HP OmniBook 5 14 review: Over 25 hours of battery power

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Want a Windows laptop with great battery life and portability? The HP OmniBook 5 14 should be on your shortlist. It reached up to 25 hours of endurance in our battery life test. And, to sweeten the deal, it has both a fast charging mode (up to 50 percent of a full charge in 30 minutes) and a tiny 65-watt GaN charger.

HP OmniBook 5 14: Specs and features

The HP OmniBook 5 14 is designed around a Snapdragon X Plus chip, in this case the X1P-42-100. It is paired with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB solid state drive. While it’s nice to see the 32GB/1TB combination at this price point, the X1P-42-100 is among the least capable Snapdragon X Plus chips. That’s a perk for battery life, and a negative for performance.

• CPU: Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100
• Memory: 32GB LPDDR5X-8448
• Graphics/GPU: Qualcomm Adreno
• NPU: Qualcomm NPU up to 45 TOPs
• Display: 14-inch 1920×1200 60Hz OLED touchscreen
• Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
• Webcam: 1080p 30fps
• Connectivity: 2x USB-C 10Gbps with USB Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-A 10Gbps, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Biometrics: Facial recognition
• Battery capacity: 59 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.29 x 8.56 x 0.61 inches
• Weight: 2.98 pounds
• Operating System: Windows 11 Home
• Additional features: 65-watt GaN power adapter
• Price: $899.99 MSRP

HP lists an MSRP of $899.99 and has yet to issue discounts on this model. However, HP also sells less expensive models of the OmniBook 5 that start at an MSRP of $699.99. They are already discounted to as little as $549.99. They start at 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, however, and have a less powerful Snapdragon X chip.

HP OmniBook 5 14: Design and build quality

IDG / Matthew Smith

The HP OmniBook 5 makes a good first impression, though not because it stands out. Instead, it delivers a simple but cohesive design that looks classic and feels durable. It’s built from a combination of aluminum (on the lid) and plastic (across the rest of the chassis) in a “Glacier Silver” colorway. The materials look and feel more premium than the laptop’s price tag would suggest.

It’s not all good news, however. While the build is decent, I noticed an odd thunk as I picked up the laptop from one corner and moved it from hand-to-hand. It seems the chassis flexes enough to contact the internals. It’s not immediately obvious, but once I heard it, I found it hard to forget.

The OmniBook 5’s design and build quality is about average for the category. I’d rank the OmniBook 5 ahead of an Acer Swift Go 14 AI, but the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13 and Asus ZenBook S 14 offer more drama and feel more premium.

HP OmniBook 5 14: Keyboard, trackpad, mouse

IDG / Matthew Smith

The keyboard is among the OmniBook 5’s best features. It provides a simple, spacious layout. Most keys are close to full size, with only the left-side Shift, Caps, and Tab keys a bit truncated. Key feel is excellent with good travel and a definitive, swift bottoming action.

Most Windows laptops sold in this price range have a keyboard that’s at least good enough, but the OmniBook 5’s keyboard is a standout.

The touchpad is less remarkable, but still good. It measures roughly 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep, which is average for a laptop in this category. It provides a smooth, responsive surface and enough room to handle Windows multi-touch gestures (like a five-finger pinch) with ease.

While the laptop I tested did not have a touchscreen, HP says that the shipping configuration will include one. However, this isn’t true for every OmniBook 5, as the base model lacks a touchscreen

It doesn’t matter much either way, as the OmniBook 5 isn’t a 2-in-1, and the display only tilts back 130 degrees (not far enough to lay flat). Still, a touchscreen is a convenience that can be handy when vegging out on the couch or in cramped quarters, like an economy-class airline seat.

HP OmniBook 5 14: Display, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

All HP OmniBook 5 models with the Snapdragon Plus chip have an OLED display with 1920×1200 resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate.

HP calls this a “2K” display, which is a bit cheeky. It’s basically a 1080p display with a few more vertical pixels. Laptop companies have recently decided to redefine quoted pixel counts by focusing on the horizontal rather than vertical resolution.

That aside, there’s nothing wrong with 1920×1200 resolution in a 14-inch laptop sold under $1,000. Indeed, while more expensive competitors like the Asus ZenBook S 14 offer a higher resolution (such as 3,200 x 1,800), the added sharpness can be a bit difficult to appreciate. The 1920×1200 panel has a pixel density of 161 pixels per inch, which is nearly identical to the sharpness of a 27-inch 4K monitor.

Sharpness aside, the panel looks great. It’s an OLED display and provides the advantages typical of the panel type, including a wide color gamut and high contrast ratio. The only real issue is brightness, as the panel is rated at 300 nits and barely nudged past that in my testing. That’s not enough to comfortably use the laptop near a sunlit window or other bright light source.

The OmniBook 5 has a dual-speaker sound system that provides good volume and a decent sound stage; however, turning up the volume can overwhelm the sound system, creating a harsh and muddy experience. This is a classic mistake many mid-range Windows laptops make; they often allow the speakers to hit volume levels they can’t handle. Still, the speakers are not bad for a mid-range Windows laptop at more modest volumes.

HP OmniBook 5 14: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

Every OmniBook 5 ships with a 1080p webcam and dual array microphone. Both provide good though not exceptional quality. Video is reasonably sharp and the microphones pick up crisp audio but, like most laptops, both are only adequate for Zoom or Google Meet. The laptop does support Windows Studio Effects features, including background blur and automatic framing.

The camera provides a physical privacy shutter to fully obstruct the camera when it’s not in use. This feature, though increasingly common, is good to see on an affordable laptop. It’s more common on high-end models.

Biometric login is supported by Windows Hello facial recognition. As usual, it works well providing fast and reliable login without the need to enter a password. A fingerprint reader is not available.

HP OmniBook 5 14: Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

The OmniBook 5 has a slim port selection. On the left flank you’ll find two USB-C ports, while on the right you’ll find USB-A and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Both USB-C ports support DisplayPort and Power Delivery, so both can be used to charge the laptop and/or connect to a USB-C display (or DisplayPort/HDMI if you buy an adapter).

However, the ports only support data rates up to 10Gbps. This marks a major difference between the OmniBook 5 and laptops that support Thunderbolt 4, which provides 40Gbps of data. 10Gbps is still enough for most situations. But it might be a limitation if you were planning to connect to a USB-C dock and then connect several high-speed external storage devices.

While the limited USB-C ports are disappointing, it’s common for Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus laptops. Those who want Thunderbolt will need to look at an Apple MacBook Air or entry-level laptops with an Intel Core Ultra processor.

It’s a similar story with wireless connectivity, as the OmniBook 5 supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Both are fine, but neither is the most recent version of each wireless standard. As with Thunderbolt, Wi-Fi 7 support is not that common in machines under $1,000, and most often provided by laptops with Intel Core Ultra processors.

HP OmniBook 5 14: Performance