I loved gazing at the ultra-thin design of HP’s 2-in-1 OmniBook — but its OLED display captivated me even more

HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14: Two-minute review

The HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 is a 2-in-1 laptop designed with creators in mind, owing to its capable spec and bundled stylus.

It looks smart and sleek, especially in its dark blue guise, which adds more interest than the grey alternative. The angled back corners also distinguish it from the crowd, as well as serving a practical purpose that I’ll come to later.

The standout aspect of its form, though, is its thinness. It certainly cuts a slender figure, but more remarkable is the fact that this doesn’t come at the expense of sturdiness: the aluminum frame has no flex at all, and easily ranks among the best 2-in-1 laptops in terms of build quality.

The downside of this construction, though, is its weight. The Ultra Flip is heavier than you might expect, which makes it a little more onerous to carry around than its rivals. It’s still within acceptable bounds, however.

Oddly, it’s the included stylus, the HP MPP 2.0 Tilt Pen, that presents more of a portability issue. It’s stored on the side of the base, and since it’s quite large, it can easily snag when putting away or taking out the laptop from a bag. What’s more, the magnetic attraction isn’t strong enough to prevent it from detaching completely in such instances.

You don’t get many ports on the Ultra Flip, which is understandable given that thin base, not to mention the space needed for storing the Tilt Pen. However, the Ultra Flip makes clever use of its limited real estate, as those aforementioned rear corners house two of the laptop’s three USB-C ports. This is a practical location, although it’s a minor shame that only one of them supports the Thunderbolt 4 standard (the other Thunderbolt 4 port is on the right side of the base).

The all-round performance of the Ultra Flip is respectable. It dispatches most workaday tasks without issue, from general browsing and productivity to 4K streaming and light gaming.

Despite being marketed for creators, though, it’s a little disappointing that the Ultra Flip only features integrated graphics. It’s also a concern that it failed to complete Puget Bench’s video editing benchmark — something one its nearest rivals, the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+, also failed, by the by.

Having said this, I found its graphical performance reasonably impressive for a machine without a dedicated GPU. It ran Cyberpunk 2077 in a playable state, offering just enough visual fidelity and performance for a casual session.

What’s more, the Ultra Flip stays cool and composed during such workloads. Any heat that is emitted is confined to the very rear of the base, where you won’t feel it. Fan noise can make itself known, but it’s impressively hushed compared to others.

Perhaps the best part of the Ultra Flip, though, is its display. It’s as deep and as rich as you’d expect from an OLED, while the 3K resolution offers a crystal clear image. It’s also very bright, which helps to nullify any pesky reflections. The touchscreen and Tilt Pen are responsive and easy to use as well.

The keyboard allows for quick typing, thanks to the generous spacing of the keys, in addition to their light and shallow actuation. They can feel a little harsh when you hammer down hard, but otherwise they’re perfectly comfortable.

I found the touchpad occasionally encroached while typing, but this wasn’t egregious enough to disrupt productivity. In fact, its large size is actually a boon for such tasks, since it makes navigation that much easier. The pad also supports numerous gestures and functions, including the ability to adjust system brightness and volume by sliding up and down on either side. These ‘sliders’ feature haptic feedback that I didn’t find particularly engaging, but at least doesn’t make the controls unusable.

The battery life of the Ultra Flip is very impressive, lasting 18 hours when playing back a movie on a continuous loop. There aren’t many laptops that can beat this, although the Prestige 14 Flip AI+ is one of them; this lasted over 30 hours in the same test, which is quite astonishing.

In many ways, MSI’s 2-in-1 is a close rival to the Ultra Flip, but I believe the latter has the edge in key categories. Its display is superior and it lacks the same touchpad frustrations.

HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 review: Price & availability

• Starts from $1,459.99 / £1,299 / AU$3,399
• Available now in two colorways
• Reasonable price for the spec

The HP OmniBook Ultra Flip starts from $1,459.99 / £1,299 / AU$3,399 and is available now in two colors: blue and grey. Various configurations are possible, with Intel Core Ultra 5, 7, and 9 CPUs available, while RAM ranges from 16GB to 32GB and storage options from 512GB to 2TB.

Considering the spec and design, the Ultra Flip is reasonably priced for a 2-in-1 laptop. The nearest equivalent model, the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+, costs a similar amount, and likewise features an Intel Core Ultra 7 and a 1TB SSD. There are differences, though: the Prestige has a much lower display resolution, but double the RAM (32GB) and unparalleled battery life, outlasting the Ultra Flip and many of the best touchscreen laptops by a wide margin.

If you’re after a considerably less expensive 2-in-1 and don’t mind forgoing Windows, the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 is worth considering. This is among the best Chromebooks around for those on a tight budget, thanks to its build quality, compact form, and impressive display. You’ll have to provide your own stylus, though.

HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 review: Specs

HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 review: Design

• Super thin
• Premium build quality
• Incongruous stylus storage

The Ultra Flip exhibits an understated but fetching design. I especially liked the dark blue colorway of my review unit, departing from the monochromatic crowd (although a grey finish is also available). I also liked the angular back corners, which add interest and serve a practical purpose that I’ll explain later.

It feels more premium than many others in the space, too. The aluminum body is as sturdy as you’d expect, a feat that’s all the more remarkable given just how thin the whole unit is. Meanwhile, the lid is both easy to adjust and perfectly stable once in place.

The downside of this construction, though, is the weight. The Ultra Flip is noticeably heavier than some of its plastic rivals, and while it’s still perfectly fit for backpacks or suitcases, those who are fastidious about traveling light might feel let down — literally.

Other portability issues arise courtesy of the included stylus, HP’s MPP 2.0 Tilt Pen. It’s quite large and thick, which makes it cumbersome when stored on the side of the laptop, as it has a tendency to catch and fall off when you’re depositing and retrieving the laptop from a bag. It can often fall off completely in such cases, since the magnets aren’t strong enough to keep the pen in place.

I also experienced times when the pen would rotate towards the underside of the base whenever I lifted the Ultra Flip up, resulting in it being crushed when I set it down again.

Having said all this, there’s plenty to like about the Tilt Pen’s design. That sizable form makes it easy to hold, while its two buttons are generously proportioned and well placed, which makes them easy to operate with your writing hand. And while the pen doesn’t support wireless charging, the USB-C port is at least discreetly locked away behind an elegant sliding mechanism.

For such a thin laptop, you mightn’t be surprised to learn that the Ultra Flip’s port selection is limited. There are no USB-A ports, which might cause peripheral-heavy users some headaches, since even the best mice and keyboards today still employ the standard in their dongles.

There are three USB-C ports, though, and the Ultra Flip deploys a clever space-saving trick with two of them, as they’re integrated within those aforementioned rear corners. What’s more, this placement helps to keep any connected cables out of the way, as well as making it easy to locate each port without having to crane your neck to see exactly where they are.

It’s a shame, though, that these two corner ports differ in their specification. The one in the right corner is Thunderbolt 4 — which supports 40Gbps transfer speeds, Power Delivery and DisplayPort 2.1 — while the one on the left isn’t, only supporting 10Gbps transfer speeds, DisplayPort 1.4a, and lacks fast charging.

It would be more convenient if both corner ports were Thunderbolt 4 to accommodate a wider variety of locations of monitors and power sources that require it. Instead, the other Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port is located on the right side of the base, which is less practical.

HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 review: Performance

• Sharp and rich OLED display
• Unintrusive yet noticeable fan noise
• Responsive touchscreen and stylus

For everyday use, the Ultra Flip is highly capable. It can handle light productivity and entertainment with ease, including multi-tab browsing and 4K video streaming.

I was also surprised by how well it gamed, despite lacking a dedicated GPU. It ran Cyberpunk 2077 at the Ray Tracing: Low preset in a state that was playable, if very rough-and-ready. It’s certainly not going to trouble the best gaming laptops, but for some quick fun, it suffices.

However, it failed to complete Puget Bench’s benchmark for Adobe Premiere, due to a certain GPU effect being unable to render. I had this same problem when I tested the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+, which also has no dedicated GPU, so I suspect this shared aspect is the culprit in both cases. Video editors, therefore, might want to look elsewhere.

At times, the fans can emit a noticeable amount of noise, even when moderate workloads are being conducted. However, the sound is low-pitched and more hushed than that of other laptop fans, which makes it less grating. Extreme temperatures are kept at bay, too, with any heat generated confined to the very rear of the base.

The widescreen OLED display is one of the Ultra Flip’s highlights. The 3K resolution is gloriously sharp, while colors are deep and rich, with that typical OLED contrast living up to its acclaim. Some reflections are revealed under suboptimal lighting conditions, but I found the high brightness levels available were often enough to combat them effectively. What’s more, the touchscreen is responsive and accurate, making it great to use with fingers or the Tilt Pen.

The keyboard of the Ultra Flip is very light and snappy, which makes for quick and easy typing. The ultra low profile of the keys also helps in this regard, although those who hammer away might find them a little harsh, due to their lack of dampening. There are plenty of useful shortcuts on the F row, but the lack of a number pad or even a navigation cluster hampers productivity.

There are no such issues with the touchpad, though. Its silky-smooth surface combined with its large surface area makes it easy to navigate with. What’s more, it supports plenty of gestures, although they’re somewhat hidden away, requiring the use of the preinstalled HP app to enable them.

There are even two ‘sliders’ either side of the touchpad, used to control volume and brightness respectively. They feature prominent haptic feedback that emulates notches as you make your adjustments, similar in feel to those of a scroll wheel. These can feel a little at odds with your actual finger movement, lacking the level of responsiveness I would’ve liked. The clicking sound produced is also quite loud and not particularly pleasant. However, these are minor quibbles, and the controls work well overall.

HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 review: Battery life

The battery life of the Ultra Flip is very impressive. HP claims it can last just over 16 hours unplugged, but this figure is something of an underestimate. When I played back a movie on a continuous loop, it actually managed to sustain itself for 18 hours.

This puts it in league with the most enduring laptops around. Very few can outlast it, but one that can is MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+, another 2-in-1 machine. This managed over 30 hours, which is pretty much unbeatable in the laptop sphere.

Fully charging the Ultra Flip from empty took a little over two hours, which is also admirable.

Should I buy the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…