HP OmniBook Extremely 14 Brings AMD Ryzen AI 300 To A Crisp Ultralight Laptop computer

	HP OmniBook Extremely 14 (Beginning at $1,349.99, at present on sale for as little as $1098) HP’s newest Copilot+ laptop computer options the perfect AMD has to supply, wrapped in a sturdy and engaging aluminum chassis.
	Wonderful construct high quality and smooth design Good efficiency with Ryzen AI 300 Will assist all Copilot+ options Lengthy battery life	Restricted port choice OLED can be higher at this value level Too many pre-loaded apps Copilot+ options nonetheless MIA

AMD has spent years enjoying second fiddle to Intel within the laptop computer market, however occasions change, and so do shopper expectations. Intel had been in a tricky spot after being caught considerably flat-footed by the ascension of on-device AI, which has given AMD a gap to indicate off its comparatively new Ryzen AI 300 collection. These chips energy the brand new HP OmniBook Extremely 14, a high-end Copilot+ PC that additionally provides a 14-inch 2.2K IPS display screen and lengthy battery life in a compact footprint.

The HP OmniBook Extremely 14 with its AMD internals can go toe-to-toe with machines working on Intel’s newest Lunar Lake structure, promising much more AI chops and multithreaded efficiency. HP does embrace a number of instruments to benefit from the AI {hardware}, however that is nonetheless largely planning for the long run. Even if you happen to’re not satisfied about generative AI, the OmniBook provides highly effective productiveness instruments, and the Radeon iGPU is not any slouch in video games both. Let’s dive in.

HP OmniBook Extremely 14: Specs & Options

The OmniBook 14 runs on both the Ryzen AI 9 365 or the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, each high-end variations of the AMD Ryzen AI 300 household, codenamed Strix Level. Our assessment unit has the HX 375, which is notable. Beforehand, this chip was unique to Asus machines just like the Zenbook S 14, however the OmniBook 14 represents its wider debut. The 375 has two extra CPU cores (12 whole), a extra highly effective iGPU, and a barely increased increase clock velocity in comparison with the 365.

The inclusion of those AMD chips makes the OmniBook Extremely 14 prepared for Microsoft’s Copilot+ options, a lot of that are nonetheless in growth. Nevertheless, the OmniBook 14 can also be prepared for the long run with a formidable 55 TOPS of AI efficiency, a smidge increased than the HX 370 in Asus AI 300 machines (50 TOPS). It is also forward of Intel’s Lunar Lake NPU, which maxes out at 48 TOPS, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon choices as nicely. HP provides the machine with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM within the base mannequin ($1,350), rising to 2TB and 32GB ($1,690) within the top-of-the-line mannequin that we examined, although be looking out for gross sales as a result of we have seen configurations at retail for as low at $1098.

You will not get an in depth choice of ports with this machine. There are two USB-C ports on the suitable edge. One is positioned on the angled rear nook, which is a bit odd. Nevertheless, it does assist to maintain the charging cable out of your workspace. There isn’t any USB-C on the left edge, only a USB-A and a 3.5mm jack. On the plus facet, the USB-C ports assist Thunderbolt 4, a primary for an AMD AI 300 machine.

All that {hardware} is impressively crammed into an aluminum chassis that is simply 0.65 inches (16.5mm) thick and weighing 3.47 kilos (1.575 kg). Like many fashionable laptops, the chassis additionally tapers towards the entrance, providing a good slimmer profile. The aluminum panels are stable, too. There isn’t any flex once you choose the machine up, and even the vents really feel rigid when pressed. HP’s extra mainstream laptops have a tendency to make use of considerably thinner steel, however we’re pleased with the robustness of the OmniBook 14. And but, it is so skinny the lone USB-A port has a collapsible design.

HP’s backlit keyboard is paying homage to the MacBook—it’s extremely flat, with minimal key journey and powerful tactility with every press. Once more, extra mainstream HP machines are do not provide as strong a typing expertise, however the backside out on the OmniBook Extremely 14 is agency — not stiff or disagreeable. The keys are darkish grey with white shine-through legends, which is way simpler to learn than the silver keys HP used to make use of on its laptops. The format is shut to plain, although a number of keys have been compressed to avoid wasting area, together with the up and down arrows. We will stay with that, however we strenuously object to HP’s choice to place the ability button proper above backspace, which makes it far too straightforward to by accident put the PC to sleep. There is a fingerprint sensor on this button, which we discovered to be very quick and correct in comparison with different Home windows machines.

The trackpad is centered beneath the keyboard. It isn’t fairly as giant as some machines, however it is a compact laptop computer. The trackpad seems like the suitable measurement, not so giant that you just by accident set off it, however not sufficiently small to make scrolling and gestures tedious. It is clean and responsive, requiring no setting modifications to make it usable.

The 14-inch touchscreen seems to be good with a decision of 2240×1400, however a better refresh price than 60Hz would have been good. The 400 nits of brightness will do, as nicely, however we might prefer to see extra on a machine that may hit nearly $1,700 when absolutely loaded. The shiny end helps make the display screen look super-sharp indoors, however the reflectivity can overwhelm the brightness outside, and it will get smudged simply if you happen to’re touching it. A brighter OLED display screen would have made extra sense at this value, and HP does provide OLED on different 2024 machines.

The speaker setup is surprisingly good, that includes two tweeters and two subs. The audio is balanced, detailed, and loud (for a laptop computer). You possibly can crank the amount nearly all the best way up earlier than it begins to distort. The tweeters are tucked below the entrance of the machine, however they do not sound muffled like some laptops audio system. This is without doubt one of the best-sounding 14-inch laptops available on the market.

Bundled Software program And HP’s AI Companion Utility

HP tends to separate settings and options amongst a number of functions when one app would do. That may result in some software program bloat earlier than we even get to the precise bloatware, of which there’s greater than there needs to be on a machine of this kind.

A lot of the system administration options are discovered within the MyHP app, which provides you entry to efficiency modes, show controls, digital camera results, and a few much less helpful issues like camera-based gestures. There are separate apps for privateness settings, system diagnostics, OS occasions, and extra—there’s even a complete app for managing HP printers. The laptop computer additionally ships with HP’s Omen Gaming Hub, which is pointless on a productiveness machine. 

A few of HP’s apps ping you with notifications to advertise options and encourage product registration till you flip them off. Likewise, the bundled McAfee and Dropbox apps pester you till you take away them or decide into the sponsored provides. For instance, the Assist Assistant is positioned as a technique to examine your guarantee standing. You possibly can’t simply ignore this one, although. It has, on a number of events, popped up with complicated provides to vary the default system settings. HP may very well be doing a lot better with its bundled software program.

HP calls this a “Subsequent-gen AI PC” on the premise of its class-leading NPU efficiency. Nevertheless, there’s little in the best way of AI functions proper now that correctly make the most of AMD’s {hardware}.  We’re nonetheless ready on Microsoft to launch the total suite of Copilot+ capabilities, and HP’s bundled AI Companion is comparatively spartan in the intervening time. We have been impressed by its skill to churn by a set of offered paperwork with AI, just like Google’s cloud-based Pocket book LM. Nevertheless, the app would not seem to work in any respect once you’re offline, which defeats the aim of getting that highly effective on-device AI {hardware}. AMD’s software program stack for its Ryzen AI 9 HX is not absolutely fleshed out simply but, so we can’t correctly benchmark the NPU to straight examine it to different laptops both.