HP OmniBook 5 review: Productivity-focused laptop with balanced performance

HP OmniBook 5 offers spacious 16-inch 2K touchscreen for multitasking, native AI features to boost productivity, and balanced performance to back it up

The Copilot Plus PC range in India is expanding beyond Qualcomm-powered PCs. Among the new entrants is the HP OmniBook 5, a 16-inch productivity-focused laptop powered by AMD’s new Ryzen AI platform. Designed to take advantage of Microsoft’s Copilot Plus features, it also comes with HP’s own AI enhancements – all packed into a solid all-rounder that aims to balance performance, usability, and everyday value. But in a market increasingly crowded with AI-powered machines, does the OmniBook 5 manage to stand out? Let’s find out:

Design and ports

The first thing you notice about the HP OmniBook 5 is its commanding presence, largely due to its expansive 16-inch display. While the laptop occupies a considerable footprint on a desk, it doesn’t feel overly bulky. At 1.79 kg, it’s certainly on the heavier side, but still manageable for daily commutes in a backpack.

 

 

In terms of aesthetics, the OmniBook 5 sticks to HP’s signature design language, featuring a minimalist aluminium chassis with a polished, rounded HP logo on the lid. The build mostly delivers a premium in-hand feel, though a few design choices – such as the contrasting grey plastic keyboard and matte plastic bezels around the display – slightly detract from the otherwise sleek finish. Up front, there’s a fullHD IR webcam housed in the slightly thicker top bezel, which also includes a physical privacy shutter.

Port selection is solid. On the left, the laptop features a USB Type-A port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the right, you’ll find two USB-C ports (both supporting Power Delivery and DisplayPort 2.1), an HDMI 2.1 output, and a second USB Type-A port. While it’s convenient that the laptop supports USB-C charging, having both USB-C ports placed on the same (right) side can feel a bit awkward, particularly for cable management during charging or docking.

Display and audio

The display is one of the standout features of the HP OmniBook 5. It sports a 16-inch IPS touchscreen with a 2K resolution (1920 x 1200), delivering sharp visuals and accurate colour reproduction. The panel also comes with an anti-glare coating, which does a good job of minimising reflections—especially useful in brightly lit office environments.

 

What really sets the display apart is its generous size, offering ample screen real estate for multitasking. Managing multiple windows in split-screen mode feels seamless, making it ideal for productivity-focused workflows. However, the 60Hz refresh rate may feel limiting for users accustomed to smoother, high-refresh displays—particularly for tasks involving motion or media playback.

 

On the audio front, the OmniBook 5 features dual bottom-firing speakers that provide standard laptop sound—adequate for casual listening but lacking depth or punch. While there’s no support for Dolby Atmos, the inclusion of DTS:X Ultra adds a layer of spatial audio, enabling more immersive sound positioning in compatible content.

Camera and microphones

The HP OmniBook 5 is equipped with a 5MP IR webcam that supports 1080p video. The camera performs impressively well, capturing sharp facial details – even in low-light conditions. It also supports a comprehensive suite of AI-powered Windows Studio Effects, including automatic framing, eye contact correction, and background blur, enhancing the overall video call experience.

 

For security and convenience, the webcam includes infrared hardware that enables Windows Hello facial recognition, allowing users to log in quickly and securely without needing a password.

 

Audio input is handled by a pair of dual-array microphones, positioned on either side of the camera. While the mic quality isn't class-leading, it performs well in quiet environments, capturing voice clearly with decent noise suppression – making it suitable for video calls and online meetings.

Keyboard and touchpad

Coming to your working area, the HP OmniBook 5 features a full-sized backlit keyboard with a dedicated numeric keypad. The keys are well spaced, and the palm rest area provides ample room for your wrists, resulting in a comfortable typing experience. While the key travel isn't particularly deep, the tactile feedback is responsive and satisfying enough for extended use.

 

The keyboard also offers a two-level backlight with a dedicated key to adjust the backlight timer. Notable additions include a dedicated function key to quickly access the emoji keyboard, and a customisable key that can be configured to launch apps like myHP or the Omen Gaming Hub, depending on the user’s preferences.

 

The touchpad is moderately sized and supports the full range of Windows 11 gesture controls. It features the same surface texture as the rest of the chassis, which may make it slightly hard to distinguish by touch—at least until you get accustomed to its placement. Despite that, it performs reliably for daily navigation and multitouch gestures.

Performance

The HP OmniBook 5 is powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 350 series processors. The unit I tested features the Ryzen AI 7, although a variant with Ryzen AI 5 is also available. It comes equipped with AMD Radeon 860M integrated graphics, 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

 

In day-to-day use, the laptop performs flawlessly. Whether it’s handling multiple Chrome tabs, managing split-screen multitasking, or navigating across apps, the system remains smooth and responsive. Over more than two weeks of daily use as my primary work machine, I encountered no noticeable stutter or lag. Sleep and wake times are also near-instant—closing the lid puts the device into sleep seamlessly, and it resumes instantly when reopened.

 

While the OmniBook 5 lacks a dedicated GPU and isn’t built for heavy gaming, it handles casual titles reasonably well. I tested F1 23 on the laptop, and it consistently delivered over 45 FPS on medium graphics settings. However, I did encounter some quirks with display scaling – the system defaults to 125 per cent scale on its large 16-inch display, which caused minor issues with full-screen rendering in certain games. Switching to 100 per cent scale manually resolved the issue and allowed for full-screen gameplay.

 

Overall, the OmniBook 5 offers strong performance for productivity, light creative workloads, and casual gaming – making it a capable all-rounder for everyday use.

Software and AI

Thanks to its Ryzen AI processor with a dedicated NPU, the HP OmniBook 5 supports a range of Microsoft Copilot Plus AI features. Some of the standout capabilities include Studio Effects for video calls, CoCreate and Restyle tools in Paint and Photos for AI-assisted design tasks, and live captions that translate spoken content from audio or video into real-time English subtitles.

 

That said, it's important to note that some newly introduced Copilot Plus features—such as Super Resolution in the Photos app and the AI-enhanced Windows Search—are currently not available on this device. These features remain exclusive, for now, to Qualcomm Snapdragon X-powered Copilot Plus PCs, though support for Intel and AMD-based systems is expected to roll out in future updates.

 

To complement Microsoft's AI features, HP includes its own AI Companion app, which offers additional functionality. This tool allows users to create a personal knowledge library by uploading documents, then query the AI chatbot for insights based on that content. In testing, I uploaded a PDF version of a book and asked the assistant for an overview, followed by related questions. The chatbot performed efficiently, providing coherent summaries and relevant responses.

Battery

The HP OmniBook 5 is equipped with a 59Wh battery, which was able to comfortably power the laptop through a full workday of around 9 hours during my testing. However, by the end of the day, the battery was nearly depleted—so while it can last a typical work session, heavy users may want to keep the charger handy for longer stints.

 

For charging, the laptop ships with a 65W USB-C adapter. HP claims that the device can charge up to 50 per cent in 30 minutes, and in real-world use, this held mostly true. I was able to charge the battery from 13 per cent to 80 per cent in roughly 45 minutes.

Verdict

The HP OmniBook 5, powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 7, is currently listed on the company’s website for Rs 88,999, while the Ryzen AI 5 variant is available at Rs 77,999. At this price point, the laptop delivers a spacious 16-inch 2K touchscreen, making it well-suited for multitasking and productivity-heavy workflows. It also offers the performance to back it up, handling day-to-day tasks with ease.

Although the design isn’t the most premium in its class, the OmniBook 5 makes up for it with practical utility—including a solid port selection, a comfortable keyboard, and a reliable webcam that’s more than adequate for video calls and conferencing.

 

There are a few trade-offs: the battery life, while serviceable, isn’t class-leading, and the 60Hz refresh rate may feel limiting for users accustomed to smoother displays. However, for those prioritising a large screen, responsive performance, and AI-ready capabilities, the OmniBook 5 stands out as a strong contender in the mid-range work laptop category.