HP OmniBook 5 Puts a 2K OLED Screen on a $799 Student Laptop
HP's OmniBook 5 is a 14-inch thin-and-light Windows laptop with a 2K OLED touchscreen, an Intel Core 5 Series 3 processor and a 2.56-pound chassis. It starts at $799.99 at Best Buy in Starlit Blue with 256GB of storage, while the Smoke Silver 512GB model costs $849.99. Both configurations ship with 8GB of memory.
What HP is actually selling here
A 14-inch Windows laptop that tries to cover class, work and streaming without asking you to pick a favorite.
The OmniBook 5 measures 0.46 inches thick and 2.56 pounds, which puts it in the same carry-anywhere bracket as most 13- and 14-inch ultraportables. HP built it around an Intel Core 5 Series 3 processor, and both Best Buy configurations pair that chip with 8GB of memory and Windows 11 Home.
The screen is the headline: a 14-inch 2K OLED touch panel at 1920x1200. OLED means each pixel makes its own light, so blacks are genuinely black and contrast holds up in dim movie scenes. HP also layers in Eye Ease, which trims blue light without wrecking color accuracy.
Ports are unusually generous for this price. You get native HDMI and two full-function USB-C ports that both handle power delivery and DisplayPort, plus a headphone/mic combo jack. That HDMI port matters more than it sounds: classroom projectors still run on HDMI, and not needing a dongle for a presentation is a real convenience.
The two Best Buy configurations
Same laptop, different storage. The $50 gap buys you double the SSD.
HP is selling the OmniBook 5 in two colors, and the only meaningful difference between them is storage. The Starlit Blue model starts at $799.99 with a 256GB SSD. The Smoke Silver version starts at $849.99 and doubles that to 512GB.
That $50 premium is worth taking if you can stretch to it. Windows 11, a few semesters of documents and a photo library will eat through 256GB faster than most people expect, and neither model offers a memory upgrade path beyond the 8GB it ships with.
| Model | Price | Storage |
|---|---|---|
| Starlit Blue | $799.99 | 256GB SSD |
| Smoke Silver | $849.99 | 512GB SSD |
The OLED panel is what makes the OmniBook 5 interesting at $799, and it is a genuinely rare thing to see at this price. The 8GB of RAM is what will date it. If you are buying for four years of school, spend the extra $50 on the 512GB model and think hard about whether 8GB still feels like enough in year three. For a light-duty machine, it probably does. For anything heavier, it will not.
Battery, charging and the AI PC label
HP is not quoting a battery rating, and the AI branding deserves a closer look.
HP does not publish a battery life figure for the OmniBook 5, and CNET's write-up notes that runtime depends heavily on what you're doing. An 8 AM lecture and a late-night streaming session pull very different amounts of power from the same cell.
What is confirmed is the charger: a 65W USB-C GaN adapter in the box, with foldable prongs and a detachable cable. GaN chargers run smaller than older bricks at the same wattage, which makes this one easy to keep in a bag.
HP calls the OmniBook 5 an AI PC, meaning it can run some AI tasks locally rather than in the cloud. Treat that as a category label rather than a spec sheet promise. The Core 5 Series 3 chip and 8GB of RAM suggest modest local AI capability, not a workstation-class neural engine.
Where the OmniBook 5 fits against the competition
An OLED screen at $799 is the differentiator, but 8GB of RAM is the trade-off.
Most sub-$800 Windows laptops still ship with LCD panels, so an OLED touchscreen at this price is the strongest argument HP has. If you spend your evenings watching video or editing photos, the display gap between this and a typical budget laptop is immediately visible.
The 8GB of memory is the catch. It is fine for browser tabs, documents and video calls, and it is exactly what most students need day to day. But it is soldered-in territory for this class of machine, so there is no upgrade later. Anyone planning to run virtual machines, heavy photo editing or a lot of local AI workloads should look higher up the stack.
HP also has the OmniBook Ultra 16 in its lineup, a $3,200 machine built around RTX Spark graphics. The OmniBook 5 is not competing with that. It is competing with whatever $799 gets you from Lenovo, Dell or Acer, and the OLED panel is how HP wants to win that argument.
Availability and pricing
The HP OmniBook 5 is sold at Best Buy in the US, in Starlit Blue (256GB, $799.99) and Smoke Silver (512GB, $849.99). Best Buy's product pages list local store availability and pickup options, so it is worth checking stock before making a trip.
HP has not announced UK or EU pricing or a release date for the OmniBook 5. Prices and configurations can change, so confirm the current listing before buying.
The OmniBook 5 is a straightforward pitch: an OLED screen, a light chassis and a sub-$800 starting price. The 8GB of memory is the part to weigh carefully, because it is the spec you cannot fix later. For coursework, video calls and streaming, it lines up well. For anything heavier, look elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the HP OmniBook 5 cost?
It starts at $799.99 at Best Buy for the Starlit Blue model with a 256GB SSD. The Smoke Silver version with a 512GB SSD starts at $849.99. Both include 8GB of memory and Windows 11 Home.
Does the HP OmniBook 5 have an OLED screen?
Yes. The Best Buy configurations include a 14-inch 2K OLED touchscreen at 1920x1200 resolution, with HP Eye Ease to reduce blue light while preserving color accuracy.
Can you upgrade the HP OmniBook 5's memory?
HP has not detailed a memory upgrade path for the OmniBook 5, and both Best Buy configurations ship with 8GB. Buyers who need more than that should consider a different model.
Sources
- Meet the New HP OmniBook 5: An OLED Laptop Built for Long Days of Work, Class and Streaming - CNET. cnet.com, 2026. https://www.cnet.com/paid-content/meet-the-new-hp-omnibook-5-an-oled-laptop-built-for-long-days-of-work-class-and-streaming/