I was right, this is my top value Windows laptop of 2025 — as long as you don’t build your own

I first tested the HP OmniBook 5 14 (G1q) earlier this year and thought it might be the best affordable AI laptop available. It took a while to get a final version, but I’ve now spent enough time with it to see if my first impression was correct.

HP has created a fantastic Windows laptop for the price, but the best deal depends on how you buy it. You can customize one on HP’s website starting at $899.99, but adding options will quickly increase the cost. To get the most value from the OmniBook 5 14, it’s best to choose one of the pre-configured models.

I’m really excited about the OmniBook 5 14, which is currently available for just $699.99 at BestBuy.com. It’s a stylish and powerful AI PC with a long-lasting battery, a beautiful OLED screen, and plenty of performance for everyday use. In my opinion, it’s the best value laptop of 2025, and I want to explain why.

We received a review sample from HP for this evaluation. HP did not have any influence on the review and hadn’t seen it before it was published.

My OmniBook 5 14 (G1q) review

Design ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I’ve been checking out the Dell 14 Plus (DB14255) recently – it’s another AI laptop around the same price as the OmniBook 5 14. And honestly, when you compare the two, the HP really stands out as offering a lot more for your money. It seriously feels like it’s in a different league.

This laptop is noticeably thinner and lighter than the Dell – it’s less than 13mm thick and weighs under 3 pounds, compared to the Dell’s 17mm thickness and weight of over 3 pounds. It also has a more up-to-date design with narrower borders around the screen, and feels more solid and well-made, with a screen that doesn’t bend easily and seams that are tightly fitted.

The OmniBook 5 14’s construction isn’t as high-end as some more expensive laptops, but it feels surprisingly solid for a model that costs less than $700. Overall, I’m happy with it, though I’d prefer it had more ports.

On the left side of the laptop, there are two USB-C ports that support fast data transfer speeds (10Gbps), 65W charging, and video output. The right side includes one standard USB-A port with fast data transfer and a headphone jack. It’s good to have the older USB-A port available, but adding a USB4 port would have made connecting docks and other accessories even easier.

Display ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The OmniBook 5 14 has a much better screen than the Dell 14 Plus. It features a vibrant OLED display with a resolution of 1200p and a smooth 60Hz refresh rate on all models, and you can even get it with touchscreen capabilities.

This screen is really impressive, offering bright, true-to-life colors (covering 100% of the sRGB and 93% of the DCI-P3 color spaces in testing), great contrast, and wide viewing angles. While it’s not the sharpest or most fluid screen available, it provides excellent value for its price.

However, the screen is quite dim, which brings its overall quality down a bit. During testing, it didn’t even reach its advertised brightness of 300 nits, making it hard to see in bright light or direct sunlight. While the screen looks great, it’s not ideal if you work in a brightly lit environment.

Performance ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The OmniBook 5 14 (G1q) isn’t built for demanding tasks, and that’s okay. It’s a lightweight and portable laptop designed for everyday use, and it runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processor.

This Windows on ARM laptop is designed for getting things done efficiently, but it’s not ideal for demanding tasks like gaming, editing photos and videos, or running older, resource-heavy programs.

This laptop works great for everyday tasks. It’s fast and handles things like browsing the web, checking email, using Microsoft Office, and video calls with ease. Plus, since more and more Windows 11 apps are designed to run natively on this type of processor, performance is rarely an issue.

Battery life ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

While the OmniBook 5 14 isn’t the most powerful laptop, its battery life is exceptional. Despite having a relatively small 59Whr battery, it lasts a surprisingly long time.

I was really impressed by the battery life. Running typical office tasks for an hour only used 6% of the battery, and even playing an HD video for an hour only took away 4%. Honestly, I easily got a full two days of work done on a single charge – it’s a truly exceptional battery.

The laptop comes with a very small 65W GaN charger, and it can power the device for a full day with just 30 minutes of charging. Plus, you’ll get consistent performance whether the laptop is plugged in or running on battery – that’s a key benefit of using Qualcomm technology.

Keyboard & touchpad ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

As a researcher, I was particularly pleased to see the OmniBook 5 14 retained a traditional keyboard design – a welcome choice, considering some of HP’s recent experiments. I found the keyboard itself to be spacious and easy to read, and it offered a really comfortable typing experience. While the backlight wasn’t always instantaneous, it was consistently bright and illuminated every key clearly.

Okay, so the touchpad isn’t anything fancy – the build quality is pretty standard. But honestly, it works! I was really glad to see they used Microsoft Precision drivers, because it made the whole experience consistent and responsive. Overall, HP really nailed the keyboard and touchpad on this one – simple, but effective.

Software & AI ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The OmniBook 5 14 is a Copilot+ PC, meaning it takes full advantage of the newest AI capabilities in Windows 11. Even if you aren’t using these features right now, this laptop is designed to stay relevant for years, which is a significant advantage.

I really like HP’s built-in AI assistant – it looks good and does a lot. The OmniBook 5 14 generally provides a smooth and reliable software experience. However, I have to point out that HP includes too much unnecessary software with its laptops, and I’ll continue to mention this in every review. It takes too long to set up because of all the extra programs you have to remove.

Everything else ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

The OmniBook 5 14 excels with its features for remote work and security. It has a great 1080p webcam for video calls, plus convenient Windows Hello facial recognition for fast logins and a built-in privacy shutter to block the camera when you want.

The phone’s speakers, located on the bottom, were surprisingly loud. While the sound quality wasn’t amazing at higher volumes, it was good enough for me to enjoy music without any major issues. They’re not the best speakers out there, but they definitely get the job done.

The OmniBook 5 14′ offers Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connections. Like other features on this laptop, the wireless performance is solid for the price – it’s very good, but doesn’t quite match the top-of-the-line laptops available.

OmniBook 5 14 review: My final thoughts

✅You should buy this if …

You want a super sleek and light Windows laptop on a budget.
You need fantastic battery life that can you last multiple days.
You need a reliable, casual computing companion with no major flaws.

❌You should not buy this if …

You’re looking for a laptop for demanding tasks like gaming.
You need a whole lot of ports, or USB4 for docking.

I was really impressed with the HP OmniBook 5 14 (G1q) from the start, and it definitely lived up to my expectations—and even exceeded them. It’s not always easy to be enthusiastic about affordable laptops, but HP did a great job creating a balance between features, performance, and cost with this one.

While I slightly prefer the ASUS Zenbook A14 (2025), it can be up to $300 more expensive for comparable features. Right now, the OmniBook 5 14 (G1q) offers incredible value, especially at just $699.99 at BestBuy.com – it’s the best deal you’ll find for this level of performance.

This HP laptop offers everything you need, including a battery that lasts for days. It’s perfect for everyday tasks and will stay up-to-date with new features thanks to Windows updates. My only complaint is that it could use more ports.

2025-10-22 14:46