HP only has one Computex announcement this year, a mid-tier consumer laptop called the OmniBook 5, something that probably would have been called a Pavilion in a past life. Starting at $799, it's a pretty neat device.

It comes with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus 8-core, which is great for battery life but not for much else. But that's paired with an FHD+ OLED display, a solid keyboard, and an aluminum and plastic chassis that weighs in at under three pounds.

But the real selling point these days seems to be Copilot+, and that this is closer to an entry-tier laptop that meets the minimum 40 TOPS requirement for that.

HP sent XDA a pre-production unit of the OmniBook 5 for a first look. It had no input on the contents of this article, but there's no benchmarking or comments on performance/battery life based on my usage of the device.

It's better the a Surface Laptop 13-inch

It's a low bar, but the OmniBook 5 clears it

This is the third Snapdragon X Plus 8-core laptop to cross my desk within the last few weeks, the previous one being Microsoft's Surface Laptop 13-inch. Billed as a top-tier product with mainline branding, that one starts at $899, a full hundred dollars more than the OmniBook 5. But since it's not actually a top-tier device and it's also on the lighter end, it feels like it competes directly with this one.

The OmniBook 5 is way better, and that's partially because of the price point. But also, it's got an OLED display where Microsoft took shortcuts. While I said the Surface Laptop 13-inch is something people shouldn't buy under any circumstances, I find the OmniBook 5 impressive.

They're both Copilot+ machines, but HP has its own AI smarts from its AI Companion, something I'll talk more about in a bit.

This is a solid device. Like I said, it's lightweight with battery life that should end up being pretty impressive, given that the OLED display is 60Hz and FHD+, not taxing the battery like some high-res, high-refresh rate screen would. And it's just good all-around. I'd expect to see discounts around shopping holidays too, which could make it perfect.

Copilot+ is great, but AI Companion makes it better

It keeps getting better and better

It's been a year since Copilot+ launched, and it's come a long way. Recall is finally shipping in general availability, not that that's really as great of a feature as Microsoft would want it to be. But there are new features too, like Click to Do and an improved Windows Search across the board.

However, HP doesn't use Copilot+ branding as strongly as other companies do, likely because it has its own suite of AI services. HP calls these Next-Gen AI PCs, and yes, I've discussed with them how next-gen is the current generation, and how there's an actual next-gen coming later this year.

HP has its own AI stuff, including AI Companion and Poly Camera Pro. I always have to show off AI Companion a bit, because I use it a lot when I review HP laptops. And on a week like this, which I'm calling eventocalypse, it makes for a super-easy way to drop a bunch of press kits in one place and query them. It's not the only product that can do it, but it comes with your HP laptop and it runs on-device.

Poly Camera Pro is legit too. It lets you make a bunch of changes to your webcam appearance using the NPU. You can change your background, add an overlay with text and/or your company logo, adjust settings like brightness and saturation, and much more. HP webcams are great, and at this mid-range price point, this particular webcam punches above its weight.

HP announced a bunch of improvements coming to AI Companion and Poly Camera Pro a couple months ago, but they haven't shipped yet. I'm looking forward to it, partly because at this point, I'm writing the same thing over and over. I do think they're both key differentiators when deciding between an HP and a competing product, and again, at the $799 price point, you can't beat it.

Copilot+ itself is getting better too. It's easy to sleep on Copilot+ since it got off to such a slow start, and the features that were shipping were rather gimmicky. Now, it comes with improved Windows Search, Click to Do, and a bunch of features scattered throughout inbox apps like Paint and Photos. It's worth checking out, because the more I review Copilot+ PCs, the more I get frustrated when I'm on a device that doesn't have access to those features.

It's an incredible value

You can't get this elsewhere for this price

To be clear, the HP OmniBook 5 has absolutely nothing that you can't get from an OmniBook X or OmniBook Ultra. That's not the point, and it never is for any kind of mid-tier product. The point is bringing some of those flagship features to lower price points.

At $799, you get a sub-three-pound laptop, an OLED display, solid build quality, a good keyboard, an excellent webcam, fantastic battery life, and an NPU that's on par with Qualcomm's top-tier chips. HP's AI Companion and Poly Camera Pro software take that even further.

This is just a first look, so there's not much more to talk about, but the OmniBook 5 sure looks like a winner for its class.