This HP OmniBook is the first Windows laptop I'd seriously consider as a MacBook Neo rival

pros and cons

Pros

• Low terms tag
• Outstanding artillery life
• Sharp 2K OLED

Cons

• Muffled speakers
• Low-screen brightness

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The 2026 HP OmniBook 3 is simply a humble laptop. It whitethorn not triumph an grant for the astir innovative plan oregon world-class performance, but what it does connection is value. So overmuch so, that it has go 1 of my favourite laptops of the twelvemonth simply due to the fact that HP understood what was needed to confidently execute that vision.

Also: The champion HP laptops of 2026: Expert tested and reviewed

It's a low-cost laptop that delivers each the essentials consumers privation successful an mundane PC. It's a large enactment for school, perfect for bureau and distant work, and it's casual to question with acknowledgment to its sleek design. More importantly, it proves however impactful Qualcomm's entranceway into the laptop marketplace has been with affordable, businesslike devices that don't consciousness inexpensive oregon underpowered.

If it's not broken...

Design-wise, the HP OmniBook 3 sticks to the basics and focuses connected being practical. It measures 14.12 x 9.91 x 0.58 inches and weighs conscionable nether 4 pounds. Its sleek illustration makes it casual to descent into backpacks oregon messenger bags, a cleanable companion for the road. As the proverbial cherry connected top, it passes the one-finger trial with flying colors.

My reappraisal portion came successful Glacial Silver with a somewhat darker grey keyboard. I'm not ever a large instrumentality of rubber-capped keys similar the ones connected the OmniBook. They often consciousness "mushy", but that's not the lawsuit here. The keys person a decent question distance, ensuring a comfy typing acquisition connected agelong workdays. 

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HP besides enlarged the trackpad compared to the erstwhile generation, giving users much country for unsocial manus gestures and smoother cursor control. What's absorbing is that the trackpad sits somewhat off-center. This results successful a much earthy manus presumption since much of your close manus tin remainder much comfortably connected the wrist rest. The institution besides rounded disconnected the edges of the wrist rest. You won't person crisp edges poking straight into your wrist.

Bright screen, quiescent speakers

The vibrant 2K OLED surface is supported by a litany of visual-enhancing features. Instead of going implicit each of them, I'll conscionable dependable disconnected my favorites.

• The sheet covers the full DCI-P3 colour gamut, enabling it to accurately reproduce a wide scope of colors.
• It boasts a precocious opposition ratio of 1,000,000:1 to nutrient images with heavy blacks alongside affluent reds, blues, greens, and everything successful between.
• The show supports 10-bit colour depth, which results successful smoother gradients and earthy colour transitions.
• It adjacent includes Eye Ease exertion to trim the magnitude of harmful bluish airy emitted.

Also: How overmuch RAM does your PC request successful 2026? My proposal aft utilizing Windows and Mac for years

In summation to each this, HP changed the facet ratio from 16:9 arsenic seen successful older models to 16:10. That other spot of abstraction gives users much country to enactment with portion simultaneously shrinking the bezels for a cleaner look. One happening worthy mentioning is the deficiency of a touchscreen option.

Many bureau laptops see interaction enactment arsenic an alternate power method. In this instance, that's a bully thing. Touchscreens connected accepted clamshell laptops often consciousness much gimmicky than genuinely useful. My biggest ailment with the show is really the brightness. The sheet tops retired astatine conscionable 300 nits, which I find excessively dim. Indoors, the show looks fine, but nether agleam lighting oregon outside, surface visibility plummets.

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The webcam is decent overall. Color equilibrium looked natural, with nary weird tinting oregon blown-out exposure. The Full HD IR lens lacks the crisp recovered connected much premium laptops, though it gets the occupation done.

Sadly, the speakers were 1 of the weakest aspects. HP placed them astatine the bottommost of the chassis, resulting successful muffled output. Some manufacturers compensate for bottom-firing speakers with audio-boosting bundle oregon precocious tuning. HP, however, didn't bash that successful this instance. So, multimedia dependable is level and lacks immoderate existent immersion. Like the camera, the OmniBook's audio strategy gets the occupation done, but won't permission immoderate existent impression.

Performance

My reappraisal portion was equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 processor, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 512GB SSD: a humble configuration. The Snapdragon X is not a powerhouse chip, frankincense placing the OmniBook 3 comfortably into the midrange category. Below is simply a array comparing the benchmarks of HP's latest instrumentality with those of different models successful its class. As you tin see, the 2026 OmniBook 3 is not a large measurement guardant implicit older laptops; instead, it keeps successful enactment with the others.

In real-world use, the OmniBook 3 handles itself precise well. Most applications ran without large problems. Office enactment was fast, web browsing felt snappy, and multimedia streaming worked without issue. Day-to-day show felt consistently smooth.

However, the Snapdragon X is simply a (relatively) caller Windows connected Arm chip, meaning definite programs whitethorn not enactment with the hardware owed to compatibility issues. This is not a caller problem. I tried moving the Google Play Games beta app to trial definite mobile games arsenic good arsenic different benchmarks, specified arsenic 3DMark. Neither of them worked.

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This compatibility contented is simply a insignificant problem. Sure, determination is simply a accidental you mightiness not beryllium capable to usage definite apps, but the bulk of mainstream apps enactment fine. I uncertainty you'll tally into it connected the OmniBook 3 unless you spell retired of your mode looking for incompatible bundle oregon beta programs. The bulk of bundle developers are bully astatine keeping their apps up to date.

Also: Buying a schoolhouse laptop? 4 things I'd see archetypal (and my apical 10 picks)

Battery beingness is wherever the OmniBook 3 genuinely separates itself from the competition. It is 1 of the champion artillery performances I person ever seen connected a laptop. In my testing, the strategy lasted an astonishing 28 hours connected a azygous charge. That is an absurd magnitude of longevity, surpassing the fantabulous endurance of the 2025 HP OmniBook 5, which I antecedently considered the longest-lasting laptop I had ever tested.

ZDNET's buying advice

The 2026 HP OmniBook 3 is presently disposable connected Amazon for astir $539, portion Walmart has it connected merchantability for astir $505. At a clip erstwhile adjacent basal laptops are ace expensive, it's refreshing to spot a instrumentality that offers this for specified a debased price. You're getting a lightweight laptop with dependable mundane performance, a vibrant 2K OLED display, and the champion artillery beingness I've ever experienced connected a notebook.

HP says the OmniBook 3 is disposable successful 5 antithetic colors. My reappraisal portion came successful Glacier Silver, portion Amazon and Walmart presently look to beryllium selling the Mica Silver version, which is simply a darker gray, astir black.