HP's New Omnibook X Laptop Is Fast — But It'll Cost You
HP's Omnibook X (2026), powered by Intel's X9 chip with 32GB of memory built right into the processor, posted the highest benchmark score of any PC Engadget reviewed that year, with only HP's own Omnibook Ultra beating it in a separate test Engadget. That performance comes at a cost: the 32GB memory configuration adds $1,030 to the laptop's price, and a premium 3K OLED screen upgrade runs an additional $90.
Benchmarks are standardized tests that measure how fast a computer can handle tasks. The Omnibook X is available with three screen types: 3K OLED, 2K OLED, and LCD. OLED screens offer richer colors and deeper blacks than LCD. The reviewed unit's graphics processor delivered 81 frames per second in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p with high graphics settings and Intel's XeSS feature enabled, which uses AI to make gameplay smoother. With ray tracing, a technique that simulates realistic light, set to the low preset, that figure dropped to 45 frames per second. In another graphics test, the Omnibook X beat other Intel and AMD lightweight laptops but fell behind a Qualcomm-powered competitor, the ASUS ZenBook A16 Engadget.
Battery life tells a more mixed story. HP touts a potential 29 hours, but in a standardized battery test the Omnibook X lasted 18 hours and 25 minutes, over an hour less than the Omnibook Ultra. The laptop ships with a compact charger that HP says reaches 50 percent charge in 45 minutes; Engadget's testing measured 46 minutes Engadget.
On the design side, the Omnibook X measures 14mm thick, a figure HP first highlighted when the line was reintroduced under vintage branding in May 2024 Engadget. The 2026 unit features a haptic touchpad with no mechanical moving parts, every portion of it clickable. A 5-megapixel webcam produced sharp, colorful output during Zoom calls. Audio comes through dual downward-firing speakers.
The Omnibook X exists within a broader HP AI PC lineup that has expanded significantly over the past two years. The OmniBook Ultra 14, introduced in July 2024, was HP's first AMD-powered next-gen AI PC Engadget. The Omnibook Ultra Flip 14, announced in September 2024, brought a 2-in-1 form factor with a 3K OLED display and Intel's 200V Core Ultra series processors Engadget. HP's US store also lists a 16-inch OmniBook X Flip 2-in-1 configured with an Intel Core Ultra 7, Arc 140V GPU, 16GB memory, and 512GB SSD, as well as a Snapdragon X Plus variant with 32GB LPDDR5x-8448 memory that HP support documentation dates to January 2026 HP. The OmniBook X Flip 14, reviewed by Thurrott, is a convertible powered by AMD's latest processors Thurrott.
The core tradeoff here is how the memory is built into the processor. Embedding 32GB of RAM directly into the chip speeds things up and contributes to the benchmark-leading score, but it also raises the cost and means you cannot add more memory later. For buyers who need that much memory, the performance justifies the premium. For everyone else, the base configuration with a standard LCD screen and less memory is a substantially different value than the reviewed unit.
What the graphics numbers show is that Intel's built-in graphics have reached a point where playing games at 1080p resolution with high settings works well with AI-assisted upscaling, and even demanding lighting effects are playable at reduced settings. That a Qualcomm chip still wins in some graphics tests suggests the top spot for lightweight laptops remains contested, with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm each winning depending on the task. In short, the Omnibook X offers top-tier speed, competent gaming, and good-but-not-best battery life, all gated behind a configuration that can add over a thousand dollars to the price.
