HP OmniBook Ultra: A Powerful AMD Ryzen AI-Powered Ultrabook

HP OmniBook Ultra review: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 power with few compromises

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. It's an exciting time to be in the market for a new ultraportable laptop. Qualcomm wants to make waves with its Snapdragon X Series of Arm processors, which boast incredible battery life. Intel just launched its new Core Ultra 200 "Lunar Lake" chips, which have a large focus on overall efficiency. And, of course, AMD is pushing its frontline Ryzen AI 300 processors in the laptop space. The HP OmniBook Ultra review unit we tested comes from the latter series of chips; specifically, it features a Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 processor. That powerful mobile chip is ensconced within an attractive and lightweight aluminum chassis. The design is understated, with the only bold move being a light blue power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader. The OmniBook Ultra proved to be a swift performer in our benchmark suite, putting it in contention among the best ultrabooks. Less is more when it comes to the OmniBook. The laptop doesn't draw attention to itself, which suits those who like to fly under the radar sans blaring. The lid is simple and finished in aluminum with the HP logo polished to a mirror finish. Opening the lid reveals a no-nonsense keyboard deck flanked by two rectangular-shaped speaker grilles. The keyboard is dark gray in finish, while the top function row is a lighter shade of gray. The only design embellishment is the power button, which is finished in a pale blue and doubles as a fingerprint reader. The display is covered in glossy glass, which is a boon for increasing color fidelity, but amplifies reflections. The bezels are minimal along the sides, but are more sizable for the top and bottom (where you'll find another HP logo). There are also two Copilot logos on the chassis. One is located at the base of the display lid, and is only visible when the lid is closed. The second is located under the left CTRL key on the keyboard. And if you didn't already know that this machine was powered by AMD, two stickers are placed on the right palm rest to advertise the Ryzen AI 9 HX processor and Radeon Graphics inside. Regarding external ports, the OmniBook Ultra doesn't include many. There are two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the right side of the chassis (a huge rarity for AMD systems, as Intel licenses Thunderbolt 4), while a 3.5 mm combo jack and a USB-A port are on the left side. However, the USB-A port has a fussy, spring-loaded half-cover that mirrors the contour of the laptop. This design is often included with laptops with a built-in Ethernet port, but I've never seen it for a USB-A port before. It seems like an unnecessary part that could become easily broken. The OmniBook Ultra measures 12.41 x 8.96 x 0.65 inches and weighs 3.47 pounds. That is slightly heavier than the larger Asus ZenBook S16, which weighs 3.31 pounds and measures 13.92 x 9.57 x 0.47 inches. The ZenBook S14 has dimensions of 12.22 x 8.45 x 0.51 inches and weighs 2.65 pounds, while the Dell XPS 13 (9345) measures 11.63 x 7.84 x 0.60 inches and weighs 2.62 pounds. This is the first laptop we've tested using AMD's new Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, which sits just above the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 we previously reviewed in the Asus ZenBook S16. The processor features four Zen 5 cores and eight Zen 5c cores. The "Strix Point" chip supports a total of 24 threads. The Zen 5 and Zen 5c cores each have a base clock of 2 GHz but boost to a maximum of 5.1 GHz and 3.3 GHz, respectively. These specs are all identical to the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. The only difference between the two chips is that the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 has a slightly faster XDNA2 NPU, which boosts maximum AI performance from 50 TOPS to 55 TOPS. Our OmniBook review unit came configured with 32GB of LPDDR5x-7500 RAM and a 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. Kicking things off with the synthetic Geekbench 6 benchmark, the OmniBook Ultra flexed its muscles with wins in single-core (2,847) and multi-core (14,838) performance. The XPS 13 (Snapdragon X Elite) was nipping at its heels, scoring 2,797 and 14,635, respectively. Rounding out the slate of competitors was the ZenBook S16 (Ryzen AI 9 HX 370) at 2,765/13,282 and the ZenBook S14 (Core 7 Ultra 258V) at 2,751/11,157. The OmniBook Ultra had another convincing win in our file transfer test, where it copied 25GB of files at 1,708.23 Mbps. The next-closest competitor was the XPS 13 at 1,342 Mbps, while the ZenBook S16 lagged well behind in last place with 908.45 Mbps. The dominance of HP's new OmniBook Ultra extended to our Handbrake test, which transcodes a 4K video file to 1080p. The OmniBook Ultra completed the task in 4:18, putting it nearly 30 seconds ahead of the second-place XPS 13. The ZenBook S14, with its newly launched Lunar Lake-based processor, took almost twice as long as the OmniBook Ultra to complete the Handbrake test (8:28). To stress test ultrabooks, we rely on Cinebench 2024, which we run through ten loops. The first run was the highest, at 960.85, while subsequent runs meandered through the mid-900s to low-900s. During the stress test, the Zen 5 cores averaged 3.1 GHz, while the Zen 5c cores averaged 2.37 GHz. During the test, the CPU measured an average of 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit). The Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 is nearly identical to the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 in key specifications, apart from the NPU. The NPU in the former receives a 10 percent performance uplift, maxing out at 55 TOPS instead of 50 TOPS. To qualify for Microsoft's Copilot+ PC certification, the PC must be capable of 40 TOPS, which means that the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 easily clears the bar. Copilot+ PCs will use the NPU for features like Cocreate, an AI tool to augment your drawings, and Windows Studio Effects, which provides real-time effects for your camera. However, the biggest headliner for the NPU will be its use with the controversial Recall feature in Windows 11. Recall takes snapshots of everything you've done on your computer, which is then accessible by searching for keywords or browsing through a timeline of your PC's recorded history. Microsoft now intends for Recall to become available for Copilot+ PCs in October via the Windows Insider program. While many ultrabooks opt for OLED panels for deeper blacks and richer colors, HP sticks with tried-and-true IPS technology for the OmniBook Ultra. The 14-inch panel has a 16:10 aspect ratio and a relatively uncommon 2240 x 1400 resolution. Our review unit was equipped with the touch panel option, and the refresh rate clocks in at 60 Hz. The OmniBook Ultra covers 75.6 percent of DCI-P3 and 107 percent of sRGB, putting it about average in this assembled group of laptops. Maximum brightness measured 359.4 nits, slightly edging out the ZenBook S16 (357 nits) for second place. The XPS 13 took top honors at 456 nits. Touch screens on laptops aren't a big draw for me, but HP includes the functionality here for those who like that input method. The touch support worked as expected, but the thought of smearing the glossy screen with my fingerprints just gives me the heebie-jeebies. I love the look of the OmniBook Ultra's keyboard. The laptop's chassis resembles a medium graphite color, while the primary keys are dark gray with white lettering. The function row is a lighter shade of gray. Key presses are firm but very responsive. Although the keys have plenty of travel for my taste, the key presses are a bit on the loud sound. They remind me of older MacBook keyboards when Apple was in its ill-conceived scissor-switch phase. However, the half-height up and down arrow keys are the biggest faux pas. I prefer full-size keys all-around, but some manufacturers are intent on squeezing in half-height keys to save space. As always, I use keyhero.com to test my typing speed. The test clocked me at 84.78 words per minute with 96.34%accuracy. The OmniBook Ultra uses a glass touchpad that measures 4.9 x 4.4 inches and has a satisfying click with each press. The touchpad is top-hinged, meaning the presses from the bottom of the touchpad to about three quarters of the way up register with ease. However, pressing in that last quarter of the touchpad's surface requires a much harder press to register. The surface was smooth, allowing me to easily glide my finger without dragging. HP advertises the OmniBook Ultra as having "pitch perfect audio by Poly," but in practice, it's good, but by no means perfect. It has quad speakers with HP Audio Boost and DTS:X Ultra support. I first queued up a Throttle House video of the Tuthill 911K vs Alfaholics GTA-R 290. What should have been an aural explosion of mechanical amazingness from the 911K's engine revving to 11,000 rpm sounded merely pedestrian compared to the 14-inch MacBook Pro that was sitting beside the OmniBook Ultra playing the same video. However, music sounded a bit better, as I could make out some slight inklings of bass with the drum hits in the Fugee's "Killing Me Softly." Lauren Hill's vocals were sharp and clear, with no distortion when pushing the volume towards 100% (which you must do, because this is such a classic 90s banger). The OmniBook Ultra's bottom cover is affixed with just four Torx screws, which was a relief - I'm used to laptops having eight or more. After removing the screws, a pried the bottom cover off by starting with the exposed lip at the back near the exhaust vents. At first glance, there doesn't appear to be anything user-accessible, save for the battery. However, the M.2 slot for the Wi-Fi 7 card is hidden under a small, thin plastic I/O shield held in place with an adhesive. A larger plastic I/O shield is located just below the left cooling fan and heatpipe. Once removed, you have access to the M.2 SSD. The LPDDR5x memory is soldered onboard, as is the case with many ultrabooks, so there's no opportunity to perform upgrades post-purchase. The OmniBook Ultra was the leader regarding performance. Despite this, battery life didn't suffer significantly compared to the x86-based competition at 12:52. The ZenBook S14 lasted an hour longer (13:51), but that laptop lagged in all performance metrics. Likewise, the ZenBook S16's runtime was over an hour shorter (11:35). The Arm-powered XPS 13 was the outlier, giving up after an impressive 19-and-a-half hours. We measure heat output during the Cinebench 2024 stress test. Despite its thin frame and high performance (among this competition), the OmniBook Ultra was never uncomfortable to touch. We measured 104.2 degrees Fahrenheit between the G and H keys, while the touchpad was 79.5 F. The hottest part of the laptop was on the bottom between the two cooling fans. The temperature increased to 116 F in this area. HP uses a 1080p webcam with IR capabilities on the OmniBook, which means that Windows Hello facial recognition is supported (in addition to the built-in fingerprint reader). The images captured by the webcam were "OK" and didn't blow me away. Fine detail, like my facial hair and patterns on my shirt, looked slightly blurry. In addition, the images/video looked a bit cool. What should have been deep red on my shirt instead looked a slightly paler facsimile. HP went overboard with the installed software on the OmniBook Ultra. You'll find HP AI Companion, HP Enhanced Lighting (lighting controls for the webcam), HP Energy Star (an app that just shows you Energy Star appliances and allows you to search for local rebates), HP PC Hardware Diagnostics, HP Privacy Settings, HP Smart (for setting up HP printers), HP Support Assistant, and HP System Event Utility. Would it have hurt HP to put all of these into a single app? In addition, there's the Omen Gaming Hub, even though the OmniBook Ultra isn't explicitly billed as a gaming system. The other preinstalled software includes DTS Sound Unbound, Poly Camera Pro (which gives you more granular control over the webcam), and a link to Otter.ai and McAfee Antivirus. That's a lot of bloatware for one system. The OmniBook Ultra ships with a one-year warranty from HP. The AMD flavor of the OmniBook Ultra is available in ready-to-ship or customizable configurations directly from HP. The preconfigured system comes with a Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, 16GB of LPDDR5x, and a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD for $1,079.99. Our review unit, however, was customized (starting price of $1,399.99) with a Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 processor, 32GB of LPDDR5X, and a 2TB SSD for $1,748.99. The HP OmniBook Ultra is an all-around good thin and light laptop. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 processor proved a potent motivator, allowing the laptop to take top honors in all the performance benchmarks. Even its storage subsystem performance outshined its rivals. While you might expect the high-performance chip to impact battery life significantly, the OmniBook Ultra was right in line with its peers in endurance. Only the Dell XPS 13 with the Snapdragon X Elite Arm processor showed a dramatic advantage in battery life. The display proved to be vibrant, and the speakers were good, but not great. It's hard to find fault with the hardware other than a keyboard that is a little loud and the unnecessarily fussy USB-A port. The biggest detractor is the sheer amount of bloatware that HP includes with the OmniBook Ultra, but that can luckily be rectified with some time spent in the Installed Apps section of Settings. At $1,748.99 as-tested, the OmniBook Ultra isn't cheap, but it's a high-flying performance powerhouse without a lot of compromises.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14 review: Ryzen AI 300 delivers again

The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is a "next-gen AI PC" thanks to its AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processor. But, while this machine has a neural processing unit (NPU) for local AI applications -- plus Copilot+ PC features coming soon -- AI isn't the big story here. Look past the "AI" logos on this machine and you'll find a solid laptop that gets long battery life and excellent performance in real-world use thanks to AMD's latest hardware. First, a word about the name: Back in May 2024, HP announced a rebranding of its entire PC lineup, dumping names like "Spectre" and "Dragonfly." The word "OmniBook" here means this is a consumer laptop. If this was intended for commercial users, HP would call it an "EliteBook" or "ProBook." (However, HP will still use "Omen" to refer to gaming PCs). Further reading: Best laptops 2024: Premium, budget, gaming, 2-in-1s, and more The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 comes with an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processor. This hardware includes a neural processing unit (NPU) with up to 55 TOPS for local AI applications. That's why HP is positioning this as a "next-gen AI PC" -- it will soon be compatible with Copilot+ PC features, unlike previous-generation "AI PCs" with hardware like Intel's Meteor Lake. There are several variations of this PC. HP loaned us a "top of the line" model with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 CPU, 32 GB of RAM, and 2 TB of solid-state storage. This package is available at Best Buy for a retail price of $1,689.99. A few other variations are also available, with the least expensive one being a AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD. This is available through HP's online store for $1,349.99. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is a well-designed, solid piece of mostly silver metal on the parts of the laptop you'll touch. (There are just a few plastic elements, like the bezel.) While HP has changed the branding of its consumer laptops, there's a lot of the "Spectre" design language here. The angular corners where the display meets the bottom tray of the laptop are immediately and recognizably HP. The 14-inch OmniBook Ultra 14 feels like a solid machine. At 3.47 pounds, it's a tad heavier than some "thin-and-light" laptops, but it has a good weight distribution and it's a very reasonable size and weight. The hinge is sturdy. The charger HP bundles is unusually nice, too -- it has a nice braided cable. As many of us have noticed with phones, braided USB charging cables tend to hold up better over the long run. While HP is pushing the "AI PC" angle here -- complete with an "AI" logo below the left side of the keyboard and on the back of the hinge -- bear in mind that this machine won't get Copilot+ PC features until Microsoft rolls them out in November 2024. However, those Copilot+ PC features aren't too interesting yet anyway. HP does bundle an "HP AI Companion" app with this machine. This app integrates a variety of AI tools that use the system's NPU to analyze data in files, for example, and to guide you through changing various PC settings. It's good to see PC manufacturers include tools that demonstrate the power of the AI hardware they're pushing, but this isn't life-changing software that will make you want to seek out an AI laptop. There's a bit of bloatware installed here. The noisiest one is McAfee antivirus, which nags you to set it up, but you can easily uninstall McAfee. There's also a Dropbox promotion, as well as Adobe offers and Google essentials apps in the Start menu. It's not the cleanest setup out of the box, but it's easy to uninstall what you don't want. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 has a full-size keyboard with a backlight you can toggle off and on. It's placed nicely at the center of the laptop, and the keys feel great to type on. I don't consider them mushy at all. I was able to type accurately at high speeds. And naturally, since this is an AI laptop, it has a Copilot key to the right of the right Alt key on the keyboard. This machine has well-size trackpad sitting centered right below the keyboard, too. It's a good size for the laptop -- not too small and not too large. Palm rejection worked excellently well typing. The surface felt smooth and responsive, whether I was moving the cursor with a finger, scrolling with two fingers, or using multi-touch gestures. The trackpad's click action also felt pleasantly responsive, although I've been spoiled by haptic touchpads like those on the Surface Laptop 7 and would like to see more laptops use them. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 includes a 14-inch IPS display with 2.2K resolution -- that's 2240×1400 pixels. This is a 60 Hz display with up to 400 nits of brightness, and it's also a touchscreen. The screen looks good, although it could offer more brightness. For a productivity-focused laptop like this one, it works well. For productivity and general web-browsing and media consumption, I was perfectly happy with it. Still, the limitations are obvious, even on paper: 400 nits on the low side for brightness, and some people may want more. A refresh rate faster than 60Hz is always nicer, too. OLED screens are much more beautiful, but they're also expensive and tend to use more power, decreasing battery life. The screen is also a little glossy, and an antireflective coating, higher brightness, or a matte finish may be preferrable. That's up to you and how you plan to use your laptop. This laptop's quad-speaker setup is one of the better speaker configurations I've heard on a 14-inch productivity laptop. It has a good amount of volume, a fairly wide soundstage, and more bass than the average 14-inch laptop -- which, I'm aware, isn't saying much! Laptop speakers will always be fighting an uphill battle, but these are solid speakers. These aren't the cheap tinny speakers you'll unfortunately see on many low-priced laptops The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 has a nicer webcam than most laptops -- at least on paper. It features a 9 megapixel 1440p webcam -- most laptops I review tend to have 1080p webcams at most. The picture looks clear in a variety of lighting conditions, although I would've expected it to look a tad sharper. You also have access to a variety of AI effects for tweaking your webcam video through Windows Studio Effects as well as HP's bundled software. There's also a physical shutter switch above the webcam, which you can slide to block the webcam. That's always a great feature to have. The OmniBook Ultra 14's built-in microphone did a good job of picking up my voice, although I feel like I've heard clearer audio from some other laptops. Between the webcam and microphone, this is a perfectly fine laptop for online meetings, although I imagine the ProBook and EliteBook laptops HP is targeting at professional users might have upgraded webcams and microphones. This laptop features both an IR camera for facial recognition and a fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the blue power button at the top-right corner of the keyboard. You can use either or both with Windows Hello. Both facial recognition and fingerprint recognition worked well, quickly letting me sign into the laptop. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14's port selections are limited. On the right side, you've got two USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 40Gbps) ports -- one of which is on the angled edge. It works very nicely with the laptop's own power cable. HP was proud to inform me that this is the first AMD-powered consumer laptop the company has released with Thunderbolt 4 ports. Bear in mind that you will use one of these ports to charge the laptop, leaving one port free while the laptop is charging. On the left side of the laptop, you've got a USB Type-A port (10Gbps) and a combo audio jack. This isn't a terrible selection of ports -- some modern laptops are ditching USB Type-A ports or even the audio jacks. But, if it's important for you to have more USB Type-C ports, more USB Type-A ports, or features like a microSD reader or HDMI out port, you'll need to look elsewhere or get a dongle. Since this machine is using AMD's Ryzen AI 300 series hardware, it offers both Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless connectivity. It's a great futureproof hardware setup. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 delivered excellent performance in desktop productivity apps thanks to its modern AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 processor combined with 32GB of RAM and a 2TB solid-state drive. AMD's new hardware is no slouch. As always, we ran the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs in more detail. First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. This benchmark is designed to measure overall system performance, but it's particularly focused on CPU performance. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 posted an overall PCMark 10 score of 7,801. That's a tad behind the more expensive, creator-focused Asus ProArt PX13, which has a similar Ryzen AI 300 series CPU. But it's nicely ahead of Intel Meteor Lake-powered laptops. Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It's a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn't a factor. But, since it's heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage. With a multi-threaded score of 7,582 in Cinebench R20, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 performed well. It's somewhat behind the Asus ProArt PX13. But, once again, it's nicely ahead of Intel Meteor Lake laptops. We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop's cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 took 896 seconds -- that's just under fifteen minutes -- to complete the encode process. That's a big longer than the Asus ProArt PX13, but once again beats those Intel Meteor Lake-powered laptops. Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn't a gaming laptop, but it's still good to check how the GPU performs. We run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 and its Radon 890M graphics delivered a score of 3909 in 3DMark Time Spy. Most of the other laptops we're comparing this machine to have discrete Nvidia graphics, so you can see how critical discrete graphics are. But the Radeon 890M graphics are a nice step up over the older Radeon graphics in the older Asus ZenBook 14 OLED system we're comparing it to here. Overall, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 delivered excellent performance. It's not quite as fast as the Asus ProArt PX13 in our benchmarks, but it handily beats similar systems powered by Intel Meteor Lake processors. Of course, this system doesn't have discrete graphics, so it's not ideal for gamers and people who need more 3D horsepower for professional applications. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 includes a 68 Watt-hour battery. This has AMD's new Ryzen AI 300 series hardware. While our benchmarks show it may not be as long-lasting as Intel Lunar Lake or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite hardware, it is AMD's latest hardware that delivers more power efficiency than most of the laptops you'll find on the shelves. To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 lasted 1,091 minutes, which is just over 18 hours. That's a great result -- and it beats the Asus ProArt PX13 along with those Intel Meteor Lake-powered systems. But lots of laptops post high numbers in this benchmark only to drain faster in day-to-day use. Synthetic benchmarks aside, I've found that Ryzen AI 300 series laptops -- both this machine and the Asus ProArt PX13 I reviewed -- deliver long battery life in typical desktop usage with the productivity apps I use. (For me, that means applications like Google Chrome, Microsoft Word, Slack, OneNote, Excel, and other desktop applications). This machine lands in the ballpark of all-workday battery life for my usage -- though, again, it really depends on the applications you're using, the screen brightness you choose, and so on. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is a great computer. It's sturdy and well put together -- and, most importantly, it has an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processor. These just have better performance and longer battery life than Intel's Meteor Lake chips. Plus, unlike with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptop, you don't have to worry about compatibility concerns. Because of that, I'd happily take this over an Intel Meteor Lake-powered laptop. The base model starts at $1349, which is a reasonable price for this new hardware -- and it could be quite a good price if you find it on sale. Still, it's not for everyone. Some people will want a more beautiful OLED display, for example. Or you may be looking for discrete graphics so you can game or use professional tools that require that hardware. Or, perhaps you simply need more ports and aren't looking forward to the dongle life. The big question is Intel's Lunar Lake. When Lunar Lake laptops have taken Meteor Lake's place in the market, you may have many more options for this kind of performance and energy efficiency. Still, this is a great laptop at a fair price -- if this hardware is what you're looking for.

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 7445 review: almost good | Digital Trends

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) MSRP $950.00 Score Details "The Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) is reasonably fast, but average battery life and a poor display stand in its way." Pros Solid build quality Attractive aesthetic Good productivity performance Good keyboard and touchpad Cons Battery life isn't great Display is disappointing With so many new chipsets introduced lately from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, you might be tempted to think those are the only laptops around. But they're not. Manufacturers are still releasing machines with older generations, in particular where pricing is a concern. That's where Dell's Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) comes in, but unfortunately, it can't reach the heights of the best laptops. Contents Specs and configurationsDesignKeyboard and touchpadConnectivity and webcamPerformanceBattery lifeDisplay and audioBattery life and a disappointing display hold back a decent laptopShow 3 more items Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming ReSpec Subscribe Check your inbox! Privacy Policy It's a reasonably priced 14-inch laptop that undercuts the current crop of new machines. It's not a budget laptop, but it's still less expensive. In fact, I'd be tempted to say that for someone with a limited budget, it's not a bad option -- just don't expect any miracles. Even with that caveat, the disappointing battery life and abysmal display hold the laptop back despite its value-focused price. Specs and configurations Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) Dimensions 12.36 inches x 8.90 inches x 0.62 inches Weight 3.77 pounds Processor AMD Ryzen 5 8640HS AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS Graphics Radeon Graphics RAM 8GB 16GB Display 14.0-inch 16:10 FHD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS, 60Hz Storage 512GB SSD 1TB SSD Touch Yes Ports 2 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 1 x HDMI 1.4 1 x SD card reader 1 x 3.5mm audio jack Wireless Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 Webcam 1080p Windows 1 Battery 65 watt-hour Price $750+ The Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) comes in two configurations, both built around AMD's mainstream Ryzen chipsets. The base model is a $730 configuration with an AMD Ryzen 5 8640HS, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 14-inch FHD+ IPS display (the only option). The high-end model is $950 with a Ryzen 7 8840HS, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. That's less than the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7441) that's built around Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chipset and starts at $1,000, but adds in a higher-res IPS display. And it competes more directly with laptops like the HP Envy x360 14 that uses Intel's previous generation Meteor Lake chipsets at prices starting at $700 and ramping up to $1,480 with more RAM and storage, as well as an OLED display. That makes the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) a reasonably priced laptop, but not necessarily something special. Design The Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) is similar to Dells' other midrange 360-degree convertible 2-in-1s. It's built very well, not only for this price but for any price, without any bending, flexing, or twisting in the chassis, keyboard deck, or lid. That's thanks to an all-metal construction that results in a relatively weighty 3.77 pounds. Some similar 14-inch laptops are lighter, like Dell's own Qualcomm version of the Inspiron Plus that's 3.17 pounds. The HP Spectre x360 14 is also lighter at 3.19 pounds. The Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) is reasonably thin, though, and outside of the usual large bottom display bezels to accommodate the 360-degree hinge, its bezels are small enough to keep the laptop reasonably sized in width and depth. Aesthetically, Dell played it safe. It's a minimalist design with zero chrome, in line with most laptops today, and its nicest design feature are the rounded edges that make the laptop comfortable to hold. That's especially true in tablet mode, although the machine's weight makes that a less comfortable proposition. A Windows tablet like the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is a lot more comfortable to hold in one hand. Overall, the Inspiron is a nice-looking and well-built laptop that doesn't really stand out -- and that's OK. Yes, the Spectre x360 14 and Apple MacBook Air M3 are more-elegant machines, but they're also more expensive. There's nothing wrong with a moderately priced machine that doesn't make any waves. Keyboard and touchpad The keyboard is a standard island affair with moderately sized keycaps, plenty of spacing, and light, snappy switches. I have no complaints, and while Apple's Magic Keyboard remains my favorite, I was fine typing on this keyboard in writing this review. The touchpad is a very standard mechanical version. It's large enough, although there's plenty of available space on the palm rest. And it works well enough, although the button presses were a little loud and harsh. A haptic touchpad is better, but it's hard to expect that at this price. The display is touch- and pen-enabled, but the pen is an extra-cost item that wasn't included with my review unit. Connectivity and webcam There's plenty of connectivity here, but one significant limitation. Because it's an AMD chipset, there's no Thunderbolt 4. And there's no USB4 either, meaning you're limited to slower USB-C ports. Even the HDMI port is behind with only the 1.4 standard. That's not the end of the world, but it's worth noting if you want to hook up the laptop to an external monitor. Wireless connectivity is a step behind as well, but the faster Wi-Fi 7 won't be in widespread use for a while. The webcam is 1080p, which is the newest standard. It's fine. Rather than an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition, there's a fingerprint reader built into the power button. That's a reasonable alternative, and it works well enough, but facial recognition is faster and easier to use. Performance The Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) uses a 28-watt AMD Ryzen 8000 series chipset, either the 6-core/12-thread Ryzen 5 8640HS or the 8-core/16-thread Ryzen 7 8840HS. Those are AMD's current mainstream chipsets as opposed to the cutting-edge Ryzen AI 300 series. Competitors include Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chipsets running on Windows on Arm laptops and Intel's latest Lunar Lake chipsets that are aimed specifically at efficiency. I reviewed the Inspiron with the Ryzen 7 8840HS, and while it may not be the fastest chipset around, it's not the slowest, either. It holds up pretty well against Intel's Lunar Lake and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus. That latter chipset has faster performance in some other laptops, but Dell's implementation was considerably slower than its implementation of the Ryzen 7 8840HS. Outside of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 in the Asus ProArt PX13, none of these laptops have great graphics performance. Geekbench 6 (single/multi) Handbrake (seconds) Cinebench R24 (single/multi) PCMark 10 Complete Dell Inspiron 14 2-in- (7445) (Ryzen 7 8840HS / Radeon Graphics) Bal: 2,440 / 11,219 Perf: 2,508 / 11,243 Bal: 76 Perf: 73 Bal: 99 / 643 Perf: 100 / 726 6,906 Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (7441) (Snapdragon Plus X1P-64-100 / Adreno) Bal: 2,445 / 8,740 Perf: 2,451 / 8,744 N/A Bal: 108 / 408 Perf: 108 / 419 N/A Asus Zenbook S 14 (Intel Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc) Bal: 2,738 / 10,745 Perf: N/A Bal: 113 Perf: N/A Bal: 112 / 452 Perf: 120 / 560 N/A Asus ProArt PX13 (Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 / RTX 4050) Bal: 2,710 / 14,696 Perf: 2,690 / 14,243 Bal: 54 Perf: 52 Bal: 116 / 897 Perf: 116 / 974 7,540 HP Envy x360 14 2024 (Core Ultra 7 155U / Intel Arc) Bal: 2,130 / 8,175 Perf: 2,229 / 8,298 Bal: 139 Perf: 120 Bal: 100 / 390 Perf: 102 / 485 5,750 HP Spectre x360 14 (Core Ultra 7 155H / Intel Arc) Bal: 2,234 / 11,878 Perf: 2,246 / 11,821 Bal: 138 Perf: 83 Bal: 93 / 512 Perf: 99 / 556 6,316 Apple MacBook Air (M3) Bal: 3,102 / 12,078 Perf: N/A Bal: 109 Perf: N/A N/A N/A For demanding productivity users, the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) is plenty fast. It's not for gamers or creators, though. Battery life The Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) has a large 75 watt-hour battery and a low-power IPS display. AMD chipsets were once more efficient than Intel, but Lunar Lake changed that dynamic and Qualcomm's chipsets are much more efficient. And then Apple's M3 chipsets remain the efficiency leaders. Web browsing Video Dell Inspiron 14 2-in- (7445) (Ryzen 7 8840HS) 8 hours, 30 minutes 8 hours, 45 minutes Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (7441) (Snapdragon Plus X1P-64-100) 10 hours, 19 minutes 19 hours, 28 minutes Asus Zenbook S 14 (Core Ultra 7 258V) 16 hours, 47 minutes 18 hours, 35 minutes HP Envy x360 14 2024 (Core Ultra 7 155U) 7 hours, 37 minutes 9 hours, 30 minutes Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 2024 (Core Ultra 7 155H) 10 hours, 24 minutes 14 hours, 30 minutes Apple MacBook Air (Apple M3) 19 hours, 38 minutes 19 hours, 39 minutes As it stands, the Inspiron didn't get very good battery life by modern standards. It's unlikely to last a whole day running a typical productivity workflow, unlike several others that are almost guaranteed to do so. Historically, these aren't bad result for Windows laptops. But times have changed. Display and audio Here we get to the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445)'s biggest weakness. Its 14.0-inch FHD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS display isn't a bad thing on paper. I like sharper displays, and FHD+ in a 14-inch panel isn't nearly sharp enough for me -- but many people probably won't mind it. And there should be a power benefit, but based on my battery tests, that display isn't helping this laptop much. As I suspected when I first turned on the laptop, the display's quality just isn't up to snuff. First, it's not bright enough at 271 nits. Almost every display I've reviewed in the last several years came in at well over 300 nits, to the point where our 300-nit standard is woefully out of date. The contrast was good at 1,340:1, but that's in line with modern IPS displays. The real problem came in its colors. At 62% of sRGB, 46% of AdobeRGB, and 46% of DCI-P3 and with a color accuracy of DeltaE (color difference) of 2.61, it's just not good enough. For comparison, rival laptops in this price range typically offer much betters colors averaging 100%, 75%, and 75%, respectively. And, I rarely come across a machine with a DeltaE that's more than 2.0. That's disappointing. Even less expensive laptops have better displays today. The last laptop with such a poor display was the Lenovo Yoga 7 14 2-in-1, and I didn't like it there very much, either. And when spectacular OLED displays have become available for around the same price, it's hard not to be disappointed. The audio is OK, with dual downward-firing speakers. They're good enough for YouTube and system sounds, but for anything else, you'll want a pair of headphones. Battery life and a disappointing display hold back a decent laptop There's a lot to like about the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445). It's very well-built and reasonably attractive, and it's fast enough for demanding productivity users. Its price is also attractive, which would normally compel me to give it a strong recommendation. Unfortunately, its battery life just doesn't cut it today, when competing Windows laptops last twice as long. And its display is unforgivable with its poor colors and brightness. You can do a lot better and not spend a lot more money.

One of the best lightweight laptops I've tested is a remote worker's dream machine

That said, certain apps' lack of optimization for Windows on ARM might limit some users like content creators Of all the new Copilot+ PCs around the $1,000 price point, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x feels like one of the most premium. Its dark "cosmic blue" colorway and sleek form factor exude a grown-up, capable aura that feels both down to business and ready to have some fun. The solid hardware on board supports that impression, with the Snapdragon X Elite processor leading the charge, and the brilliant 3K OLED display acting as the cherry on top. Also: The best OLED laptops of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed Lenovo's Yoga laptops have blown up in popularity this year for their versatile form factors that can bend and twist into multiple configurations (as their name suggests) and high degree of hardware customization. My colleague Max Buondonno reviewed the Lenovo Yoga 9i, an outright challenge to the traditional laptop form factor with a dual screen setup, and I took a look at the Yoga 7i, a 2-in-1 convertible laptop at a more accessible price point. The latest addition to the Yoga family, the aptly-named 14-inch, 2.6-pound Slim 7x, departs from its siblings' flexibility by giving up the 2-in-1 form factor but, in exchange, gains impressive battery life, increased performance, and a gorgeous OLED display. Truly, this might be one of the brightest displays I've seen on a laptop in a while, capable of up to 1,000 nits of brightness for peak HDR content. The touchscreen display features a resolution of 2944 x 1840 pixels (or 3K), resulting in a gorgeous media experience. While it doesn't have a full 120Hz refresh rate, the 90Hz it can achieve is enough for that silky-smooth, crisp image. The integrated Qualcomm Adreno GPU puts in the work here, sporting solid performance in graphics benchmarking tests in 3DMark, and usability with video editing in DaVinci Resolve, which ran smoothly during my testing. While it ultimately won't compete with other high-end GPUs on the market right now, it features solid enough performance for the majority of cases that you'll want to put this laptop through. Rounding out the media experience, the Slim 7x provides audio through two upward-firing speakers on either side of the keyboard. Unlike the display, there's not a lot to say here, as the audio is clear but lacks depth, which is typical for laptops. After all, that's what Bluetooth is for. I recommend popping in a pair of Nothing Ear (a) earbuds if you want to listen to music or watch a movie, especially since the Dolby Atmos Access app allows for audio customization. Also: One of my favorite laptops I've tested this year is ultraportable and has all-day battery life As mentioned in all of our other reviews of Copilot+ PCs, the new Snapdragon X Elite processors with ARM architecture can't run all programs, including industry staples like Adobe Premiere Pro, nor games, which are still a hit-or-miss endeavor. You can certainly game on the Yoga Slim 7x, but not all titles will work yet, and the ones that do might not be perfectly optimized. That said, games that are not on the cutting-edge of graphics and hardware requirements look as good as they can on a 14-inch laptop. While the display makes media and gaming one of the most obvious first areas to explore on this laptop, it's also well-suited to get down to business. From a productivity standpoint, you've got everything you could want here for a solid work laptop. The X1E-78-100 Processor (3.40 GHz) Snapdragon X Elite processor supports snappy, responsive performance during multitasking, even with demanding applications, while the 16GB of soldered memory and 1TB of storage is enough to future-proof it. Copilot+ PCs can still be considered nascent since the full capabilities of AI-fueled applications (namely Microsoft's Recall) have yet to arrive (which is a story for another day). For now, the ARM-based processors are fast, run cool, and allow for fantastic AI performance via the NPU. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x hits benchmarking numbers that are comparable to other Copilot+ PCs around the same price point, namely the Asus Vivobook S 15. In Cinebench, I got a single-core score of 108, and a multicore score of 1,004. Conversely, in Geekbench, the Yoga Slim 7x scored 2,412 on the single-core test, and 13,677 on the multicore. Also: Lenovo's newest laptops have a clever solution for iPhone file transferring that you have to see for yourself The Slim 7x also has an impressive 70Wh battery, which can easily power through a day of work and then some with more demanding workflows. During my testing of running a 4K livestream on YouTube over Wi-Fi with 50% brightness, I got over 15 hours before it conked out, putting it up near the top of other Copilot+ PCs. In terms of more actionable battery life, in my testing with intermittent use of work-related productivity apps, casual browsing, and light media playback, I got several days of use out of it. If I had to highlight some of the things I didn't love, I would first have to mention the port selection, which won't be everyone's cup of tea. Lenovo seems to have doubled down on its forward-looking design by giving the Slim 7x three USB-C Thunderbolt ports and nothing else -- no HDMI, USB-A, or card slots. It seems a little puzzling to not drop just one of these for at least a USB-A port. Also: The best 15-inch laptops of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed The laptop's trackpad is also not the most sensitive I've tested. While the keyboard looks and feels premium, the trackpad is a little too large and not super responsive. Also, the matte casing on the laptop attracts fingerprints left and right, which is certainly not something unique to this laptop, but it is nonetheless a bit of a personal pet peeve. Compared to a MacBook, one could argue that the Yoga Slim 7x is at least better than the MacBook Pro M2 Max. It has a slightly shorter battery life than Apple's device, comparable performance, a slimmer form factor, and a more affordable price. You're not going to pay thousands for this machine. The MacBook is better suited for the iOS ecosystem, however Lenovo has been making strides in developing a data transfer feature between its laptop and iPhones. So if you're not sure which one to get, the Yoga Slim 7x might be the better long-term investment. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is a solid addition to the Copilot+ PC line and a laptop I'd recommend to remote workers, freelancers, and creators looking for a portable, 14-inch laptop with a gorgeous display. Its thin and light form factor makes it a solid option for anyone who travels frequently and might not have reliable access to an outlet. If you're looking for a less expensive Copilot+ PC (and are willing to significantly downgrade the display), the HP OmniBook X 14 will run you $949. If you like this laptop's stats but want a bigger screen, check out the Asus Vivobook S 15. Creators might also appreciate the fact that Lenovo is also giving two free months of Adobe Creative Cloud with the purchase of any new Yoga laptop.