and speakers are perfectly clear for video calls. The less-than-good news is that the 5MP webcam feels a little flat, and had issues with my skin tone at times, making it pinker than it really is. Windows Hello sign-in worked perfectly, though, and I value that more than looking my best at scrum time. It's loaded with 'helpful' programs HP isn't the only OEM to put lots of branded software packages onto the system, and I'm sure they won't be the last. But in this age of expensive storage options, I'd like things to be usable without needing software to check for drivers, while trying to upsell me on services I neither need nor want. Should you buy the HP OmniBook X 14? You should buy the HP OmniBook X 14 if: You want a slim and stylish laptop The idea of a gorgeous OLED touchscreen appeals You want a laptop that's enjoyable to type on You should NOT buy the HP OmniBook X 14 if: You need a discrete graphics chip You prefer matte screens You want something more affordable As with the OmniBook Ultra, the OmniBook X 14 has one immediately polarizing feature: the glossy OLED. But it's bright, beautiful, and content really pops on it, which is always the upside to going gloss. It's capable enough from the entry-level to the flagship CPU, and the keyboard is one of my favorites, just behind the ThinkPad's design. You also get days of battery life, which gives you the trifecta most users want in a laptop. HP OmniBook X (2026) $2680 $3080 Save $400 8/10 Operating System Windows 11 The HP OmniBook X 14 is a great ultraportable laptop, with plenty of performance shoehorned into its slimline chassis. Battery life is a standout feature, as is the gorgeous OLED display option.