HP OmniBook 5 14 Review: You Won’t Believe How Long This Snapdragon X Laptop Runs

HP is again on high. Just a few weeks after ceding the battery life throne to Lenovo in our exams, HP has snatched again the crown with the OmniBook 5 14. Final 12 months’s HP OmniBook X 14 was the primary laptop computer CNET examined that ran for extra hours than there are in a day, lasting greater than 25 hours in battery testing. It held the file for greater than a 12 months till the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition set the bar a bit greater earlier this month. The Yoga 9i’s reign was a brief one as a result of the OmniBook 5 14 confirmed up and shattered the file by working for greater than 28 hours (!) on a single cost. 

What this pair of OmniBooks has in widespread is a Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processor. These environment friendly, Arm-based CPUs have powered among the best battery life laptops I’ve examined, together with the 13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop, Asus Zenbook A14 and Acer Swift Go 14 AI. 

Along with record-setting battery life, the OmniBook 5 14 provides a easy, elegant design and easy-to-carry weight — plus, an OLED show that delivers stellar distinction and vivid colours. These qualities earned the OmniBook 5 14 two awards. It received CNET’s Editors’ Selection for the general package deal it offers for the worth. As well as, its record-setting battery life received the laptop computer a CNET Lab Award for longest battery life. For college kids and others continuously on the go, the OmniBook 5 14 is a unbelievable choose at an amazing worth.

The OmniBook 5 collection is HP’s mainstream client laptop computer line. It replaces the longstanding Pavilion model that HP retired final 12 months. Here is the place the OmniBook 5 slots in among the many different OmniBook strains:

• OmniBook 3: entry-level fashions beforehand within the HP Laptop computer line
• OmniBook 5: mainstream fashions beforehand within the Pavilion line
• OmniBook 7: higher-end mainstream fashions beforehand within the Pavilion Plus line
• OmniBook X: premium fashions beforehand within the Envy line
• OmniBook Extremely: flagship collection beforehand within the Spectre line

The OmniBook 5 collection is wide-ranging. You’ve a selection of Intel, AMD and Qualcomm processors, with a mixture of fastened configurations and people you are capable of customise. You may get it with a 14-inch show or go greater with a 16-inch display, and every is obtainable as a normal laptop computer or two-in-one convertible. (The convertible fashions have a “Flip” suffix of their identify.)

My OmniBook 5 14 take a look at system is customizable. Pricing starts at $480 (discounted from $900, however HP’s sale pricing is sort of fixed) for a Snapdragon X X1-26-100 processor, 16GB of RAM, built-in Qualcomm Adreno graphics and a 256GB SSD. My take a look at system prices $850 (once more, with HP’s low cost pricing) and includes a Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 chip, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. My take a look at system additionally features a backlit keyboard, which is a $20 improve.

The lone show is a nontouch OLED panel with a normal 2K (1,920×1,200-pixel) decision and 60Hz refresh fee. There may be additionally a fixed configuration for $900 that’s equivalent to my take a look at system, besides the OLED show has contact assist.

My OmniBook 5 14 mannequin is on sale for £699 in the UK. There are two comparable fashions obtainable in Australia. One which’s on sale for AU$999 is a Snapdragon X X1-26-100, with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The opposite that is on sale for AU$1,399 is a Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100, with 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Every options the identical 2K OLED nontouch show that I examined.

HP OmniBook 5 14 efficiency

The OmniBook 5 14 delivered aggressive multi- and single-core outcomes on our software benchmarks, Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 6. Its scores have been close to these of equally priced Home windows laptops with both a Snapdragon X or Intel Core Extremely CPU. The development continues, with Intel laptops such because the Acer Aspire 14 AI, Dell 14 Plus and Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Version main the way in which in single-core efficiency, whereas the Snapdragon X methods fare higher in multicore testing. 

Nonetheless, the newest M4 MacBook Air was the clear winner in each multi- and single-core variations of those exams, sustaining a big distance between it and the Home windows pack, particularly in single-core efficiency.

It wasn’t too way back that Apple’s MacBooks additionally led the way in which in battery life, however that has modified for the reason that first Snapdragon X laptops began displaying up final 12 months. Intel’s Lunar Lake chips have additionally proved to be very environment friendly, resulting in some prolonged laptop computer battery life, together with the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Version that the OmniBook 5 14 simply topped to reclaim the battery life crown for HP. 

In our YouTube streaming battery drain take a look at, the OmniBook 5 14 lasted an astonishing 28 hours and 19 minutes. And that actually superb quantity is all of the extra outstanding when you think about that the OmniBook 5 14 has an OLED show, which normally shortens battery life in contrast with an LCD panel. The OmniBook 5 14 is ready to run for therefore lengthy on a single cost that you simply may be at risk of forgetting the place you left the charger.

One word on the charger itself: it is among the smallest laptop computer energy bricks I’ve ever seen, making the long-running and compact OmniBook 5 14 all of the extra moveable.

Principally product of metallic with an OLED for the plenty

The OmniBook 5 14 comes decked out in a lightweight grey colour that appears nearly white, which HP calls Glacier Silver. Set in opposition to the darkish grey keys of the keyboard, it provides the laptop computer a pleasant, nearly cheerful look that is a pleasant break from the same old boring grey. The perimeters and corners are gently rounded, making the OmniBook 5 14 snug to hold — even the 2 lengthy rubber toes on the underside panel have comfortable edges.

The OmniBook 5 14 resembles its higher-end stablemate, the OmniBook X 14, however there are a few necessary variations of their respective designs. The OmniBook X has an all-metal design, and the OmniBook 5 has aluminum high and backside panels, however the keyboard deck is product of plastic. The OmniBook X additionally includes a show with edge-to-edge glass, whereas the OmniBook 5 has plastic show bezels, giving it a extra budget-friendly look. Nonetheless, the bezels are skinny, significantly on either side, so the show would not look clunky. The plastic keyboard deck feels strong, with hardly any flex.

The 2 OmniBooks weigh practically the identical, and the plastic keyboard deck would possibly truly assist the OmniBook 5 save just a little weight. It weighs 2.95 kilos, and the OmniBook X 14 weighs 2.94 kilos. Each are common for a 14-inch laptop computer, which generally weighs round 3 kilos. The outliers are the exceptionally mild Asus Zenbook A14, which weighs solely 2.2 kilos, and the hefty Dell 14 Plus, which suggestions the scales at 3.3 kilos. On the Apple aspect of issues, the 13-inch MacBook Air is just a little lighter at 2.7 kilos, however it has a barely smaller 13.6-inch show.

I felt instantly snug typing on the keyboard. The keys provide an excellent quantity of journey and have springy suggestions. The touchpad is a normal mechanical click on response, however it’s agency and responsive with minimal diving board impact — clicks really feel practically the identical on the high fringe of the touchpad as on the underside. It isn’t such as you get a haptic touchpad with the higher-end OmniBook X 14 — it has a normal mechanical touchpad, too.

One space the place the OmniBook 5 14 truly has an edge on the OmniBook X 14 is with show expertise. The OmniBook 5 14 serves up an OLED panel, whereas the OmniBook X 14 makes use of a pedestrian IPS panel. Granted, the X’s panel has a barely greater 2.2K decision, however I would quite have a 2K panel if it means I get it in an OLED. A 2K decision suffices for a 14-inch show; textual content and pictures appeared sharp sufficient to my eyes. Solely after I crept up unnaturally near the show may I see proof of pixelation the place letters appeared just a little fuzzy. However seated at a standard distance in entrance of the laptop computer, issues appeared clear and crisp.

And with the OLED, black ranges are deep and excellent, and colours are vivid and correct. It isn’t the brightest panel, and I discovered I had the brightness slider all the way in which up more often than not. However with a shiny display coating that is not overly reflective, I by no means struggled to see what was on the display in any indoor situation. The panel is rated for 300 nits of brightness, and my exams confirmed that determine. It hit a peak of 299 nits whereas additionally exhibiting sturdy colour protection. It managed to cowl 100% of the sRGB and P3 gamuts and a decent 90% of AdobeRGB. 

Different good surprises you get with this sub-$1,000 laptop computer embody a sturdy show hinge and impressively loud audio output. The hinge felt stronger than the OmniBook X 14’s, which I assumed was a bit weak and wobbly. The OmniBook 5 14 options solely a normal pair of audio system, however they emit fuller sound than a typical laptop computer’s, particularly at its worth. It helps that each audio system are positioned close to the entrance fringe of the underside of the laptop computer quite than additional again on the underside panel.

A 1080p webcam sits above the show, delivering three options I admire in a laptop computer webcam: a clear, well-balanced image; an IR sensor for Home windows Hiya logins; and a bodily shutter to cowl the webcam, permitting you to guard your privateness when it isn’t in use.

The port choice is a little bit of a bummer. You get each sorts of USB ports, so that you needn’t carry round an adapter, however the USB-C ports are solely of the 10Gbps selection, which is a far cry from the 40Gbps switch pace you get from Thunderbolt 4 or USB4.

Is the HP OmniBook 5 14 an excellent laptop computer?

Even in case you take away the unbelievable battery life from the equation, the OmniBook 5 14 is a unbelievable laptop computer at an amazing worth. You do not normally discover an OLED show, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD in a laptop computer that prices lower than $1,000. And it comes wrapped in a nice-looking, principally metallic design with a sub-3-pound weight.