HP Omnibook 3 Review: Redefining the Budget Laptop | WIREDSkip to main contentMenuSECURITYPOLITICSTHE BIG STORYBUSINESSSCIENCECULTUREREVIEWSMenuAccountAccountNewslettersBest Computer SpeakersOutdoor Security CamerasBest Smart RingsRouters vs. ModemsBest Power BanksDeals DeliveredSecurityPoliticsThe Big StoryBusinessScienceCultureReviewsChevronMoreExpandThe Big InterviewMagazineEventsWIRED InsiderWIRED ConsultingNewslettersPodcastsVideoLivestreamsMerchSearchSearchLuke LarsenGearMay 29, 2026 6:32 AMReview: HP OmniBook 3The MacBook Neo defined what a $600 laptop can do. The Omnibook 3 is HP's answer, and it delivers solid performance.Courtesy of AmazonTriangleUpBuy NowMultiple Buying Options Available$970 $599 at Amazon$699 $505 at WalmartCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyRating:8/10Open rating explainerInformationWIREDReally long battery life and solid performance. Comes with twice the memory and storage of the MacBook Neo. Colorful OLED display. Exceptional price.TIREDPlastic, thicker chassis. Touchpad feels cheap. Poor-sounding speakers that aren't loud enough.The MacBook Neo exists, and there's no going back. The reaction is coming, though, and I've been testing one of the first budget laptops that feels like a true response: The $599 (or as low as $519) HP OmniBook 3. This Windows notebook comes with twice the memory and storage as the Neo, and is powered by the Snapdragon X. It's the real deal.This laptop might not have the visual flair or portability of the MacBook Neo, but it might be one of the best college laptops to ever launch.Not a LookerPhotograph: Luke LarsenThe OmniBook 3 has a plain design. It's not too flashy and made of plastic, but doesn't feel too wobbly or flimsy. My biggest gripe with this device is the thickness. At 0.7 inches thick, it feels chonky in your hands. That's especially true compared to some of the competition. And while I'm nitpicking on the lid, I get annoyed when they don't magnetize shut completely. This one will partially open when you hold it upside down, an issue that wasn't present on the Omnibook 5 that I tested last year. On the bright side, because the Omnibook 3's lid is a bit thicker than average laptop, it feels sturdy enough for something made of plastic.HP Omnibook 3 (2026)Rating: 8/10$970 $599 at Amazon$699 $505 at WalmartIn the past, none of that mattered in a laptop this cheap. The MacBook Neo changed the rules, proving that design matters, even at this price. To get to this price, however, HP and Apple made very different compromises. The OmniBook 3 takes the approach of keeping 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage at the tradeoff of using a slightly thicker, plastic chassis. For the right person, that's the right choice.The thicker chassis also makes room for some ports. On the left side, you'll find an HDMI, a USB-A 2.0, and two USB-C 3.0 ports. The right side includes an additional USB-A 2.0 port and a headphone jack. These USB-A ports are a bit slow, only capable of 480 MB per second speeds, making it only really useful for connecting peripherals.I criticized the MacBook Neo for using a USB-C 2.0 port at the time, so I have to carry that here too. It's less confusing for users in this case since it's USB-A, but I never like seeing a brand new laptop using a 25-year old connectivity standard. Also, I'd much rather have an additional USB-C port on the right side rather than the USB-A, if only just for the ability to charge from both sides of the device.Photograph: Luke LarsenHP has said the touchpad has been improved in this year's model, and it very well may be, as I never actually tested the 2025 version of the Omnibook 3. I did test the Omnibook 5, however, a laptop I recommended quite a lot, and the quality of the touchpad feels more or less the same. It's not the worst I've used, but it's definitely one of the cheapest-feeling components of the laptop. The click isn't overly loud, though, which I appreciate.The keyboard, on the other hand, feels precise and clicky. It comes with a numberpad to the right, which means the touchpad can't be centered on the palm rests. This is typical, and as much as I'd prefer not to have the numberpad at all, attempts to center the touchpad like the Acer Swift 16 AI somehow make it worse.HP Omnibook 3 (2026)Rating: 8/10$970 $599 at Amazon$699 $505 at WalmartThe webcam is okay when in decent lighting. It'll struggle in lowlight, like many laptop webcams, but to my eyes, it's an improvement in clarity over the Omnibook 5 from last year. As expected, the speakers really sound bad, even compared to the MacBook Neo. The max volume is rather pathetic too, and not really loud enough to watch a show on.Where It Really ShinesPhotograph: Luke LarsenThe Qualcomm Snapdragon X is really the soul of this laptop. Without it, you have just another ho-hum budget Windows laptop that isn't as premium as its Apple counterpart. But the Snapdragon X brings Mac-level performance to the table. And when I say performance, I don't just mean raw power.The Qualcomm Snapdragon X is one of the best chips to ever be sold at this price, both in terms of brute strength and efficiency. While it's been around since early 2025, it remains the only way to get a Windows laptop this cheap that doesn't get easily bogged down in simple tasks or with poor battery life. The HP Omnibook 3 16 gets excellent battery life, coming just short of a full 24 hours during a light video looping test. It's quite a bit less for a heavier workflow, which would be more typical of what I use my laptop for, but it's still exceptional, especially for the price.The actual performance of the device is hardly as important as the 16 GB of RAM. The Snapdragon X underperforms against the MacBook Neo's in some regards, such as in graphics and single-core CPU. The Omnibook 3 (and any laptop with a current-gen Snapdragon X chip) isn't going to fare well for gaming, because of the ARM architecture. But for what this laptop is designed to do, none of that matters when comparing the MacBook Neo, which is bottlenecked by its limited memory. Because of the Omnibook 3's higher memory, it feels faster under higher workloads, especially once you start opening lots of browser tabs, launching applications, and keeping tasks in the background. It's much harder to hit this laptop's performance limit.HP Omnibook 3 (2026)Rating: 8/10$970 $599 at Amazon$699 $505 at WalmartPhotograph: Luke LarsenThe display is also quite strong. On a 16-inch screen, the limited 1920 x 1200 resolution display starts to show its limit, but this is less noticeable on the smaller 14-inch model. It should be noted, however, that I tested the OLED version. It's got great colors, impeccable contrast, and a glossy finish. Like a lot of OLED screens, this one's not all that bright—coming in at 290 nits in my tests. The MacBook Neo is almost twice as bright at its max brightness. This OLED model is exclusively available at HP.com, while Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy carries the cheaper IPS version.If you're the type of person to take a thinner laptop made entirely of aluminum over a laptop with far better performance—the MacBook Neo is your clear choice. But for my more demanding needs, the Omnibook 3 expertly balances performance, design, and quality at the $599 price point. It has its issues, but the Omnibook 3 offers a meaningful alternative to the MacBook Neo with different tradeoffs.The main caveat for shoppers is to keep an eye on prices. The HP Omnibook 5 is better in nearly every way. It is much thinner, comes the more powerful Snapdragon X Plus processor, and has a larger touchpad. The issue is that the price on that model bounces anywhere between $499 and $1,050 depending on the day. Based on what I've seen in the past, there will be times when the Omnibook 5 is cheaper, and in those cases, you should always go for that. It looks like the Omnibook 3 will more reliably sit around $500-600, though, which is why I rate it highly.HP Omnibook 3 (2026)Rating: 8/10$970 $599 at Amazon$699 $505 at Walmart$970 $599 at Amazon$699 $505 at WalmartCommentsBack to topTriangleLuke Larsen is a product writer and reviewer at WIRED, covering laptops, PCs, Macs, monitors, and the wider PC peripheral ecosystem. He’s been reporting on tech for over a decade, previously at Digital Trends as the senior editor in computing, where he spent seven years leading the publication’s daily coverage. ... Read MoreProduct Writer & ReviewerTopicslaptopslaptopShoppingReviewsreviewhpWIRED is obsessed with what comes next. Through rigorous investigations and game-changing reporting, we tell stories that don’t just reflect the moment—they help create it. When you look back in 10, 20, even 50 years, WIRED will be the publication that led the story of the present, mapped the people, products, and ideas defining it, and explained how those forces forged the future. WIRED: For Future Reference.More From WIREDSubscribeNewslettersLivestreamsTravelFAQWIRED StaffWIRED EducationEditorial StandardsArchiveRSSSite MapAccessibility HelpReviews and GuidesReviewsBuying GuidesStreaming GuidesWearablesCouponsGift GuidesAdvertiseContact UsManage AccountJobsPress CenterCondé Nast StoreUser AgreementPrivacy PolicyYour California Privacy Rights© 2026 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad ChoicesSelect international siteUnited StatesLargeChevronItaliaJapónCzech Republic & SlovakiaFacebookXPinterestYouTubeInstagramTiktok

The HP OmniBook 3 positions itself as a competitive alternative to the MacBook Neo by offering solid performance at a budget-friendly price point. This device incorporates the Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor, which the reviewer asserts is the core element, providing Mac-level efficiency and performance relative to its cost, which is crucial for balancing performance, design, and quality for users with demanding needs. The laptop comes equipped with 16 gigabytes of RAM and 512 gigabytes of storage, offering more memory and storage than the MacBook Neo.

In terms of physical design, the OmniBook 3 features a plain aesthetic constructed from plastic, resulting in a chassis that is thicker, measuring 0.7 inches, which some reviewers found to be somewhat bulky. While the chassis is plastic, it is deemed sturdy enough. A notable design issue involves the lid, which does not magnetize shut completely, potentially opening when held upside down. The device includes various ports, including an HDMI, two USB-C 3.0 ports, and two USB-A 2.0 ports, as well as a headphone jack. The USB-A ports are noted to offer slower data transfer speeds, limited to 480 MB per second, which is suitable primarily for peripheral connection rather than high-speed data transfer.

The input experience is mixed; the touchpad is functional, though perceived as one of the cheaper components in the laptop. The keyboard is described as precise and clicky, featuring a number pad on the right side, which limits the ability to center the touchpad, a trade-off the reviewer notes is typical. Audio performance is a significant weakness, with the speakers rated poorly compared to the MacBook Neo, and maximum volume is insufficient for sustained use. The webcam performs adequately in good lighting but struggles in low-light conditions, and overall audio quality is lacking.

The display is a 16-inch screen offering a resolution of 1920 x 1200. An OLED version is available, which features excellent color and contrast but is less bright, operating at 290 nits, whereas the MacBook Neo is significantly brighter. The performance derived from the Snapdragon X, while excellent for multitasking due to the 16 GB of RAM, is less powerful in raw graphics and single-core CPU tasks compared to the MacBook Neo. The ARM architecture means the device is not well-suited for demanding gaming. However, the increased memory capacity mitigates performance bottlenecks during heavy workloads such as managing numerous browser tabs and background applications.

Ultimately, the HP OmniBook 3 successfully balances performance, design, and quality within its price bracket, providing a compelling alternative to the MacBook Neo. The main consideration for potential purchasers is the fluctuating pricing of the HP OmniBook 5, which is noted to be better in nearly every aspect but has a wide price range, whereas the OmniBook 3 tends to remain more consistently priced around the $500 to $600 range.