RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.At first glance, the might remind you of the MacBook Air, but it's anything but a toned-down version of something more Pro. I recently tested the OmniBook Ultra 14, and it's a high-end laptop in its own right -- built for professionals seeking a refined product that doesn't compromise on battery life or quality.Also: The best HP laptops of 2026: Expert tested and reviewedThe OmniBook Ultra stands as one of the more compelling premium ultrabooks of the year. It combines a lightweight form factor with strong hardware and some of the longevity I've tested on a Windows laptop. Admittedly, there are a few things that I didn't really like about this device, but the experience was largely positive. Cool blue designAesthetically, I'm a big fan of how the OmniBook Ultra looks. HP offers its laptop in three colors, with my review unit adorning a rich Stone Blue. What's interesting is that the color indicates the type of hardware the device is running on. Stone Blue models ship with Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, while the Eclipse Gray and Silk Sand variants house Intel hardware.As you can see from the images, the PC is quite sleek. At its thickest point, the OmniBook measures just 10.7mm -- that's thinner than the M5 MacBook Air -- then tapers to a paper-thin 7.3mm; all while weighing slightly under three pounds. And it never feels flimsy; the recycled aluminum chassis is remarkably sturdy, giving the machine a confidently durable feel. The keyboard was great, too. It sports a "latticeless" design that not only gives it a more refined appearance but also evenly spaces the keys to ensure comfortable typing. Key presses themselves are simultaneously quiet and tactile. Maybe not on the same level as a mechanical keyboard, but it's far from mushy. Below that is HP's "waterfall" haptic touchpad, seamlessly blending in. It's responsive, smooth, and supports multiple hand gestures for greater cursor control. As the cherry on top, the OmniBook Ultra passes the one-finger lift test with flying colors.High-quality touchscreenBefitting a laptop of this caliber is a stunning 3K OLED touchscreen. The panel covers the entire DCI-P3 color gamut to support a wide range of colors. HP states that the display has a color accuracy of Delta E < 1, meaning the on-screen colors are very close to their real-world equivalents. Also: I tried HP's $500 MacBook Neo alternative, and it's a better budget laptop in two waysCombine all this with OLED's deep contrast, and you have one of the best touchscreens for a work laptop. In fact, it's almost overkill. This is the type of panel you would expect to see on a dedicated creator laptop. It's one of those things you have to see for yourself, I'm afraid the images in this review don't quite do it justice.My biggest complaint, however, is how glossy the screen is. Indoors, colors pop beautifully, but outside, it's a different story. Under direct sunlight (even on overcast days), reflections are overwhelming, making the display practically unviewable. Above the touchscreen sits a 5MP webcam. It's a decent lens, although nothing special. The camera gets the job done for video calls. I just wish it were better, given the laptop's price tag. Colors in the recordings looked desaturated with visible image noise. I wasn't expecting a movie-level camera, but I did expect more natural color reproduction. To the webcam's credit, image resolution is pretty good, and it supports useful Windows Hello features. Automatic framing, for example, keeps you centered in the shot during calls.Snappy hardwareMy review unit came equipped with a Snapdragon X2 Elite chipset alongside a whopping 64GB of RAM. Unsurprisingly, the OmniBook Ultra 14 performed incredibly well. Whether I was juggling dozens of browser tabs, editing photos in Paint.NET, writing articles, or working between multiple apps, it never once slowed down. Everything felt exceptionally fast. Benchmark scores reflect my experience. Before I get into the numbers, below is a table comparing the OmniBook Ultra to other high-end work laptops. Across the various benchmark tests, the laptop posted strong results, particularly in shorter bursts. As shown above, it beats the M5 MacBook Pro in the Geekbench 6 processor tests. It's a high-end machine that excels at productivity tasks and heavy workloads. However, extended stress testing revealed an interesting story.While single-core (SC) performance stayed high over longer test sessions, multicore (MC) performance noticeably dropped. For example, in Cinebench 2024, the OmniBook Ultra hit 156 SC and 1212 MC. During the longer stress tests in particular, those numbers fell to 131 SC and 690 MC. Now that doesn't mean that the laptop performs poorly under pressure. To me, it seems that once heat begins to accumulate, the OmniBook prioritizes efficiency and thermal management over performance. The question is: will you experience this? Most likely not. I didn't experience any issues during my hands-on testing, even as I pushed the hardware. But in certain extreme scenarios, you might.Also: I tested Lenovo's new modular ThinkPad, and it renewed my faith in repairable laptopsBattery life is fantastic. Its longevity comes remarkably close to the HP OmniBook 3, although it falls slightly behind. During my testing, the laptop lasted just under 24 hours on a single charge before finally tapping out. While it doesn't reach the 28-hour runtime of the OmniBook 3, that is still an outstanding number and one of the best battery performances I've seen from a premium Windows laptop this year.ZDNET's buying advicePrices for the start at around $1,200 for the base Intel Core configuration, which is very well priced for a new laptop of this caliber. Additionally, HP offers multiple processors, storage capacities, memory options, and displays. If you want a more high-end option, my review unit lands more around $2,910, but comes with outstanding performance and...
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