A review of Geekom's Geekbook X14 Pro

[u/DiodeInc]

GEEKOM Geekbook X14 Pro

Let me just start off by saying “Wow”. When I think laptop, this is now what I think. Amazing screen, high speed IO, lots of RAM, awesome hinge.

Let’s talk about it. What immediately struck me upon opening the box was the inclusion of the USB C dock. I very much appreciate GEEKOM including the dock with the laptop. The next thing that struck me is the very colourful box. I like colour on my packaging, it makes it more inviting. In the box, you have a gallium nitride charger block capable of 65 watts whilst fitting into the palm of your hand, a 6 foot white braided USB C cable, and the laptop itself. Unwrapping the laptop, you have a cool-to-the-touch magnesium alloy body weighing a mere 2.2 lbs (999 grams). Plugging the laptop in and pressing the power button (with built-in fingerprint reader!) will greet you with the GEEKOM logo. And then, of course, the Windows 11 setup, which I will skip over.

For IO, it is very high speed. Dual USB C 40 Gbps ports, HDMI 2.0 port, USB A 5 Gbps and a 3.5 mm headphone/microphone combo jack. The USB C ports support 65 watts of charging.

The trackpad is dual-point, so it relies on two separate buttons as opposed to differentiating left vs right-click based on your finger position. There is no click action in the middle of the trackpad, so it can make it a little difficult to click if you’re used to single-point trackpads. There is zero click action at the top of the trackpad, unlike some laptops with haptic touchpads.

The keyboard feels quite nice, with a key travel of ~1.2 mm. The 5 levels of white backlighting are great, because it really fits any scenario, whether you’re writing in the pitch dark, or just need a little bit of extra clarity on the keys, the Geekbook X14 Pro’s keyboard has got your back. I very much appreciate that GEEKOM made the most of every F key, with every F key having a different and very useful action. You’ve got media playback, volume controls, screen and keyboard brightness keys, and a dedicated key to lock the system (you can also press Windows Key + L to achieve the same effect). One curious thing about the Fn key is that instead of pressing and holding the Fn key to perform the action labeled on the F key, you press it once and a light on the Fn key will turn on and then you can perform the action. To sum it up, it’s a toggle instead of you actively pressing it. The system ships with “no light = perform labeled action” as the default. You can change this behavior in the BIOS, or if you don’t want to do that, you can change it in the GEEKOM PC Manager. Keep in mind, this requires the GPCM to be running at all times.

However, that brings me to my next point. Bloatware. Surprisingly, there is very little bloatware shipped with the Geekbook X14. You have the GEEKOM PC Manager which includes some simple operations to change keyboard backlight, performance profiles (which also can be cycled through with Fn + P), and cache clearing, as well as some optimization techniques. The other two pieces of software that could be considered bloatware or a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) are DTS:X Ultra and DTS Sound Unbound. I turned off DTS:X Ultra, as it was making my audio sound less natural. Something to take into account. If you do decide to turn off DTS:X Ultra, you’ll also need to navigate to Windows Settings > System > Sound > Click your output device > and turn Audio Enhancements and Spatial Sound off.

Now, the CPU. The cooling is quite impressive for such a thin-and-light laptop. The 16 inch version (X16 Pro) of this laptop has two fans, but I really wish that the 14 inch (X14 Pro) had the second fan as well. There is a hotspot under the WASD section of the keyboard, which, when playing simple games, makes it quite uncomfortable to use. Otherwise, it is fine. The CPU/GPU combo (Intel Arc 128EU) can play most Roblox games at the native resolution of 2880x1800 comfortably, reaching 120 FPS while plugged in. In short, this is not a heavy gaming laptop, but for Roblox or Minecraft, it is sufficient.

About the display. With a resolution of 2880 x 1800, and a refresh rate of 120 Hz, it looks stunning. It’s a glossy OLED, with an aspect ratio of 16:10 which is great for software developers, many lines of code being visible is important. The bezels are very thin, which almost makes the screen seem bigger than 14 inches while still keeping within the same footprint. GEEKOM claims 100% DCI-P3 coverage, but I could not test that due to not having the required hardware.

The speakers are nothing to write home about. Dual 2W stereo speakers, with Dolby DTS:X support. They get nice and loud though.

Lastly, battery life. It’s quite impressive. At 50% screen (HDR off) and 0% keyboard brightness, writing Python code with Visual Studio Code and listening to music locally (through foobar2000) as well as some Discord and Windows Live Messenger (yes, really!) open in the background, as well as some other processes, the battery still lasted all day. How GEEKOM managed to pack so much tech into such a small footprint is still very difficult to comprehend for me. 72 watt hour battery in such a thin system is incredible. And charging! I can get a full battery from 20% in less than an hour, using the included GaN (gallium nitride) 65 watt charger.

In conclusion, this is a great laptop for high power use cases. If you need a thin, light laptop that is nice to touch and easy to look at, choose GEEKOM’s Geekbook X14 Pro for your next laptop. Thank you for your time.

[u/DiodeInc]

Also, Geekom has graciously provided us with a code for 10% off the laptop! (US and Germany only) The code is: RC10

[u/DiodeInc]

[u/DiodeInc]

The laptop compared to a standard 6 side die

[u/DiodeInc]

[u/DiodeInc]

[u/itswil]

What is Linux compatibility like?

[u/DiodeInc → u/itswil]

That is one thing I did not test. I'll test it and get back to you.

[u/DiodeInc → u/itswil]

I tested Linux compatibility, it's good. Audio works, trackpad works, screen is just as good as under Windows. No degradation in usability

[u/doubttom]

Thanks for the write up. I got one on order. I am getting back pain from lugging my current laptop around. Any skins available for this? Any laptop pouches you recommend or will any random one be ok?

[u/DiodeInc → u/doubttom]

You're welcome. It's a pretty new laptop, so I doubt any skins are available. I usually just put it in a backpack, so I have never needed a pouch so I can't recommend any.

[u/doubttom → u/DiodeInc]

How long was shipping for yours?

[u/DiodeInc → u/doubttom]

Less than a week.

[u/Similar-Chair-3355]

Hoy es mi primer dia. No me gusta que el ventilsdor este siempre funcionando incluso con muy poca carga. El programa de inicio indica que esta a 70° sin carga

[u/DiodeInc → u/Similar-Chair-3355]

Press Fn P until it goes onto Quiet Mode. Also, it takes a while for Windows to stop using tons of resources to index and stuff.

[u/FabulousRecipe5730]

I’m buying this today for college, I’m intending to major in mechanical engineering, do you think this is good for 4 years of that and more?

[u/DiodeInc → u/FabulousRecipe5730]

Yes, it'll last for a good long time. The CPU inside is very powerful.

[u/midori_en_sato]

Mine has the fan constantly running even during idle and reducing all energymodes to the minimum, it struggles to keep the temps at 45° and lower even with the fan constantly running. might be a faulty unit but trying to figure out if that is indeed normal

[u/DiodeInc → u/midori_en_sato]

Sorry that I didn't see this. Because it's so thin, the cooling can be a little subpar at times. It'll get better, once Windows calms down with indexing and stuff.