HP OmniBook 5 16" B7FY2UA#ABA 2025, Core Ultra 5 225U, 16GB, 512GB SSD, Glacier Silver

A solid productivity workhorse with a touchscreen and decent specs, but the washed-out display and useless-for-gaming integrated graphics keep it from greatness. Buy it for work, not for play.

The Core Ultra 5 225U surprised us a bit. It's not going to top any benchmark charts, sitting around the middle of the pack for CPU performance, but for everyday tasks it feels snappy. The 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM helps keep things smooth when you've got a dozen browser tabs open alongside your work apps. The 512GB NVMe SSD is quick enough for fast boot times and app launches. But the gaming score of 15.5 out of 100 tells the real story here. This thing is not built for frame rates. The 60Hz display and integrated graphics cap your gaming ambitions at casual titles and older games on low settings.

Against the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition, the OmniBook 5 gives you a bigger screen and a touchscreen for less money, but the Surface has better build quality and a sharper display. The Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro is in a completely different league for performance and display quality, but it costs way more. If you're cross-shopping the Lenovo Legion 5i, that's a gaming laptop with a dedicated GPU, so it'll crush the OmniBook in games but lose on portability and battery life. For pure productivity on a budget, the OmniBook 5 holds its own. For anything graphics-intensive, look elsewhere.

Pricing is all over the place right now. We're seeing USD 817 to USD 960 across US listings, which is a USD 143 spread. At the lower end, this is a reasonable deal for a 16-inch touchscreen laptop with 16GB of RAM and a current-gen Intel chip. At the higher end, you're overpaying. Shop around and don't settle for the USD 960 listing when the same machine is available for USD 817.

The HP OmniBook 5 is a solid everyday laptop that gets the basics right and throws in a touchscreen for good measure. The one thing to know? It's a productivity machine, not a gaming rig, and it knows it. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225U with its 12-core setup and AI Boost NPU handles daily work, streaming, and light creative tasks without breaking a sweat. But that integrated Intel Graphics means you should keep your gaming expectations firmly in check.

If you're looking for a gaming laptop, this isn't it. Go get a Lenovo Legion 5i or ASUS ROG Zephyrus instead. If you need accurate colors for photo or video work, the 62.5% sRGB display will drive you crazy, look at a MacBook Pro or Surface Laptop. And if you want a laptop with a proven track record, the near-zero social proof on this model means you're essentially an early adopter, which might not be your thing.

The HP OmniBook 5 is a competent everyday laptop that nails the basics. Fast enough for work, light enough to carry, and the touchscreen is a genuine bonus. But it's not exciting, and the weak display colors and non-existent gaming performance hold it back. If you need a reliable daily driver for productivity and streaming, this is a fine choice at the right price. If you want to game or do color-sensitive work, keep looking.