Hands on: HP OmniBook Ultra is an ultra-thin, 55 TOPS AI powerhouse

Attending HP’s Imagine AI event in New York City last Thursday gave me a real indication about the direction AI laptops are heading in.

My main takeaway is that manufacturers are going to continue to push the limits on TOPS—tera operations per second, the processing speed of NPUs in AI PCs—as mobile workers dig deeper into the kinds of benefits generative AI will deliver them.

Proof of that was HP’s announcement of a new laptop in its consumer portfolio: the HP OmniBook Ultra PC. The 14-inch clamshell-style laptop, designed for hybrid workers, makes a big leap in AI processing over the previously announced HP OmniBook X, offering what HP claims is an industry-leading 55 TOPS AI processing power in a laptop this thin.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

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    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">Dominic Bayley / IDG</p></div>

That essentially means its NPU chip can make 15 trillion more computations per second than the OmniBook X PC, which is capped at 40 TOPS. HP made great efforts to explain the benefits of this change (which I’ll dig deeper into a little further in this article).

HP OmniBook Ultra details

Since it was positioned right alongside the HP OmniBook X at the launch event, I could easily compare the two. My first impressions? The HP OmniBook Ultra looked to be a chip off its stablemate’s block in a lot of ways, notwithstanding the laptop’s near-identical design.

The OmniBook Ultra features a stylish exterior with a Meteor Silver finish and a display framed in an impressive 86 percent screen-to-body ratio. Picking the laptop up proved it was remarkably tough. HP says that’s due to all the metal in the lid, keyboard baseplate, and hinges, which constitutes 90 percent recycled material.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="HP OmniBook Ultra" class="wp-image-2396151" width="1200" height="900" loading="lazy" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><p>The HP OmniBook Ultra comes in an attractive Meteor Silver color.&nbsp;</p>

Dominic Bayley / IDG

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When it comes to its weight and size, the OmniBook Ultra feels thicker and heavier than the OmniBook X—and that’s because it is at 12.41 x 8.96 x 0.65 inches and 3.48 pounds. (Compared to its sibling’s 12.3 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches and 2.97 pounds, not a a dramatic increase.)

The OmniBook Ultra model on display also featured 32GB DDR5 RAM running at 75 MT/s, but HP says a 16GB RAM option will also be available.

As I tested out the OmniBook Ultra against the OmniBook X, I could tell the Ultra was much snappier. It loaded up programs with just split-second delays, and images and videos rendered by its 9MP webcam looked that much crisper and smoother on its 2.2K (2240x1400p) IPS-grade touchscreen display.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="HP OmniBook Ultra" class="wp-image-2396155" width="1200" height="900" loading="lazy" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><p>The HP OmniBook Ultra features a 2.2K IPS-grade touchscreen display.</p>

Dominic Bayley / IDG

    </div></figure><p class="imageCredit">Dominic Bayley / IDG</p></div>

A 16:10 aspect ratio means there’s plenty of screen space to run multiple windows or applications side-by-side. The keyboard is also a generous size, sporting large keys with good spacing between them. I was pleased to see a fingerprint scanner as well as a Windows Copilot key for easy access to Microsoft’s AI assistant.