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The HP OmniBook Ultra Flip: A Laptop That Can Handle It All
The HP OmniBook Ultra Flip is a remarkable laptop that can seamlessly transition from casual to professional workloads. I’ve had no trouble switching to it as my primary laptop, taking over from the powerful Surface Laptop Studio. Out of all the laptops I’ve used, including Surface models and the lovable Dell XPS (now simply known as the Dell Pro Max), the OmniBook Ultra seems to tick the most boxes for me. It’s certainly a contender for our list of the best laptops in Australia.
What’s So Ultra?
The "OmniBook" name has been around for decades, with the original line being discontinued in 2002. However, HP now uses the OmniBook brand for their broader range of computers, excluding the Pavilion and Spectre titles. The "Ultra Flip" part of the name indicates the highest tier in the laptop range, similar to how Spectre once did. You’ll also find the Omni name on HP all-in-one PCs and desktop computers.
Pricing and Specs
The HP OmniBook Ultra Flip I reviewed costs $1,599.99 / £1,899.99 / AU$3,699, with an Intel Core i7-1280U processor and 32GB of 16GB LPDDR5x RAM. If you’re in the US or UK, you can find slightly tweaked options with different storage and processor configurations. The laptop features a 14-inch touchscreen with a 2880 x 1800 pixel resolution, and you can choose from 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage options. You can also fold the laptop into a tablet-like design, or purchase a non-folding version (simply called the OmniBook Ultra).
Performance and Benchmarks
The HP OmniBook Ultra Flip is capable of handling demanding tasks, including playing games like Cyberpunk 2077 at 40fps on medium settings. In our benchmark tests, it scored extremely well, outperforming many of its competitors. Our in-depth review in the January issue of APC magazine, Australia’s leading PC magazine, includes more of our testing results. I was impressed to see that the laptop can handle tasks like video editing and 3D modeling with ease.
The NPU: A Power-Efficient Processor
The laptop features an NPU (Neural Processing Unit), a dedicated processor that takes on offloaded tasks from the GPU and CPU, primarily handling AI and efficiency tasks. Although we didn’t notice much usage during our testing, the NPU came into play when blurring webcam backgrounds with the Poly Camera Pro app and using the Live Translate feature in Windows. It’s great to have the NPU here, looking at future features and onboard AI tools.
Bloatware: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Unfortunately, the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip comes with a slew of pre-installed software, including HP AI Companion, One Agent Service, and more. While some of these apps have useful functions, such as the AI Companion app’s ability to provide general answers, analyze documents, or change system settings, others can be unnecessary and impact performance. You may not need apps like the OMEN app if you’re not a gamer, or the AI Companion app if you don’t want to use its integrated GPT-4o model.
The Verdict
The HP OmniBook Ultra Flip is a brilliant laptop that can handle demanding tasks, and I’ve grown to love it as my primary laptop. Its lightweight and compact design, combined with its sophisticated style and unique USB-C arrangement, make it one of my favorite laptop designs. Just be sure to review the programs you need and don’t need after purchasing, as some of the pre-installed apps may have unintended consequences during heavy use.
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[Image description: The HP OmniBook Ultra Flip laptop]
Update: We’ll be adding more specific tips and recommendations for optimizing performance and customizing your HP OmniBook Ultra Flip experience in the coming days. Stay tuned!