An okay laptop with 16GB of RAM is better than a nice laptop with 8GB, and this $520 HP OmniBook proves it

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Laptop prices are out of whack. $500 used to get you a tolerable laptop, and $900 got you a really good one. They often had similar CPU, RAM, and storage options because that stuff was comparatively cheap; the difference was often in build quality and screen rather than power. But RAMageddon has thrown everything off. Even laptops like the $950 Surface Laptop now start with 8GB of RAM, which isn’t enough. And on the lower end, where manufacturers are struggling to compete with the $700 MacBook Neo, they’re cutting corners on storage, CPU, and build quality too.

However, one low-cost laptop has bucked this and genuinely surprised me. HP’s 16-inch OmniBook 3 is a basic productivity laptop that regularly goes for around $520 at Walmart and Amazon . It has Qualcomm’s base Snapdragon X chip, meaning passable everyday performance and excellent battery life. But it also has a humdrum screen, mediocre speakers, a run-of-the-mill trackpad, and a plastic build. Pre-RAMageddon, it would be nothing to write home about.

But 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD in an okay laptop for around $500? That counts as good news in 2026.

Very affordable for a 16-inch with 16GB of RAM in 2026 Great battery life Ample-sized number pad for you number pad folks Mostly decent all around — and for around $500 that makes it pretty good

Screen and speakers are basic Some chassis flex and plastic creaks Keyboard a little stiff, leading to some typos

The entry-level OmniBook 3 I tested has an 8-core Snapdragon X processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and a 16-inch 1920 x 1200 anti-glare IPS LCD. And the OmniBook 3 is fairly portable for a larger laptop with lots of ports. It’s barely heavier than a 14-inch MacBook Pro, and at a maximum thickness of 0.63 inches / 16mm it’s decently thin. This big laptop doesn’t feel big. And despite a plastic chassis and low price it doesn’t feel too cheap either.

As much as I would like to see more cheap Windows laptops with the sleek looks and sturdy all-metal build of the MacBook Neo, I wouldn’t mind if more of them were like the OmniBook 3. Its screen, keyboard, trackpad, and webcam are all at least passable to decent. There isn’t anything special here, but unlike the Chuwi UniBook there’s also nothing that feels like a punishment.

The 1920 x 1200 / 60Hz screen isn’t high-quality or bright enough to combat the sun when taken outside (it maxes out at 300 nits of brightness and covers a paltry 62.5 percent of the sRGB color space), but it isn’t washed out or bleeding light at its edges. The mechanical trackpad has a basic diving board-style hinge, but a confident and decent-feeling kachunk-y click. The 1080p webcam is actually fairly sharp, and it does a good job handling backlight from a bright window — with only a hint of green color cast. But hey, at least it has Windows Hello face unlocking.