The best Windows laptops we’ve tested so far in 2024 are — Drum please —HP OmniBook X.
Not only does it have surprisingly long battery life, but it outperforms the likes of the M3 MacBook Pro and M3 MacBook Air. The OmniBook X is part of a new wave of Copilot+ machines and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite PCs.
What is Copilot+ PC?
If you don’t know this, one reason for the popularity of Copilot+ PCs that’s worth a chuckle is that Microsoft has announced new artificial intelligence drivers in its new Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 devices (one of the first) Recall function.
Microsoft has made it clear that you can only enjoy Recall if you have a Copilot+ PC.
Surface Laptop 7, Copilot+ PC
Image source: Microsoft
Recall caused a lot of controversy by continuously taking screenshots of your monitor so you could search your digital footprint through your timeline. If we take social media as an example, many people are intimidated by it. Cybersecurity experts worry about Recall’s security, calling it a “privacy nightmare.”
Recall was supposed to launch alongside the new generation of Copilot+ PCs, which are AI-powered Windows laptops. must Have a qualified NPU, a dedicated processor that handles AI tasks.
The processor in many Copilot+ PCs today is a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip. Let me tell you – it’s been shaking up the laptop industry.
Mix and match speed of light
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite threatens MacBook
Last year, if you had asked me, a laptop reviewer and expert, “Which laptop should I buy with long battery life and great performance?” I would have suggested you buy an M3 MacBook.
Apple 15-inch M3 MacBook Air
Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable
While you can find Windows laptops with great performance, they aren’t the most energy-efficient machines, especially compared to MacBooks.
However, the introduction of Copilot+ PCs (often equipped with Snapdragon X Elite chips) has changed my mind in 2024.
Mashable tested the first Copilot+ PC, the Snapdragon X Elite-powered HP OmniBook X, a game-changer in the Windows laptop world.
HP OmniBook X beats M3 MacBook Air in battery life and performance
We ran a 1080p video run test to determine how long the OmniBook X would last between charges. So imagine our surprise when we saw that HP laptops survived 16 hours and 47 minutes. That is nearly 17 hours.
HP OmniBook X
Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
MacBooks usually have a long lifespan, but the 15-inch M3 MacBook Air died after only a short time. 10 hours and 52 minutes in the same test.
On Geekbench 6, which tests processor performance, the multi-core score of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip is 13,888beating the score of the M3 MacBook Air 12,057.
HP OmniBook X
Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
Regardless, we also put the OmniBook X to the test against the M3 MacBook Pro. HP laptops beat it too (13,888 vs. 11,998).
So if you’re new to the Apple ecosystem and new to operating systems, the HP OmniBook may be your best choice if you’re looking for a durable, high-performance PC.
You can buy the HP OmniBook X with 1TB of storage at: Priced at Best Buy for $1,199. There’s also a cheaper version with 512GB of storage, which will disappoint you HP $1,049.99.
