Have a strong need for config customization in a 2-in-1 laptop? The HP OmniBook X Flip 14 (starts at $999, $1,529.99 as tested) gives you that, and it does a lot of things right for the price. While this laptop's battery life failed to impress, its sleek, metal chassis and bright, 120Hz OLED touch screen give it an edge over other convertibles in its class. With several Intel configurations and customizable AMD builds, this rotating-screen OmniBook X alternative brings a lot of potential value in a premium build. While the Asus ProArt PX13 keeps our Editors' Choice award for high-end 2-in-1 laptops, HP's OmniBook X Flip 14 would be particularly appealing on sale, which it often is.

Configurations: Options Abound

HP sells its screen-flipping OmniBook with either AMD or Intel processors inside. For the AMD line, the OmniBook X Flip 14 comes in two main flavors powered by the latest Ryzen AI chips. HP's entry-level configuration uses the Ryzen AI 5 340, a six-core/12-thread chip with integrated Radeon 840M graphics, 16GB of memory, and a boost clock around 4.8GHz. For more power, you can step up to what I tested, a Ryzen AI 7 350 model that comes packed with 32GB of RAM and bumps the processor to eight cores and 16 threads with Radeon 860M graphics and a slightly faster 5.0GHz boost. Both chips are designed to support Microsoft’s Copilot+ AI features, giving you the full suite of modern Windows tools without the quirks of ARM-based Snapdragon systems.

Memory and storage options scale with the processor. The base Ryzen AI 5 ships with 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM for $1,129.99, while the Ryzen AI 7 model can be configured with 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB. Storage starts with a 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 solid-state drive, with the option to double it to a 1TB SSD on any configuration.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Without getting too into the weeds, HP's Intel options start at $999.99 for an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD. These likewise have options for increasing the RAM and storage or accessing more powerful Intel Core Ultra V-series chips.

Both the AMD and Intel configurations start with a baseline 1200p IPS touch screen with an introductory refresh rate of 60Hz and a 16:10 aspect ratio. For another $130, you can upgrade that to a dazzling, 3K OLED touch screen (2,880 by 1,800 pixels) with a 120Hz variable refresh rate and surfaced with Gorilla Glass 3.

Our test model contains the Ryzen AI 7 350 chip with 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and the upgraded display, which is available for $1,529.99 on HP's online store.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

You'll get similar connectivity and extra features across the lineup. For wireless, the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 combines a MediaTek Wi-Fi 7/Bluetooth 5.4 package or Intel’s Wi-Fi 6E/7 and Bluetooth 5.3/5.4 solujtion, depending on the configuration. My review-laptop configuration comes with two USB Type-A (10Gbps) ports on either side, two USB-C connections on its left side (one 10Gbps, one Thunderbolt 4), and an HDMI 2.1 port on the left side. An audio jack is also included.

Whether you stick with the balanced Ryzen AI 5 or max out the AI 7 build with 32GB RAM and 1TB storage, the OmniBook X Flip 14’s configurations aim to cover a wide range of needs—from casual productivity to heavy multitasking—while keeping the design and feature set consistent.

Design: Slim, Slight, and Sturdy Enough

The HP OmniBook X Flip 14's metal frame feels hardy and durable. I never felt like the laptop was in mortal danger when I left it unattended, even on makeshift cardboard-box desks and kitchen counters. (When you're moving house, you use what you've got.)

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

At barely more than 3 pounds, the OnmiBook X Flip 14 is a little heavier than I would want, but it's still lighter than something like the Dell 14 Plus. It's also decently thin for a 2-in-1 laptop, at 0.7 inch. You'll never feel like you're carrying a brick in your bag with this laptop, and its heftier frame means minimal flexing.

Touchpad, Keyboard, and Display: No Chiclets Here

Like all of HP’s OmniBooks, the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 features a lattice-free keyboard, meaning you'll find little spacing between the larger keys. At first, I thought I would struggle with the setup, but it didn't bother me too much after a week or two of use. Regardless, the configuration isn't for everyone, and fans of a chiclet-style layout may want to skip this one.

HP's touchpad, meanwhile, is large and responsive, even if it's ultimately pretty standard fare. The same can be said about the magnetic stylus, which let me doodle and write notes in tablet mode with no issues. Overall, the touchpad and pen work just fine—a win in my book, unless you need a really premium set to meet your needs.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

The OmniBook X Flip 14’s OLED panel is easily the best feature this 2-in-1 has to offer. The 14-inch, 16:10 panel serves up 2,880-by-1,800-pixel resolution and a 120Hz variable refresh rate (as low as 48Hz) that makes movies and videos appear smoother in motion. The gorgeous screen makes streaming movies an absolute dream on this laptop, almost making up for its weak battery life. (More on that below.)

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

Performance Testing: A Potent Machine for Amateur Creators

For our testing comparisons, we pitted the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 against a couple of noteworthy convertibles and one ultraportable: the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Gen 10 Aura Edition ($2,336 as tested) with an Intel Core Ultra V200-series CPU, the HP Envy x360 14 ($1,399 as tested), the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 ($1,099.99 as tested), and the LG Gram Pro 2-in-1 16 ($2,549.99 as tested). The OmniBook X Flip 14 becomes considerably more competitive with mainstream convertibles around $1,000 when on sale.

Productivity and Content Creation Tests

Our primary overall benchmark, UL's PCMark 10, puts a system through its paces in productivity apps ranging from web browsing to word processing and spreadsheet work. Its Full System Drive subtest measures a PC's storage throughput. Three more tests we rely on are CPU-centric or processor-intensive: Maxon's Cinebench 2024 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene; Primate Labs' Geekbench 6.3 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning; and we see how long it takes the video transcoder HandBrake 1.8 to convert a 12-minute clip from 4K to 1080p resolution. 

Finally, workstation maker Puget Systems' PugetBench for Creators rates a PC's image editing prowess with a variety of automated operations in the seminal photo editor Adobe Photoshop 25.

The HP OmniBook X Flip 14 performed well on the productivity front, holding its own against similarly priced 2-in-1 laptops like the Envy x360 14 and the Dell 14 Plus. It shone on our HandBrake test, bested in this lot only by the LG Gram Pro (by 15 seconds). The OmniBook X Flip 14 finished near the top in all of the benchmarks above, and it took the leading Photoshop score, showing itself as a choice thin-and-light 2-in-1 laptop that can handle more than average workloads.

Graphics Tests

We challenge each reviewed system’s graphics with a quintet of animations or gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark test suite. The first pair, Wild Life (1440p) and Wild Life Extreme (4K), use the Vulkan graphics API to measure GPU speeds. The next two, Steel Nomad's regular (4K) and Light (1440p) subtests, focus on APIs more commonly used for game development to assess gaming geometry and particle effects. A fifth test, Solar Bay, emphasizes ray-tracing performance.

Regarding our graphics test, the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 presented what overall looks like a poor showing, scoring next to last or pulling up the rear in four of the five 3DMark tests. While you can get away with Photoshop work and other media editing on this laptop, we certainly wouldn't recommend it for all but the lightest casual PC gaming.

Battery Life and Display Tests

We test each laptop's battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel) with display brightness at 50% and audio volume at 100%. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off. 

To gauge display performance, we use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and software to measure a laptop screen's color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).

The HP OmniBook X Flip 14 disappointed in battery testing, lasting 9 hours and 55 minutes. While almost 10 hours of battery life will get you through most of a workday, it pales compared with the phenomenal 25 hours seen from the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 or the 15 hours we enjoyed from the HP Envy or Dell 14 Plus.

In contrast to its battery shortcomings, this laptop's OLED display is gorgeous and by far our favorite thing about the machine. The Flip 14's panel sits at the top of this test pack. The touch screen is responsive whether you’re using a finger or a stylus, and it's far more responsive than the Dell 14 Plus' screen. Our display testing shows that its OLED touch screen reaches the promised 400 nits of peak brightness and aces all three color spaces we test in. The screen is perfect for pretty much anything, whether you're streaming, playing, or editing.