HP’s 2026 OmniBook Ultra 14 finally buries last year’s mediocre reboot. The 120Hz 3K OLED hits 1,100 nits—that’s over double the XPS 14’s 500-nit OLED, and unlike Asus’s 1,500-nit panel, there’s no matte coating to muddy the clarity. They also shaved it down to 2.81 lbs and 0.55 inches, thinner than the M4 MacBook Air 13 by HP’s measure.
The real shocker is gaming: Arc B390 integrated graphics push Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p Ultra to 45 fps, up from 31 fps on the 2025 model. But here’s the catch—leaked benchmarks show the flagship Core Ultra X9 388H actually trails the lower-tier X7 386H in multi-core tests. HP doesn’t sell the X7 variant, so you’re forced to pay up for the slower-in-some-scenarios chip. Baffling.
There’s a Snapdragon X2 Elite version too, packing 85 TOPS—the highest NPU on any consumer laptop right now. Go Intel if you care about graphics, Snapdragon if battery and AI are your priority.
Pricing stings: Intel starts at $1,549, topping near $2,500. Snapdragon runs $2,049 (32GB/1TB) at Best Buy. Not cheap, but competitive against the XPS 14 and ExpertBook Ultra when you factor in that screen and build.
Only real downgrade? The keyboard feels shallower than the old Spectre’s—polarizing for heavy typists. But overall, this is the first HP ultrabook in years that doesn't feel like a compromise. If you're shopping premium Windows, it's worth ignoring the X9 benchmark weirdness and just looking at the complete package.