Why you can trust TechRadar
We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
GEEKOM GeekBook X14 Pro: 30-second review
Out of the box, the GeekBook X14 Pro instantly strikes you as a premium laptop, with the magnesium alloy build not only contributing to the lightweight and robust design of this 14-inch laptop, but also giving it the unmistakable look and style of many other premium laptops of this size, most notably the MacBook Air and Microsoft Surface machines.
While it is lightweight and sleek, Geekom have ensured there is a decent amount of connectivity. If you’re a business user, the fact that it has two USB4 and a full-size HDMI 2.1 port means it’s easy to connect to networks and other accessories, and any larger display. If the number of connectivity options isn’t enough for you, then in the box alongside the laptop is a hub that boosts the connection options and includes a dedicated LAN port.
The internal processing power is also impressive, and the fact that the small machine features one of the latest Intel Core Ultra 9 processors, coupled with Arc graphics and an integrated NPU, means it’s AI-ready and a perfect option if you rely on Copilot to help with your productivity.
One of the other key features here is the 2.8K OLED display, which is relatively bright at 450 nits, although with its glossy surface, reflections in brighter environments can be a bit of an issue.
Overall performance is exceptionally good, and opening up Microsoft’s main productivity apps, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint, proves how well-tuned this machine is for day-to-day office work. If you want to touch on some creativity, then the 2TB SSD offers plenty of storage capacity for small projects, and this is backed up by the CPU and GPU power, which is more than capable of handling 1080p and 4K video. Through the test, I was able to put together a short video shot on a Sony A7 Mark V without too many issues. However, during the editing process, it is worth noting that as the production reached about five minutes, the machine took a little longer to process the footage and edit in DaVinci Resolve.
Switching down to an application such as CapCut, again with 4K video shot on the iPhone 15 Pro, the laptop is more than capable of swiftly enabling all edits as well as supplying effects and templates with ease.
Taking a look at photo editing and Lightroom, again, this is a machine that, while small and lightweight, is more than powerful enough to handle both of those applications. In Photoshop, using Generative Expand as well as some of the generation tools that are native to that application, the AI enhancements offered through the integrated MPU helped to speed up the image generation process.
Finally, when it came to looking at games, once again, this small laptop was extremely impressive. Taking a look firstly at DiRT Rally, it was able to cope with the graphics without too many issues, and I was able to do a few laps of various courses, although the fans did kick in trying to keep the small machine nice and cool.
Likewise, pushing the GPU a little bit further with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, again, the machine was able to cope with settings reduced. When the fans did kick in, the design seemed to be sufficient to keep that fan noise down to a bare minimum. However, you could really feel the heat building up.
Geekom GeekBook X14 Pro: Price and availability
- How much does it cost? $1249 RRP
- When is it out? Available now
- Where can you get it? Directly from Geekom and Amazon.com
At present, the GeekBook X14 Pro is available directly from the Geekom website, where the Core Ultra 5 model discounted to $1049 and the Core Ultra 9 model is $1249 at the time of review.
Both models are also available for the same price at Amazon.com here.
Right now, the laptop looks to only be available in the US.
GEEKOM GeekBook X14 Pro: Specs
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 125H / Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
Graphics: Intel Arc integrated
RAM: 32GB LPDDR5x
Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
Left Ports: 2× USB4, 1× USB-A 3.2 Gen2, HDMI 2.1
Right Ports: USB-A 3.2 Gen2, 3.5mm combo jack, microSD
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4
Audio: DTS:X Ultra stereo speakers
Camera: 1080p with privacy shutter
Size: 312 x 215 x 16.9 mm, 999g
OS Installed: Windows 11 Pro
Accessories: 65W GaN USB-C charger, user manual
GEEKOM GeekBook X14 Pro: Design
The GeekBook X14 Pro has been designed as a premium 14-inch laptop, and the magnesium alloy casing certainly reinforces that. From the moment you lift the machine out of the box, the matte silver finish is reminiscent of the MacBook Pro machines, with a slight wedge-like design that enables a bit more ventilation towards the back.
When it comes to size and weight, the laptop weighs in at 1030g, although the list weight is just under 1KG, and measures 312mm by 215mm by 20mm. The wedge shape makes this in line with the small MacBooks and Microsoft Surface.
The laptop is left minimalistic, just with the GEEKOM logo. Flipping over to the base, you have three large rubber feet to help keep it nice and secure when placed on a desktop.
Taking a look firstly at the left-hand side of the machine, you have the HDMI 2.1 port and two USB4 ports of the Type-C design. On the right-hand side, you have a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (labelled 5GB/s), a 3.5mm headphone combo port and a camera on/off slide switch to disable the webcam.
When it comes to power, this is all provided through a 65W PD GaN fast charger, which is USB-C to USB-C, so if you don’t have the proprietary charger with you, you can use others to give this laptop a charging boost.
Opening up the machine, you’re presented with the 14-inch OLED display at a resolution of 2880 x 1800. This display is capable of showing 100% DCI-P3 colour at 450 nits of brightness, with a 60Hz or 120Hz refresh rate, which is good for creativity as well as gaming and multimedia.
When it comes to the keyboard, it is of a decent size, although not full-size. GEEKOM have really thought about the layout, with backspace, enter and shift keys on the right side being a little larger than the other keys. The cursor keys also give you two-thirds left and right, and half-sized up and down keys, making it quite easy to navigate through documents.
The touchpad is also a decent size, measuring 120 x 71 mm, and supports multi-gesture control. It’s made of Mylar, ensuring that it has a good, long life and is perfect for day-to-day use.
GEEKOM GeekBook X14 Pro: Features
The premium looks of the GeekBook X14 Pro give you some idea of the quality of the electronics within, and the small machine features one of the latest Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPUs. This is coupled with Intel Arc graphics and an integrated NPU.
One of the other big selling points is the high-resolution 2.8K OLED display, capable of displaying the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 100% with a 120Hz refresh rate and brightness up to 450 nits.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 mobile processor offers 16 cores, 22 threads, 24MB onboard cache, and a 5.1GHz turbo boost. This is more than sufficient for a workflow of most creativity apps and top-level games. I’ll be using Indiana Jone and the Great Circle to test this out later.
The Intel graphics are similarly impressive with the Xe-LPG architecture that enables XeSS upscaling, support for DirectX 12.1, and hardware-accelerated ray tracing. This allows you to play far more power-intensive games than you’d expect from a laptop of this size. For creatives, there is AV1 and H.265/HEVC support for video, and it’s also AI-ready for graphics, which I was able to test using the Adobe Creative Suite.
The GeekBook X14 is one of a growing number of new laptop releases that feature an NPU alongside the Intel CPU and GPU. This enables greater hardware processing for AI, so if you utilise Copilot or some of the AI features within applications, then this NPU will help speed up the process.
Inside, there’s a relatively large 72Wh battery that will last up to 16 hours for light use and can be fast-charged using the 65W GaN adapter. It also supports USB-C charging, so even if you don’t have your charger with you, you should be able to find some other way to charge.
The laptop also supports USB4, enabling ultra-fast transfer rates as well as connectivity to networks and high-resolution external displays without too many issues. One of the features that really caught my eye was the inclusion of a full-sized HDMI port, so it’s easy to connect to a display when giving presentations.
As well as the wired connectivity features, Wi-Fi 6E offers fast networking and transfer rates. Whilst there is no wired network port, GEEKOM have gone to the effort of including a slimline USB4 hub in the box, which gives you a standard network connector as well as additional ports. This is a great addition that enables you to keep the laptop nice and slim but expand the ports if and when you need.
GEEKOM GeekBook X14 Pro: Performance
Benchmark scores
Benchmark Results:
CrystalDiskMark Read: 6994.18 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark Write: 6188.09 MB/s
Geekbench CPU Multi: 12,600
Geekbench CPU Single: 2,382
Geekbench GPU: 30,577
PCMark Overall: 7,536
Cinebench CPU Multi: 12,133
Cinebench CPU Single: 1,700
Fire Strike Overall: 7,513
Fire Strike Graphics: 8,107
Fire Strike Physics: 23,448
Fire Strike Combined: 2,925
Time Spy Overall: 3,780
Time Spy Graphics: 3,427
Time Spy CPU: 9,087
Wild Life Overall: 23,102
Steel Nomad Overall: 701
Windows Experience Overall: 8.2
Getting started with the latest Windows laptops just involves running through the last few setup screens of Windows 11, and in this case, the Pro release. Whether you’re doing this yourself or have an IT team handling it, the process is relatively quick and easy, with the usual registration of existing Microsoft or Google accounts before the main Windows 11 Pro interface opens up.
In this test, I started off with some of the Microsoft productivity applications as well as browsing the internet, putting together a slide presentation on darkroom photography for a course I’m presently running. Windows 11 Pro was able to handle Microsoft Word and PowerPoint with absolutely no issues, and as I added to Excel sheets on development times and chemical mixture ratios, it was able to handle relatively large slides and images. What stood out here was that 2.8K resolution screen, which just enables a little bit more real estate when it comes to handling Excel, which is a huge advantage even on this relatively small 14-inch screen.
The bezel around that 14-inch screen is also very slight, so you get maximum coverage. Whilst the screen looks good, bright and very clear, with good tonal graduation and overall quality, it was apparent from the outset that it has slightly more reflection than some of the laptops I’ve looked at recently, including the far more expensive ASUS ExpertBook. But still, considering this is almost £1000 cheaper, it holds up extremely well, as long as you’re not in a bright location where screen reflections could make it a little tricky to see what you’re doing.
As expected from most Windows laptops these days, the ability to handle Microsoft applications goes without saying. If you’re looking for a straightforward, powerful laptop for general day-to-day business processing, then the GeekBook X14 Pro is a superb option.
However, I had to push this a little further. Having now used quite a few machines with the new Intel Core Ultra 7 and Ultra 9 CPUs, I was keen to see how good it was at handling DaVinci Resolve with some straight 4K video footage shot on the Sony A7 Mark V. This 4K footage isn’t the highest bitrate, but it is good standard quality video you’d use for YouTube or social media content. DaVinci Resolve was able to handle a five-minute edit without too many issues, and the large 2TB SSD offered fast transfer rates, both read and write, around 6000 MB/s, while the USB4 connectivity enabled me to connect to a fast SSD, allowing smooth editing. This surpassed what I thought it would be capable of.
Where it did start to struggle was when effects were applied, and the fans kicked in to keep everything cool. There was a little lag on render times, but as long as you dragged the footage into the timeline, waited a second or two to settle and render, and then made the edit, the process was relatively smooth.
Switching in DaVinci Resolve to 4K video shot on the iPhone 15 Pro and opening that in CapCut, the experience improved further. CapCut is a far more lightweight video editor and much better suited to a small machine like this. It handled the 4K footage without issue, and as effects and templates were applied, there were no problems with slowdown. While once again you could feel the heat building up, it was able to stay on top of thermal throttling, enabling fast and smooth edits and uploads.
While I was initially worried that the machine is limited to 32GB of DDR5 RAM, with no option to upgrade, through the review process, this proved more than enough, not only for day-to-day office use but also for relatively light video editing work.
Switching over to stills imaging and looking at Lightroom and Photoshop, again, this small machine was able to handle both without issue. Lightroom catalogues were created and adjustments made in both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC at speed, showing that it’s a great option if you are a photographer looking for a very lightweight yet powerful small laptop. Likewise, Photoshop ran exceptionally well, and with AI enhancements like Generative Expand and image generation, the onboard processing made the experience relatively quick.
Finally, I loaded up a couple of games to see how it could handle them. Starting off with DiRT Rally, that CPU and GPU combo was far more powerful than the game required. I didn’t push the graphics, and the gameplay was smooth. However, the keyboard wasn’t the greatest for gaming; the keys lacked the responsiveness you’d want, so switching over to a dedicated controller is, as ever, a far better idea.
Then, really pushing the system, I loaded up Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The graphics quality needed to be lowered to get decent gameplay, and even then, you could feel a little stutter as the machine warmed up. But ultimately, the game was playable, really highlighting the leap forward these mobile CPU and GPU combos have made in the last year.
GEEKOM GeekBook X14 Pro: Final verdict
For creative applications, I was impressed across the board. Whilst there was a little bit of a delay and waiting in DaVinci Resolve, it could handle pretty much anything I threw at it. My one issue was that I couldn’t quite get the hang of the trackpad; it wasn’t as responsive as many others, and the double-click on the left corner wasn’t as precise as I would’ve hoped.
There was also a feeling of slight lightness to the keyboard, and it didn’t have that precision of key press that I find with some of the more premium models. But then again, considering the price, you’re paying for the quality and speed of performance rather than the precision of the keyboard and trackpad.
Whilst the screen proved to be of decent quality with good tonal graduation and a relatively bright 450 nits of brightness, I did find the surface just a little overly reflective. It’s an issue in cafés, but if you’re sat in an office or on a train, that should be absolutely fine, just make sure you’re not sat with your back to a bright window.
Audio quality was also better than expected. With DTSX built in, the small speakers were able to produce a decent sound, not quite as deep and full-bodied as you’d get from a MacBook Pro or Microsoft Surface, but you’d only notice if you had those machines side-by-side.
Overall, if you’re looking for a very decent, premium-styled 14-inch Windows laptop for work and some light creative and gaming use, then the GeekBook X14 Pro is a superb option.
Should I buy the GEEKOM GeekBook X14 Pro?
|
Value |
Considering that this is a powerful laptop for around the $1000 / £1000 price mark, it’s extremely impressive |
4.5 |
|
Design |
Good quality outer shell and design, let down slightly by the trackpad and lightweight keyboard |
4 |
|
Features |
Good range of features, with the power of the CPU, GPU and MPU really standing out |
4.5 |
|
Performance |
Able to handle all productivity and light-to-medium creative and gaming tasks |
4.5 |
|
Overall |
A relatively cheap premium laptop that will suit those who require power in a lightweight and relatively robust form |
4.5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
For more productivity machines, we’ve reviewed the best business laptops around.
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DwraTw6cbJvko75aqA6J8d-1200-80.jpg
Source link
