pros and cons
Pros
- Low price tag
- Outstanding battery life
- Sharp 2K OLED
Cons
- Muffled speakers
- Low-screen brightness
more buying choices
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The 2026 HP OmniBook 3 is a humble laptop. It may not win an award for the most innovative design or world-class performance, but what it does offer is value. So much so, that it has become one of my favorite laptops of the year simply because HP understood what was needed to confidently execute that vision.
Also: The best HP laptops of 2026: Expert tested and reviewed
It’s a low-cost laptop that delivers all the essentials consumers want in an everyday PC. It’s a great option for school, ideal for office and remote work, and it’s easy to travel with thanks to its sleek design. More importantly, it proves how impactful Qualcomm’s entrance into the laptop market has been with affordable, efficient devices that don’t feel cheap or underpowered.
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If it’s not broken…
Design-wise, the HP OmniBook 3 sticks to the basics and focuses on being practical. It measures 14.12 x 9.91 x 0.58 inches and weighs just under four pounds. Its sleek profile makes it easy to slide into backpacks or messenger bags, a perfect companion for the road. As the proverbial cherry on top, it passes the one-finger test with flying colors.
My review unit came in Glacial Silver with a slightly darker gray keyboard. I’m not always a big fan of rubber-capped keys like the ones on the OmniBook. They often feel “mushy”, but that’s not the case here. The keys have a decent travel distance, ensuring a comfortable typing experience on long workdays.
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HP also enlarged the trackpad compared to the previous generation, giving users more room for unique hand gestures and smoother cursor control. What’s interesting is that the trackpad sits slightly off-center. This results in a more natural hand position since more of your right hand can rest more comfortably on the wrist rest. The company also rounded off the edges of the wrist rest. You won’t have sharp edges poking directly into your wrist.
Bright screen, quiet speakers
The vibrant 2K OLED screen is supported by a litany of visual-enhancing features. Instead of going over all of them, I’ll just sound off my favorites.
- The panel covers the entire DCI-P3 color gamut, enabling it to accurately reproduce a wide range of colors.
- It boasts a high contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 to produce images with deep blacks alongside rich reds, blues, greens, and everything in between.
- The display supports 10-bit color depth, which results in smoother gradients and natural color transitions.
- It even includes Eye Ease technology to reduce the amount of harmful blue light emitted.
Also: How much RAM does your PC need in 2026? My advice after using Windows and Mac for years
In addition to all this, HP changed the aspect ratio from 16:9 as seen in older models to 16:10. That extra bit of space gives users more room to work with while simultaneously shrinking the bezels for a cleaner look. One thing worth mentioning is the lack of a touchscreen option.
Many office laptops include touch support as an alternate control method. In this instance, that’s a good thing. Touchscreens on traditional clamshell laptops often feel more gimmicky than genuinely useful. My biggest complaint with the display is actually the brightness. The panel tops out at just 300 nits, which I find too dim. Indoors, the display looks fine, but under bright lighting or outside, screen visibility plummets.
Cesar Cadenas/ZDNET
The webcam is decent overall. Color balance looked natural, with no weird tinting or blown-out exposure. The Full HD IR lens lacks the sharp found on more premium laptops, though it gets the job done.
Sadly, the speakers were one of the weakest aspects. HP placed them at the bottom of the chassis, resulting in muffled output. Some manufacturers compensate for bottom-firing speakers with audio-boosting software or advanced tuning. HP, however, didn’t do that in this instance. So, multimedia sound is flat and lacks any real immersion. Like the camera, the OmniBook’s audio system gets the job done, but won’t leave any real impression.
Performance
My review unit was equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 processor, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 512GB SSD: a modest configuration. The Snapdragon X is not a powerhouse chip, thus placing the OmniBook 3 comfortably into the midrange category. Below is a table comparing the benchmarks of HP’s latest machine with those of other models in its class. As you can see, the 2026 OmniBook 3 is not a major step forward over older laptops; instead, it keeps in line with the others.
In real-world use, the OmniBook 3 handles itself very well. Most applications ran without major problems. Office work was fast, web browsing felt snappy, and multimedia streaming worked without issue. Day-to-day performance felt consistently smooth.
However, the Snapdragon X is a (relatively) new Windows on Arm chip, meaning certain programs may not work with the hardware due to compatibility issues. This is not a new problem. I tried running the Google Play Games beta app to test certain mobile games as well as other benchmarks, such as 3DMark. Neither of them worked.
Cesar Cadenas/ZDNET
This compatibility issue is a minor problem. Sure, there is a chance you might not be able to use certain apps, but the majority of mainstream apps work fine. I doubt you’ll run into it on the OmniBook 3 unless you go out of your way looking for incompatible software or beta programs. The majority of software developers are good at keeping their apps up to date.
Also: Buying a school laptop? 4 things I’d consider first (and my top 10 picks)
Battery life is where the OmniBook 3 truly separates itself from the competition. It is one of the best battery performances I have ever seen on a laptop. In my testing, the system lasted an astonishing 28 hours on a single charge. That is an absurd amount of longevity, surpassing the excellent endurance of the 2025 HP OmniBook 5, which I previously considered the longest-lasting laptop I had ever tested.
ZDNET’s buying advice
The 2026 HP OmniBook 3 is currently available on Amazon for around $539, while Walmart has it on sale for roughly $505. At a time when even basic laptops are super expensive, it’s refreshing to see a machine that offers this for such a low price. You’re getting a lightweight laptop with dependable everyday performance, a vibrant 2K OLED display, and the best battery life I’ve ever experienced on a notebook.
HP says the OmniBook 3 is available in five different colors. My review unit came in Glacier Silver, while Amazon and Walmart currently appear to be selling the Mica Silver version, which is a darker gray, almost black.
