For years, AMD and Intel were the two options you could choose from for a laptop processor, but those days are gone. With the arrival of the Copilot+ PC, a serious contender to the established order of x86 chips has now appeared: the Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite. That gave us a first look at the new processor and its performance. Now it’s time for two more Snapdragon laptops, from Medion and HP. Both have a 14-inch display and cost €1,300 and €1,350 respectively. Which Snapdragon is better to choose?
HP Omnibook
HP designers have used the arrival of the new Qualcomm processor to design a completely new laptop. With the Snapdragon laptops that have appeared in previous reviews, I noticed that Lenovo and ASUS used an existing chassis to integrate the new chip. That’s not the case with the OmniBook. The name “OmniBook” isn’t exactly new, but it hasn’t been used for over twenty years, so it can be considered new to the computing world.
The entire housing is made of grey metal and feels solid. This is also possible for a €1,400 laptop and the OmniBook doesn’t disappoint. The hinge can be opened without much resistance, but it stays in place. The metal is nicely finished and the only seam you see is between the bottom cover of the case (cover D) and the part on the side of the keyboard (cover C). There are two USB-C connections on the left side of the chassis. Both offer the option of connecting a display and charging the battery, but one supports a maximum transfer speed of 40 Gbit/s, while the other supports 10 Gbit/s. The USB-A connection also works at 10 Gbit/s.
The keyboard is a different color than HP has used in the past. The top row of keys is light gray, while the power button is blue. Notably, the column that houses the Page Up, Page Down, Home, and End keys is missing. HP has had this row of keys on its 14-inch laptops for years, but the introduction of the OmniBook seems to have been reason enough to combine them with the arrow keys. On the left is the Copilot key, because you’re dealing with a Copilot+ laptop here.
The keys are backlit, of course, with two brightness settings. The keys are completely flat, which is unfortunate, because the click of the keys will automatically lead your fingers to the middle of the key. Key travel is limited, but that’s not unusual for a laptop this thin.
Medion S14 Sprchrgd
The S14 that Medion sent us is still a pre-production example, but it shouldn’t look much different from the models that will be available in stores. Medion will send us a retail version once it’s available, and if more testing results come in, this article will be updated.
The laptop, just like the HP, has a 14-inch display and the Snapdragon is a solid, beautifully crafted laptop, and you get a cracking chassis with the Medion. That sounds interesting for a laptop that costs €1,300 in Germany (it’s not on sale in the Netherlands at the time of writing), and that’s right, you’ll notice the creaking, for example, if you open the display and give it a little push that hits the metal part between the keyboard and the touchpad, or if. Granted, these are things that laptop reviewers do and no user would do themselves if they just spent €1,300 on a laptop, but on the other hand, the fact that the case already looks flimsy and creaks if you do anything crazy with it is not a good sign.
Just like the HP, the Medion has a keyboard with keyboard illumination, which in this case cannot be dimmed, and flat keys. The keyboard, like the case, feels a bit cheap. This is because the short attacks due to the lack of travel are not dampened. The touchpad is also very bad, as it has two buttons. Is that bad? Most laptops have a button under the touchpad. When you press the touchpad, it looks at where your finger is to convert the touch into a left or right mouse click. The Medion has two separate buttons under the touchpad, which means you have to press clearly on the left or right. The middle centimeter and a half of the touchpad cannot be pressed and the buttons on the left and right feel cheap and unlubricated. This, just like the squeaky case, is not a complete disaster, but it makes you wonder whether you should spend 1,300 euros on a laptop.
Looking at the connections, the Medion is more versatile than the HP. It has HDMI and USB4, while there are also two regular 5Gb/s USB-A connections on the left and right.