Infinix has made its first serious move into the laptop market in Malaysia with the XBook 14 Neo, a slim 14-inch notebook that pairs a claimed 13-hour battery life with military-grade durability and a price that undercuts most of its rivals. It went on sale on Tuesday, November 10, with prices starting at RM2,199, around 542 dollars, aimed squarely at students and young professionals who need a light, dependable computer.
The launch matters because it marks a new chapter for a brand that most buyers in Malaysia know for its smartphones. Infinix has been selling phones in the country for years, and the XBook 14 Neo is its first laptop there. Sales open on the evening before the 11.11 shopping festival, one of the biggest online sale events of the year in Southeast Asia.
Display and Design
The XBook 14 Neo is built around a 14-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920 by 1200 pixels and a 16:10 aspect ratio, a taller shape that gives more room for documents and web pages. The panel offers 300 nits of brightness, 45 percent NTSC colour coverage and a 178-degree viewing angle, with slim borders around the screen.
One of the most useful design touches is the hinge, which opens a full 180 degrees so the screen can lie flat on a desk. The laptop is just 17.4 millimetres thick and weighs only 1.2 kilograms, light enough to carry in a bag all day, and it comes in three colours: Twilight Purple, Shadow Blue and Volcano Grey.
Infinix has also made a point of its toughness. The top cover is made from aluminium alloy, the base from carbon fibre, and the company says the laptop has passed MIL-STD-810H durability testing, the American military standard that covers low pressure, extreme temperatures and mechanical shock. For a budget laptop, that is an unusual claim.
Performance and Storage
Inside, buyers get a choice of two Intel processors, the Core i3-1315U or the Core i5-1335U, both 13th-generation chips rated at 15 watts. Both models come with 8GB of DDR4 memory and either 256GB or 512GB of M.2 solid-state storage, depending on the configuration chosen. There is no dedicated graphics card, so this is a machine for everyday computing rather than heavy gaming, but for coursework, office documents and presentations the specification is more than enough.
Cooling is handled by Infinix’s IceStorm 4.0 system. Users can switch between an Economic mode and a Boost performance mode with a quick Fn and O keyboard shortcut.
The laptop runs Windows 25H2 and includes Infinix’s Folax AI assistant. It also supports Infinix PC Connection, a feature that allows screen mirroring, file transfers and shared controls with compatible Infinix phones and tablets, including the Xpad 30 Pro.
Battery and Connectivity
Battery life is one of the headline claims. Infinix says the 55Wh battery can deliver up to 13 hours of use, enough for a full working day and an evening of study. When it does run low, the laptop supports 65W USB-C Power Delivery charging, and a compatible charger is included.
Connectivity is generous for a machine this thin. There is Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, and the port selection covers most everyday needs: one full-function USB-C port, a second data-only USB-C port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one USB 2.0 port, an HDMI output for an external monitor or television, a 3.5mm audio jack and a Kensington lock slot.
Other features include a backlit keyboard with two brightness levels, a 720p webcam with a physical switch for the camera and microphone, and dual DTS speakers for music and video.
Price and Availability
In Malaysia, the Core i3 model with 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage costs RM2,199, while the Core i5 model with 8GB of memory and 512GB of storage is priced at RM2,699, around 665 dollars. Both are available through Infinix brand stores and the company’s official stores on Shopee and TikTok Shop, with sales beginning at 8pm on November 10, just ahead of the 11.11 sale.
Infinix has not announced availability in other markets. The XBook 14 Neo first appeared in Indonesia in late September, where it went on sale from around 8 million rupiah, and its appearance in Malaysia’s SIRIM certification database last month had already hinted that a local launch was close.
For buyers, the appeal is straightforward. A 1.2-kilogram laptop with a full working day of battery, a solid metal body and a price below RM2,200 is a rare combination. The compromises are real enough, with 8GB of DDR4 memory rather than the newer DDR5 and a screen that will not satisfy anyone doing colour-critical work, but for the students and young professionals Infinix is targeting, those trade-offs are unlikely to matter much.
What remains to be seen is whether Infinix can build the after-sales support laptop buyers expect over years of use. On the strength of this first attempt, though, the company has made a confident entrance, and the XBook 14 Neo does what it sets out to do at a price that will make its rivals take notice.
