HP OmniBook 3 Review: A Smart Pick for Everyday Use

The HP OmniBook 3 is a new budget-centric laptop from the brand, offering an interesting set of features and specifications. The laptop positions itself as an accessible entry-level laptop that delivers AI-centric features. With a price tag of Rs. 69,999, the HP laptop offers decent features like an anti-glare screen, AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 processor, 50 TOPS NPU performance, and more. So, does it make sense to go with the latest laptop from the brand? I got the chance to use the device for quite some time, and this is what you need to know.

HP OmniBook 3 Design: Vanilla Yet Elegant

• Dimension - 359.8 x 236 x 186mm
• Weight - 2.29kg
• Colours - Glacier Silver

The HP OmniBook 3 is available in a single colour option.

The HP OmniBook 3 brings a conservative design to this price segment. At a time when brands like Motorola and Asus are bringing some bold colours, the HP OmniBook 3 brings you a standard, no-nonsense design. The laptop has a single Glacier Silver colour option, which looks pretty much standard but not cheap.

HP has made some efforts by using sustainable materials with the HP OmniBook 3 laptop, including ocean-bound plastics and post-consumer recycled materials. This is a good thing that HP is doing well here, and hopefully, other brands can also follow suit. That said, this approach does not mean that the brand has compromised on the build quality. The laptop feels solid, with minimal flex on the keyboard and lid. The hinge also feels stable, even when you are writing quite rigorously.

The laptop features some decent amount of connectivity ports.

The selection of ports is not so generous here. The laptop comes with one USB Type-A port, one HDMI port, and one USB Type-C port on the left side, while on the right, one USB Type-A port and one AC smart pin.

HP OmniBook 3 Display: Average

• Display - 15.6-inch IPS display
• Resolution - Full HD (1080x1920 pixels)
• Refresh Rate - 60Hz

The HP OmniBook 3 comes loaded with a 15.6-inch Full HD+ IPS display. The display offers a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, which is not a 16:10 aspect ratio. However, it is wide enough for multitasking or opening spreadsheets, documents, PPTS, and more. I liked the fact that the company has given the anti-glare option, which is a rare thing in this price segment.

The HP OmniBook 3 comes loaded with a 15.6-inch Full HD display.

That said, the overall score is pretty much average, to be honest. The company has gone with a 6-bit panel, which is not very user-friendly. The colours appear to be washed out, and the viewing angles are not that great. If you are someone who loves to binge-watch content or works on editing photos and videos on your laptop, then this may not be the right option for you.

The laptop also comes with a standard 60Hz screen refresh rate, which is relatively standard. However, offering a high screen refresh rate would have definitely elevated the HP OmniBook 3's performance.

HP OmniBook 3 Keyboard, Touchpad, Speakers, and Webcam

Keyboard - Full-size backlit keyboard
Webcam - 1080p IR camera
Speakers - Dual Speakers

The HP OmniBook 3 features a backlit keyboard that comes with two different brightness modes. It comes with a full-sized keyboard, a rare feature in this price segment. That said, the key spacing feels a bit awkward, but once you get used to it, you're good to go. Moreover, I also noticed that the travel distance and tactile feedback are great for comfortable long sessions of typing.

The laptop features a full-sized keyboard that is also backlit in nature.

Moving on, the laptop comes loaded with a large trackpad, which feels responsive, and the physical clicks feel good. Just like other laptops with a numpad, this one also has a slightly off-centre trackpad.

Interestingly, the laptop also features a fingerprint scanner, but not in the usual place. The company has placed the sensor right between the Enter key present in the numpad. The sensor feels reliable, and you also get Windows Hello support for secure authentication.

The laptop comes loaded with a physicla fingerprint sensor along with Windows Hello support.

The webcam works well. The laptop comes equipped with an HP True Vision 1080p FHD camera that comes with some AI features to enhance the whole video calling experience. Whether it be background blur or Windows Studio Effects, it helps with a better video calling experience. Moving on, the laptop also comes equipped with dual bottom-firing speakers that are not the loudest, but get the job done anyway.

HP OmniBook 3 Software: AI Features Works Well

Operating System - Windows 11 Home
Other Features - HP AI Companion

The HP OmniBook 3 runs on the Windows 11 Home operating system. Interestingly, the laptop also qualifies as a Copilot+ PC with 50 TOPS NPU performance. The user interface comes with minimal bloatware.

The laptop runs on Windows 11 operating system.

The laptop also features the HP AI Companion application, which offers a slew of AI tools that can help summarise documents, generate content, and answer queries. The application has three main sections: Discover, Analyse, and Perform. The application works well during the review period.

HP OmniBook 3 Performance: Reliable for Daily Usage

• Chipset - AMD Ryzen AI 5 340
• RAM - 16GB LPDDR5, 5600MHz
• ROM - 512GB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD

The latest HP laptop comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 processor. It also features AMD Radeon 800M graphics. The review unit has 512 GB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD storage and 16GB of DDR5-5600 MT/s RAM. I have compiled the synthetic benchmark scores below to understand its performance based on similarly priced laptops.

Regarding performance, the HP OmniBook 3 does a good job with the usual tasks with ease. In most cases, I didn't feel any stutter or lag while scrolling on the Chrome browser and playing music simultaneously.

The laptop offers a decent day-to-day performance.

Daily tasks, such as web browsing, video conferencing, and running office applications, feel responsive. The system can also handle multiple browser tabs and applications without much delay. However, the machine is not meant for heavy multitasking or demanding tasks like using Photoshop or editing videos.

Moreover, you can also do some light gaming on this laptop, though it is not meant for serious gaming. You can play older titles like Age of Mythology, Valorant, and more at lower settings, but don't expect it to fly through heavy gaming sessions.

HP OmniBook 3 Battery: Decent Enough

• Battery Capacity - 3-Cell 41Wh Lithium Polymer (Typical)
• Fast Charging - 65W Adapter

The laptop comes with a decent battery backup.

The HP OmniBook 3 comes loaded with a 3-cell 41Wh battery that supports fast charging. The laptop delivers decent battery life for the price. With moderate to heavy usage, the laptop can deliver up to 8 hours of battery life, which is enough to last a day in college or work. Coming to fast charging support, the laptop takes almost 1 hour and 20 minutes to get fully charged, which is again decent, if not great.

HP OmniBook 3 Verdict

To conclude, the HP OmniBook 3 brings a good balance of minimal style and decent performance. The laptop is not intended to impress power users, but rather students or those switching from an old laptop without spending too much. The laptop is here to deliver reliable performance and a well-balanced user experience. The AMD chipset is meant to smoothly deliver day-to-day tasks, though it is not the best laptop for creators or gamers. Moreover, the laptop will also face stiff competition from devices like the Asus Vivobook S14 (Review) and Moto Book 60 (Review), among others.