In the new AI PC era, HP is starting fresh with an entirely new branding structure to highlight the power and performance of a fresh set of computers.
While many people may be familiar with the company’s Pavilion, Envy, and Spectre products on the consumer side and the Dragonfly devices for enterprise options, HP will now retire these lines and overhaul its options under two main lines: consumer and commercial. These include the Omni brand for consumers and the Elite brand for commercial. The company unveiled its inaugural products for each line, the HP OmniBook X AI PC and HP EliteBook Ultra AI PC, on Monday during Microsoft’s AI Vision event. I got to see the new devices ahead of the event and check out how this new branding and design looks in person.
A new beginning
These models will be the beginning of an overall brand expansion for HP. On the consumer side, the company plans to have several forms and tiers of Omni products with the goal of making customer selection simpler. Notably, HP plans to keep its Omen gaming PC brand intact during this restructuring.
“We have seen in our research that it takes 20 days for a customer to buy a PC in the consumer space, and along these 20 days, one-third of the customers are delaying or dropping their purchase, or even worse, they may buy the wrong PC because they don’t understand what is the right PC for their need,” Pierre-Antoine Robineau, HP’s vice president of consumer solutions, told Digital Trends.
There will be OmniBook for laptops, OmniStudio for all-in-one, and OmniDesk for tower PCs. The performance range of devices will begin with 3 as the base, and go up to 5 and then 7, while X represents 10, but also the unknown nature of X. And, finally, there’s Ultra, the high-end and highest performance models.
Robineau noted this structure would allow each device to have its own value proposition and price points. For example, if HP were to release an innovative form factor like a foldable device, that aspect would be added to the name, such as a potential Omnibook X Fold, or the Omnibook Ultra Fold if it was more premium.
On the commercial side, the company also plans to have several forms and tiers of products, starting with Pro for channel-oriented customers and transitioning to Elite for enterprise customers. Updating from the former Dragonfly enterprise line, HP is shifting its naming sequence to single digits. For example, from 800 or 600 to 8 or 6. The hierarchy will be 2, 4, 6, 8, X, and Ultra. The Omni branding will have odd numbers and the Elite will have even numbers to differentiate between the two lines.
Generation-to-generation updates will see the EliteBook models’ G-numeral notation, such as G1, G2, and so on. The PCs will also include in their branding a letter indicating the type of silicon featured in the product, such as Qualcomm or AMD. So, the official name of the recently announced EliteBook is the HP EliteBook Ultra G1q.
It’s all about AI, of course
As another unique standout, the laptops feature a new AI Helix logo, representing AI and DNA, which HP plans to use as an identifier for every device and piece of software built for AI experiences. The OmniBook X AI PC is available in Meteor Silver and Ceramic white color schemes, while the EliteBook Ultra AI PC is available in Atmosphere Blue and features a smudge-resistant Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coating on its back panel.
With the OmniBook X AI PC and EliteBook Ultra AI PC now official, HP has notably introduced some of the highest-tiered models in their respective lines. Highlighting the AI PC features of both devices, they are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor and its dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which enables a processing power of at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). This allows both the OmniBook X and EliteBook Ultra to execute various generative AI features that are based on large language models.
HP has included several AI features on its Omni and Elite, including its Poly Camera Pro, which includes several conferencing, framing, background, and multicamera features that won’t affect the device’s CPU or battery life.
The laptops also include HP’s AI Companion, an on-device hub that allows users to perform personal tasks and unique system-based functions according to their needs. The GPT-based chatbot can execute such tasks as summarizing legal documents or analyzing a PC and creating a personalized driver update schedule.
ARM takes hold
HP noted that the OmniBook X and EliteBook Ultra running the Snapdragon X Elite performed 17% better in benchmark tests against the MacBook Pro with the M3 in multi-thread performance, due to their fans. Built for efficiency, each model can support over a full day of battery life at 26 hours without charging, while being able to handle over 12 hours of Teams calls, over 20 hours of web browsing, and up to 22 hours of streaming, among other high-performance tasks.
The OmniBook X AI PC features a 14-inch 2.2K multitouch display with 300 nits brightness, up to 32 GB LPDDR5x dual channel memory, up to a 2 TB PCIe SSD, and a 5MP IR camera. Input includes two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a 3.5 audio jack. Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, Bluetooth 5.3, and Modern Standby.
Battery support includes a three -cell, 59-watt-hour system and a 65-watt USB-C power adapter. The laptop runs the Windows 11 Home or Pro operating system.
The EliteBook Ultra AI PC features a 14-inch 2.2K touch13 display with 300 nits brightness, up to 32 GB LPDDR5x dual channel memory, up toa 2 TB PCIe SSD, and a 5MP IR camera. Input includes two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a 3.5 audio jack. Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E. Battery support includes a thre -cell, 59-watt-hour system and a 65-watt USB-C slim power adapter. The laptop runs the Windows 11 Home 64 Next Gen Premium or Pro 64 NextGen Premium operating system.
The HP OmniBook X AI PC 1 TB storage model is available for preorder at HP.com starting at $1,200. It will begin shipping on June 18. The laptop will also sell at BestBuy.com.
The HP EliteBook Ultra AI PC is available for preorder at HP.com starting at $1,700. It will also begin shipping on June 18.
