Pros & Cons
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- Field-leading battery life
- Aggressively priced, and speedy enough for the cost
- Vivid OLED display
- Ultra-thin, light design
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- Plastic keyboard deck could use stiffening
- Ho-hum graphics performance
HP OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon) Specs
| Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested) | 1 |
| Boot Drive Type | SSD |
| Class | Ultraportable |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 0.6 by 12.3 by 8.6 inches |
| Graphics Processor | Qualcomm Adreno X1-45 |
| Native Display Resolution | 1920 by 1200 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Panel Technology | OLED |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus (X1P-42-100) |
| RAM (as Tested) | 32 |
| Screen Refresh Rate | 60 |
| Screen Size | 14 |
| Tested Battery Life (Hours:Minutes) | 34:48 |
| Variable Refresh Support | None |
| Weight | 2.98 |
| Wireless Networking | Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Wireless Networking | Wi-Fi 6E |
The HP OmniBook 5 14 quietly delivers what students and everyday users want most: style, stamina, and a surprisingly luxe feel for the price. Starting at $879.99 ($899.99 as tested), this Snapdragon X-based laptop pairs a sturdy, streamlined design with a gorgeous OLED display that elevates it above your typical midrange model. Its secret weapon, though, is its endurance: In our tests, the OmniBook 5 posted better battery life than any conventional laptop we’ve tested in years. If you rarely need to worry about what few programs Arm-based PCs can't support well, the 14-inch HP OmniBook 5 is easy to recommend. With a mix of premium touches and class-leading longevity, it earns our Editors’ Choice award for midrange ultraportables.
Configurations: Oodles of OmniBook Options
You'll find a dizzying array of HP OmniBook 5 models in its online store, in both 14- and 16-inch configurations. Almost all of them are listed at manufacturer-suggested retail prices and are cut down to more affordable numbers that frequently change. These 14- and 16-inch OmniBook 5 models feature silicon options from all three big makers (Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm) in both clamshell and convertible form factors.
Only the HP OmniBook 5 models dubbed "Next Gen AI PC" laptops contain Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors, as our test model did. HP's $879 starting configuration for the "Next Gen AI" OmniBook 5 14 features the Qualcomm Snapdragon X (X1-26-100) chip with an Adreno X1-45 integrated graphics processor (IGP), 16GB of LPDDR5 memory, a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), and a 14-inch 1,920-by-1,200-pixel OLED display without touch control.
Our review configuration is an upgraded model featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus (X1P-42-100) chip, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. This model also retails for $899.99 but was marked down to $699.99 at the time of publication. Note that what HP refers to on these models as a "2K" display is 1,920 by 1,200 pixels. Select models support touch input; our test sample didn't, but HP was offering an otherwise-identical touch-enabled configuration for $769.99 after discounts.
Design: A Silver Sliver With a Clean Look
HP’s laptop aesthetic, since it revived its OmniBook branding, has leaned heavily into minimalist designs, and the OmniBook 5 follows that trend. The OmniBook comes in a svelte silver chassis with a glossy, embossed HP logo on the top cover. A subtle linear indent along the top edge of the screen lid adds a little subtle intrigue to the cover without marring the streamlined design.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)You can open the lid with just one finger, a welcome touch for accessibility. With the lid open, the clamshell laptop reveals a clean keyboard deck with a lattice keyboard and a large, centered touchpad. You only have one sticker (for the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus) to contend with on the right-hand palm rest, and a ghostly AI logo is below the full-size right-arrow key. The only real downside to the OmniBook’s keyboard deck is that it's made of soft-touch plastic rather than aluminum, like the rest of the chassis, which reduces the otherwise premium feel.
The OmniBook qualifies as an ultraportable, measuring just 0.6 inch thick and weighing only 2.98 pounds. That's not quite as thin and light as one key competitor, the Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch, but it beats out the rest of our comparison set below.
Keyboard, Display, and Ports: The Right Calls
When making a midrange premium laptop such as this, manufacturers have to make tough calls to keep prices under a certain threshold, and HP proved it understood the assignment. The OmniBook's keyboard delivers clear, forceful feedback with a satisfying amount of key travel into the deck. HP opted for a 65% keyboard layout on the OmniBook, which means you have to contend with those suboptimal half-height keys for the up and down arrows. Apart from those, the keys are well-sized and spaced for a comfortable typing experience.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)One of the laptop's clear highlights is the screen. HP's display is a luxurious 14-inch 1200p OLED panel with slim side bezels. I used the OmniBook for some casual video streaming; the OLED’s deep contrast ratio and broad color coverage make for an exciting viewing experience. The OmniBook also supports high dynamic range (HDR) video, allowing you, for example, to fully enjoy the infamously dark-toned "Battle of Winterfell" episode of Game of Thrones without presenting much trouble seeing the action.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)On the right-hand side of the OmniBook’s slim chassis, HP includes a 10Gbps USB-A port with a jaw hinge, alongside a 3.5mm audio combo jack. On the left, the OmniBook houses two 10Gbps USB-C ports with support for USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, and HP Sleep and Charge. They're not USB4 or Thunderbolt ports, but they'll do for most mainstream users, especially if omitting the 40Gbps standard helped keep costs down.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)As for wireless connectivity, the laptop includes Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 radios. To stay connected over video, HP fit a 1080p webcam with an infrared sensor for biometric logins above the OmniBook's display, and outfitted it with a privacy shutter. Supported by dual microphones and dual speakers (with Copilot's AI enhancements), this laptop will work well for remote learning or for keeping up with distant friends and family.
Using the HP OmniBook 5: All-In on AI, and the Arm Question
HP built this version of the OmniBook for heavy AI use, so it comes with HP’s AI Companion preinstalled, and it features the full Copilot+ suite of AI applications and features.
I generally avoid AI software in my personal life, and the HP AI Companion proved to be a pretty standard AI-assistant chatbot in testing. However, you need to sign in with an HP, a Google, or a Microsoft account to use it. Regardless, between Copilot+ already residing in Windows 11, and popular alternatives from OpenAI and Google at the ready, it makes little sense to prioritize the HP AI Companion beyond its PC personalization feature.
One of my biggest personal struggles in accepting Arm-based Windows computers is app support. While Qualcomm and Microsoft have done a lot of work to build the library of Windows apps that natively support Arm processors, and Microsoft’s Prism emulation tool is its best yet, the last few apps that still don't work on Arm-based PCs continue to give me pause.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)However, for school or general use around the house, you may never run afoul of this ever-shrinking issue (short of, maybe, trying to print documents from the laptop using an older printer). The biggest gaps in the library of Arm-supported Windows apps, for example, are specialized tools like the Autodesk suite and parts of the Adobe Creative suite, like Substance 3D or Captivate. Gaming is, of course, another weak spot for Arm-based PCs, though Qualcomm continues to make moves to shore up this gap, like partnering with Epic Games to improve compatibility.
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If you need a laptop that can handle specialized design software or modern PC gaming, this isn't the one for you, anyway, and for reasons beyond just native app compatibility. Thus, the Arm chip in this OmniBook is perfectly suitable for its target audience. Of course, if you have a specific app you need to run on your next computer, just double-check if it’s compatible with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X-series silicon before you hit the "buy" button.
Performance Testing: Setting a New Standard for Battery Stamina
To see how the HP OmniBook 5 14 performs under pressure, we put this "Next Gen AI PC" through our gauntlet of benchmarks to assess its overall performance, graphics performance, display quality, and battery life. You'll want to stick around for that last one.
With one of Qualcomm’s midrange Snapdragon X Plus processors inside, the OmniBook 5 compares well with the Intel-powered Dell 14 Plus ($1,099.99 as tested). We also included the AMD-based HP OmniBook X Flip 14 ($1,529.99 as tested) for a taste of HP's own higher end, and the Acer Swift 14 AI ($1,199.99 as tested) to compare with the punchier Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-78-100) chip inside. Finally, we threw in everyone's favorite Apple-shaped elephant in the room, the 13-inch MacBook Air ($1,199 as tested), which also has an Arm-based processor inside, via the Apple M4 series.
Productivity and Content Creation Tests
Our first group of tests represents workloads such as content creation, office productivity, and raw CPU speeds. Our go-to overall productivity and storage test, PCMark 10, is not yet Snapdragon-compatible, so we focus on what we can: the core-stressing media tasks.
The three primary tests presented below are CPU-centric or processor-intensive. Maxon's Cinebench 2024 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene; Primate Labs' Geekbench 6.3 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning; and we see how long it takes the transcoding freeware HandBrake 1.8 to convert a 12-minute clip from 4K to 1080p resolution.
Additionally, we have encountered issues with Puget Systems' PugetBench for Creators Adobe Photoshop 25 test on systems with Qualcomm Arm processors, so we’ve skipped it here until we resolve our problems with the test.
As expected, the OmniBook 5’s Snapdragon X Plus chip trended toward the middle of the pack across all three tests, though it proved weaker in single-core performance generally. (The Dell laptop failed to run the multi-core Cinebench benchmark during testing.) As for HandBrake, the OmniBook 5 placed next-to-last, but it held a significant lead over the last-place Dell laptop. In short, yes, the OmniBook 5 can handle some minor photo and video editing, but that's not its strength. This is a laptop for basic computing needs, well-designed and well-built. If you need your laptop to stretch out a bit more than that, consider the MacBook Air or a Windows model with a slightly beefier chip like the Acer Swift 14 AI's Snapdragon X Elite.
Graphics Tests
We challenge each reviewed system’s graphics with a quintet of animations or gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark test suite. The first two, Wild Life (1440p) and Wild Life Extreme (4K), use the Vulkan graphics API to measure GPU speeds. The next pair, Steel Nomad's regular (4K) and Light (1440p) subtests, focuses on APIs more commonly used for game development to assess gaming geometry and particle effects. A fifth test, Solar Bay, measures ray-tracing performance. (Macs are compatible with only some of these benchmarks, as seen below.)
Sure, you can get away with some light GPU-accelerated Photoshop work, but that’s the extent of the GPU power available on the OmniBook. Based on these benchmarks, it will struggle with complex 3D games and professional assets. Of course, none of these laptops here is a gaming-ready model, save for the MacBook Air, in its own limited way, with an IGP that trounced the competition here whenever it had the chance. Otherwise, the OmniBook 5 trailed this pack, with the exception of the Wild Life test.
Battery Life and Display Tests
We test each laptop and tablet's battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel) with display brightness set to 50% and audio volume set to 100%. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.
To gauge display performance, we also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure a laptop screen's color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).
HP rates the OmniBook’s OLED to reach up to 300 nits of maximum brightness and 95% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. In our lab testing, we verified both claims. While the OmniBook 5’s OLED is prone to glare under direct sunlight, it’s more than bright enough for home or office use, and the screen is color-versatile enough to handle any photo or (light) video editing you might need.
Now, for the main event: The OmniBook 5 lasted an astounding 34 hours and 48 minutes on our battery test, confirming HP's claim with nearly an hour to spare. HP's stamina king outlasted the next-best laptops in this particular test group by more than 14 hours, and it, notably, held on for much longer than the MacBook Air, once famous for its impressive longevity.
Our most recent single-battery champ was HP's own Snapdragon X Elite-based OmniBook X 14, reviewed back in 2024, which endured for just over 30 hours. A few rugged/specialized laptops from the likes of Panasonic and others (see, for example, the Toughbook 40 Mk2) have topped these HPs' showings by using multiple onboard batteries, but these bulky, expensive machines are in a different class of computer altogether.
To be fair: Not to discount Qualcomm's efficient silicon and HP's engineering, but the OmniBook 5 14's relatively pedestrian screen resolution and comparatively dim brightness at 50% also helped it run so long on our test. Even so, you'll rarely need to panic if you forget your laptop charger at home for the day with this model.