HP OmniBook 5 Hands-On: A €700 OLED Laptop That Takes Aim at the Affordable MacBook Crowd
The race to build the best affordable premium laptop is heating up, and HP has entered the conversation with a surprisingly ambitious option. The new 14-inch HP OmniBook 5 is designed for buyers who want a stylish, lightweight Windows laptop without paying flagship prices. With an all-metal body, OLED display, Intel’s Wildcat Lake platform, and a starting price of €700, this machine could become one of the most interesting budget laptops of the year.
Affordable Windows notebooks are easy to find, but truly polished ones are much rarer. Many lower-cost laptops cut corners on display quality, materials, portability, or keyboard comfort. HP appears to be taking a different approach with the OmniBook 5, offering several premium features in a student-friendly and mainstream price range.
The first thing that stands out is the display. Every HP OmniBook 5 configuration comes with a 14-inch OLED panel, which is a major advantage in this price class. OLED screens are known for deep blacks, vibrant colors, and excellent contrast, making movies, photos, web browsing, and everyday work look noticeably richer than on typical LCD panels. For students, remote workers, and casual creators, this could make the OmniBook 5 feel more expensive than it actually is.
There is one drawback: the screen is glossy. That gives the display a more premium, glassy look, but it also means reflections can be strong under bright lights or near windows. Anyone who often works outdoors or in sunlit rooms may want to keep that in mind.
Build quality is another major highlight. The HP OmniBook 5 uses an aluminum chassis, giving it a more solid and refined feel than many plastic-heavy competitors. While it does not use a seamless unibody-style construction, the hands-on impression is still very positive. The laptop feels sturdy, with no obvious flex, and the matte aluminum surface gives it a clean, modern finish.
Portability is clearly a priority as well. The OmniBook 5 starts at just 1.16 kg, making it light enough to carry around campus, between meetings, or during travel. It is also impressively thin at around 12 mm, which helps it feel sleek in the hand. Despite the slim body, HP has managed to include practical features, including a full-size HDMI port. That is especially useful for students and professionals who frequently connect to classroom projectors, external monitors, or TVs.
The display hinge also makes a strong impression. The screen can open flat to 180 degrees, which is handy when sharing content across a table or adjusting the laptop for different working positions. It also opens smoothly with one hand and does not wobble much, adding to the overall premium feel.
HP will offer the OmniBook 5 in four colors: green, pink, blue, and gray. The color options are tasteful rather than loud, with the pink model likely to attract the most attention. The blue version may be the most balanced choice for buyers who want something distinctive but still understated. This variety helps the laptop stand out in a market where silver and gray machines dominate.
The keyboard is another practical advantage. It is backlit, which is still not guaranteed in every budget-friendly laptop. For students working late, travelers typing on planes, or anyone using the device in dim lighting, this is a small but meaningful feature.
Inside, the HP OmniBook 5 uses Intel’s Wildcat Lake platform. The entry-level version starts with an Intel Core 5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD. Higher-end configurations will be available with more memory, larger storage, and up to a Core Ultra 7 processor. All processor options reportedly operate with the same 12 W power limit, suggesting HP is focusing on efficiency, low heat, and quiet everyday performance rather than raw power.
The base configuration is clearly aimed at everyday users. It should be well suited for web browsing, office apps, video calls, streaming, note-taking, and light multitasking. Buyers who plan to keep the laptop for several years may want to consider a configuration with more RAM and storage, especially if they work with large files or keep many apps open at once.
At €700, the HP OmniBook 5 could become a strong choice for students, home users, and anyone looking for a premium-feeling Windows laptop at a reasonable price. Its combination of OLED display, metal construction, slim design, low weight, full-size HDMI, backlit keyboard, and multiple color options makes it unusually well equipped for its category.
It is not perfect. The glossy OLED display may be reflective, and the entry-level 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD configuration may feel limiting for some users. Still, HP seems to have focused on the areas that matter most in daily use: screen quality, portability, design, and build.
If the final retail models deliver solid battery life and reliable performance, the HP OmniBook 5 could be one of the most compelling affordable OLED laptops on the market. For buyers who want a stylish 14-inch Windows laptop that feels more premium than its price suggests, this is definitely one to watch.
