ZDNET Highlights
- The HP OmniBook 5 16-inch with Intel Core Ultra 7 255H is now on sale for $649.
- With great battery life and a competitive price, it’s a reliable all-around laptop for both students and professionals.
- Choose an OLED display, as a 300-nit IPS display can’t compete with more premium displays.
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The OmniBook 5 series comes with great battery life in HP’s mid-range of consumer laptops for everyday use and office. OmniBook 5 16-inch Fits that description perfectly, with a huge keyboard, a diverse range of configurations, and a very attractive $649 starting price.
I tested the OmniBook 5 16-inch with an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H processor, and found it to be a reliable, practical laptop with a very efficient battery, especially for a 16-inch.
Also: HP’s EliteBook X G2i may be the ultraportable business laptop I’ve been waiting for
However, although it succeeds in its mission overall, I do have a few criticisms about its construction, both of which seem to shine best when not pushed beyond the limits. let’s take a look.
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Construction and Hardware
The OmniBook 5 series is notable for its flexible configurations, including all three processor types: a Snapdragon X, Intel Core Ultra 7 200 series, or AMD Ryzen 5 8540U. I tested the Intel version and found it fast and reliable for everyday tasks. It’s no powerhouse configuration, but it’s suitable for students, multitasking, and typical productivity software.
Physically, the 16-inch OmniBook 5 is an HP laptop, with a non-descript silver clamshell with rounded edges and a full-size, huge keyboard. For anyone who likes a huge set of keys with a functional number pad, this is a great laptop for work, with good key travel and a functional, reasonable-sized trackpad.
Also: Your Windows 11 PC has a free battery health feature that’s severely underutilized – how to find it
I will note that HP has tried to do something different here by placing almost all the ports on the right side, including a 10Gbps USB-C port, an HDMI port, and a USB-A port. This isn’t a dealbreaker, but honestly, I find it more inconvenient because I’m used to left-aligned connections.
The OmniBook 5 I tested is currently on sale $649With 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. It’s a competitive price for this laptop, but the cost only becomes apparent when the trade-offs are looked at closer, namely the matte, 2K IPS display, which is serviceable but limited at 300 nits of brightness. Opting for OLED will provide a more premium user experience, but will increase the price by a few hundred rupees.
Features and daily use
As a business laptop, the OmniBook 5 handles video conferencing surprisingly well, with crisp audio and good video: HP’s True Vision 1080p FHD webcam. This is further enhanced by battery efficiency, allowing multiple calls in a single workday without worrying about power.
Also: I Tried the ‘Infinitely Modular’ Keyboard, and It May Reinvent Productivity Forever
Battery life is a standout feature. Intel’s Core Ultra 7 255H-series processor balances power with performance here, designed for mid- to high-end machines with a hybrid core design that can minimize a power drop when idle, or up to 5.2 GHz with Intel’s Turbo Boost.
HP quotes 32 hours of battery life in its video playback test, but in real-world use, you can expect a full day on a single charge. After taking this laptop to the office, I was charger-free on most days with normal workflow. For students living on campus for an extended period of time, it’s a great option for this reason alone.
Even under heavy load, the OmniBook 5 is cool and quiet overall, although the fans will kick in if you’re really pushing it. This isn’t a laptop you’d buy for gaming, but you can definitely run casual games just fine thanks to the processing power of the Aero Lake CPU on board. However, I will note that running more demanding graphical applications does take a toll on battery life.
Also: Most ultraportable laptops I tested at CES weren’t made by Dell or Lenovo
Likewise, it’s actually quite good for media playback, as the DTS:
Finally, at 3.92 pounds, it’s still quite light for a 16-inch laptop, measuring just 0.73 inches at its thickest point, where the ports are. I traveled with the OmniBook 5 16″ for over a week and found it to be fine to take with you, fitting easily into my backpack.
ZDNET’s shopping advice
HP OmniBook 5 16-inch This is a solid midrange laptop that’s well above its selling price of $649. It’s geared towards everyday users with diverse workflows, and offers excellent battery life for those use cases, as pushing it outside of its comfort zone drains battery life.
Also: This haptic trackpad is one of the most exciting computing accessories I saw at CES
I would recommend this laptop to students of all faculties as well as professionals who need a capable work laptop and value a comfortable, full-sized keyboard. Its display isn’t particularly premium, especially compared to all the new OLED laptops coming out this year, but that’s one of the trade-offs for its price point.
If you like HP laptops and want a more cutting-edge, premium option, I’d suggest the new HP EliteBook X G2i with Intel’s latest Series 3 “Panther Lake” processors.
