HP OmniBook 3 16 Review: Big-Screen Budget Laptop With Unbeatable Battery Life

Pros

• Astounding battery life
• Cohesive, understated design and solid build quality
• Comfortable to carry

Cons

• Snapdragon X1 processor is a generation behind the times
• Keyboard backlight bleed is distracting
• OmniBook 5 16 offers OLED for roughly the same price

The OmniBook battery life king is dead, long live the OmniBook battery life king! The HP OmniBook 3 16 just knocked off the HP OmniBook 5 14 as the longest-running laptop CNET has tested. Both are powered by a first-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processor, but the larger 16-inch OmniBook 3 was able to set a new laptop battery life mark because it pairs a super-efficient Snapdragon X1 CPU with a larger battery than what’s inside the 14-inch OmniBook 5. A difference in display technology also played a role in the OmniBook 3 16’s record-setting battery performance.

The budget OmniBook 3 16 has more plastic in its construction than the mainstream OmniBook 5, but I don’t have any complaints about the build quality. I love the design of the bottom panel, in particular, which makes the laptop incredibly comfortable to carry. 

In this age of RAMageddon and sky-high prices, the budget OmniBook 3 16 line starts at $1,000, which, not too long ago, would have placed it squarely in the midrange category. And my test system features memory and storage upgrades that raise the cost to $1,370. At this price, missing out on the greater application and AI performance of a newer Snapdragon X2 chip stings a bit, as does making do with a very basic IPS LCD screen. You can get a similar package for much less with the Acer Aspire 16 AI, but the OmniBook 3 16 has a more refined design to go with its unbeatable battery life.

The OmniBook 3 16 is customizable at HP and starts at $1,000 for a configuration with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and a 2K (1,920×1,200-pixel) non-touch IPS LCD. The entry-level Snapdragon X chip is the only processor offered, but you can double the RAM to 32GB for $140 (ouch) and max out the storage with a 1TB SSD for $230 (double ouch). My test system included both of these upgrades. You can also add touch support to the display for $80, but the touchscreen upgrade was not included on the unit I tested.

My test system came in standard silver, but Lenovo offers three other color options — blue, gold or a dark gray for an extra $10.

So, $1,000 starts the bidding for HP’s 16-inch consumer laptop. That’s roughly the same price you’d pay for an OmniBook 5 16. Take this OmniBook 5 16 model that costs $1,050, for example, and supplies the same Snapdragon X X1-26-100 CPU and 16GB of RAM, but more storage with a 512GB SSD and a better display with a 2K OLED panel. Getting an OLED and twice the storage is well worth the added $50 from the baseline OmniBook 3 16. 

The OmniBook 3 16’s 2K IPS display is decent enough for everyday tasks, and it offers surprisingly strong color performance. In testing with a Spyder X Elite colorimeter, it covered 100% of the sRGB and P3 gamuts and 92% of the larger AdobeRGB color space. Rated for a modest 300 nits, it’s not the brightest display, but at least it came very close to matching its brightness rating, achieving a peak of 296 nits in testing. 

HP OmniBook 3 16 performance 

The Snapdragon X X1-126-100 is the entry-level chip in Qualcomm’s lineup of Arm-based laptop processors. It sits below the Snapdragon X1 Plus and Elite series, and it’s a generation behind Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 series processors. It’s an 8-core CPU with a neural processing unit capable of 45 trillion operations per second. That’s enough TOPS to qualify as a Copilot Plus PC, but only a fraction of the 80-TOPS NPU you get with a Snapdragon X2.

As we’ve seen with other Snapdragon X series laptops in testing, the OmniBook 3 16 had better multicore results on Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024 than it did on the single-core versions of the test. Still, its scores were in line with other Windows laptops around this price with a Snapdragon X, Intel Core Ultra 200 series or AMD Ryzen 400 series CPU.

In the Geekbench AI test, it edged the MacBook Neo and Windows laptops such as the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 and HP OmniBook X Flip 16 that have a Core Ultra 200 series CPU. However, you can see how much better local AI performance is with a next-gen Snapdragon X2-based laptop like the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x Gen 11 in the results chart at the end of this review.

I won’t make you scroll to the end of the review to find out how long the OmniBook 3 16 lasted in battery testing. It shattered the previous record of 28 hours and 19 minutes set by the OmniBook 5 14 by nearly six hours, lasting an astonishing 34 hours and 5 minutes on our YouTube streaming battery drain test. 

HP seems to have figured out the best way to get the most battery life out of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X platform, with one OmniBook replacing another as the laptop with the longest battery life we’ve tested. The OmniBook 3 16 has room for a larger battery, supplying a 4-cell, 68-watt-hour unit compared with a 3-cell, 59-watt-hour battery on the smaller OmniBook 5 14. The OmniBook 3 16 also has an IPS display, which is more energy efficient than the OLED on the OmniBook 5 14 we tested. Those two factors helped the OmniBook 3 16 reach new battery-life heights.

Subdued in silver

The OmniBook 3 16 has an understated look with clean lines and little adornment. There is a slight contrast between the silver chassis and gray keys, but otherwise, this is your standard silver laptop. 

The keyboard deck and bottom panel are plastic, and the top cover is aluminum to allow for a thin design that still offers enough rigid protection behind the display. The plastic material feels sturdier than most budget plastic enclosures and doesn’t creak or flex to any worrying degree. The plastic surfaces also have a brushed matte finish that matches the texture of the aluminum lid to give the design a cohesive look and feel. The build is decidedly more mainstream laptop than budget model, which is good given the higher prices.

The OmniBook 3 16 rests on two wide rubber feet that run nearly the width of the laptop. These feet bookend a slightly raised section in the middle of the bottom panel that gently flares out on each end. This design keeps the laptop elevated to aid airflow through the vent on the bottom panel, but it also makes the laptop very comfortable to carry. When you close the laptop and pick it up from either end, the rubber foot acts as a grip that sits at the perfect angle below your fingertips. And given the lengthy battery life, this is one laptop that you can take with you.

At 3.7 pounds, it’s not the lightest 16-inch laptop to tote around, but it’s not the heaviest either. By comparison, it’s a bit heavier than the 3.5-pound Acer Aspire 16 AI but lighter than HP’s OmniBook X Flip 16, which is over 4 pounds.

The keyboard is outstanding, but for one thing. The keys feel steady and firm and offer lively feedback despite their shallow travel. I felt immediately fast and comfortable typing on the OmniBook 3 16. What I don’t like about it is its backlighting: It bleeds from underneath the keys, especially from the bottom edges of the Function row keys. There are two levels for the backlighting at least, so you can mitigate the backlight bleed by using the lower setting.

The touchpad is undersized, given the ample room afforded it in the sea of silver below the keyboard. And it has a basic, plastic surface rather than a more luxurious, smooth glass finish and a mechanical click response rather than haptic feedback. Neither is surprising on a lower-end laptop, and I didn’t experience any issues swiping and clicking about in Windows. In fact, it has one of the better click responses for a mechanical touchpad; clicks are fairly consistent across its entire area and only slightly more firm near the top.

I also wasn’t surprised to find only a pair of stereo speakers on the OmniBook 3 16. Even the OmniBook 5 16 has dual speakers, so there was no chance of getting a quad array here. And predictably, the sound is underwhelming. Likewise, the 1080p webcam is serviceable but otherwise unremarkable, delivering a fairly sharp but oversaturated picture. On the plus side, it’s an IR cam, so you can use it for facial recognition logins, and that’s a nice biometric feature to get since the OmniBook 3 16 doesn’t have a fingerprint reader.

Ports? The OmniBook 3 16 has a few. It supplies both USB Type-C and -A ports, but neither of the USB-C ports is Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 and instead offers slower 10Gbps transfer speeds. With an HDMI out and a headphone jack on board, at least you shouldn’t need to use an adapter.

Should I buy the HP OmniBook 3 16?

I recommend the Omnibook 3 16 for anyone wanting a big-screen productivity laptop who’d like the luxury of not needing to charge it for days at a time. I’d wait for HP’s rotating discounts before buying because oftentimes HP’s sales pricing can save you hundreds. Because if it’s only $50 less than the OmniBook 5 16, then it makes sense to spend the extra for the OLED and added storage. And if you can’t find a good deal on an OmniBook and are determined to spend less than $1,000 on a basic, 16-inch laptop, then the Acer Aspire 16 AI is a great alternative at $700.