Across industries, AI is changing the business landscape. With AI tools integrated directly into devices, PCs that leverage on-device AI processing can speed workflows while enhancing security.¹ Equipping your team with systems purpose-built for AI, such as HP EliteBook X G1a 14 inch Notebook Next Gen AI PCs, can boost their productivity.

At Principled Technologies, we put three PCs to the test: an HP EliteBook X G1a 14 inch Notebook Next Gen AI PC powered by an AMD Ryzen^™ AI 9 HX PRO 375 processor, a Dell^™ Pro 14 Premium laptop powered by an Intel^® Core^™ Ultra 7 268V processor with Intel vPro^®, and a Lenovo^® ThinkPad X9 14 Gen 1 laptop powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V processor with Intel vPro.

Our results show that the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 inch Notebook Next Gen AI PC achieved higher performance in productivity and AI workloads. Additionally, with long-lasting battery life, easy-to-replace parts, a built-in AI assistant, and useful privacy features, this AI PC could be the key to getting more out of your workdays—now and into the AI-powered future.

What and how we tested

We equipped three PCs with Windows 11 Pro, 32 GB of memory, and 512 GB of SSD storage:^*

*The results we report reflect the specific configurations we tested. Any difference in the configurations—as well as screen brightness, network traffic, and software additions—can affect these results. For a deeper dive into our testing parameters and procedures, see the science behind the report.

Our testing also examined battery life in two power modes. Additionally, as the devices ran a sustained Cinebench 2024 workload, we measured their sound and heat output. We also assessed each system’s privacy features, serviceability, and built-in AI assistants. Read on to learn more about these results and what they might meant to you.

Note: The graphs in this report use different scales to keep a consistent size. Please be mindful of each graph’s data range as you compare.

Productivity testing

Check off to-do list items faster

We ran three benchmark tests to assess each device’s performance capabilities. The Cinebench 2024 benchmark evaluates processor performance by rendering a 3D scene with CPU-intensive Redshift for Cinema 4D software.² The Geekbench 6 benchmark also stresses the processor, executing multiple CPU-intensive tasks simultaneously.³ PassMark PerformanceTest 11 combines CPU, 2D and 3D graphics, storage, and memory test performance metrics into an overall PassMark rating—higher scores indicate better performance.⁴

AI testing

Maximize on-device AI performance

The LM Studio benchmark uses large language models (LLMs) to evaluate the AI chat capabilities that many of us use every day.¹⁰ We ran the test on CPU with the Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct-Q4_K_M LLM to measure the time to first token and rate of tokens per second. Tokens are “the basic units of input and output in a language,” typically words, subwords, or characters.¹¹ The LLM predicts the most likely token to follow a sequence of input tokens and generates valuable output. The more tokens per second a system can process, the faster it can enable content creation, language translation, sentiment analysis, and question answering.¹² And the less time users must wait for the first token—or first part of their answer—the smoother their experience will feel.

For more on using LLMs locally on the devices, see Assessing built-in AI assistants.

The Procyon Computer Vision Benchmark measures AI inference performance with various engines.¹³ In our testing, we used the API optimized for each system’s CPU, GPU, and NPU inference: the AMD Ryzen^™ AI API on the AMD processor-based system and the Intel OpenVINO^™ inference API on the Intel processor-based systems. The AI interface engines and their use cases include:

• MobileNetV3 and Inception-v4: Research institutions, tech companies, and individuals use these models for image recognition, object detection, and image classification tasks. ^{14 , 15}
• YOLOv3: Video surveillance companies, healthcare providers, and manufacturers use these deep neural network (DNN) architectures to distinguish between different objects and features within images and videos.¹⁶

In integer-optimized testing, we found the wait times were lowest on the MobileNetV3 model, which is designed for real-time applications on mobile devices.¹⁷

Battery life

Stay unplugged for nearly 2 workdays

To test battery life, we ran the MobileMark 30 benchmark in Windows 11 Best power efficiency and Balanced modes. For another angle on performance, we also ran the UL Procyon Battery Life benchmark in the devices’ Best power efficiency mode. We tested with the office productivity scenario, which uses real-world Microsoft 365 applications to simulate battery usage during a typical workday.²³

Physical user experience

Cut down on thermal and acoustic distractions

Running punishing workloads on high-performing devices and processors might mean dealing with more heat and noise output. This distracting and uncomfortable user experience could disrupt workflows.

The HP EliteBook X G1a 14 inch Notebook Next Gen AI PC includes HP Smart Sense, to “optimize PC performance. Work without distraction with HP Smart Sense which makes automatic adjustments keeping your system cool and quiet and lets you enable performance mode when you need it most,” according to HP.²⁴ The other PCs we tested also include intelligent thermal management features: Dell Optimizer for the Dell Pro 14 Premium, and Lenovo Intelligent Cooling for the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14. For our physical user experience testing, we turned on each device’s intelligent feature.

When we ran a Cinebench 2024 workload for 30 minutes, the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 inch Notebook Next Gen AI PC scored significantly higher under this intensive workload (see Figure 9). And, it achieved this score while staying up to 13.6°F cooler than the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 (see Figure 10). Figure 11 shows that during the sustained Cinebench workload, all three PCs also output between 23 and 28 A-weighted decibels—noise levels comparable to a whisper.²⁵ The results are clear: The HP EliteBook X G1a 14 inch Notebook Next Gen AI PC didn’t need to compromise on performance to remain cool and quiet under load.

Serviceability

Quickly repair devices across the fleet

When the unexpected happens, you could reduce downtime and repair costs if your team can easily replace components. More serviceable devices also support sustainability goals, helping your team avoid replacing systems altogether.

In our tests, the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 inch Notebook Next Gen AI PC enabled us to service two components in less time than the competitors (see Figures 12 and 13. For an entire fleet, these time savings can make a significant difference to budget and uptime.

Our test results indicate that compared to a Dell Pro 14 Premium and a Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14, each powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V processor with Intel vPro, the AMD Ryzen^™ AI 9 HX PRO 375 processor-powered HP EliteBook X G1a 14 inch Notebook Next Gen AI PC is a standout choice for performance and features.