The best laptop under $500 right now Save $450 on HP OmniBook with an Intel Core 5 315 CPU and Wi-Fi 7

Date:
Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:28:43 +0000

Description:
The HP OmniBook 3 is the fastest - and I think the best - laptop you can buy under $500 right now.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter The HP OmniBook 3 is the
fastest - and I think the best - laptop you can buy under $500 right now in the US.

You can buy it direct from HP for as little as $449.99 , a saving of 50% (or $450) off its SRP of $900. But I believe that the $10 Wi-Fi 7 upgrade (and Bluetooth 6.0) is a no-brainer. Save $450 HP OmniBook 3 Laptop: was $899.99 now $449.99 at HP US

Processor: Intel Core 5 315 RAM: 8GB SSD: 256GB Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 OS: Windows 11 Home Screen: 16-inch IPS, 2K resolution View Deal The star of the show is the Intel Core 5 315 CPU. This processor that powers the Omnibook 3 is surprisingly fast according to our go to test site, CPUBenchmark. With a single thread rating of almost 4,000 marks and a multithreaded rating of more than 15,300, it is way faster than the Neo (as a reminder, Apple s cheapest laptop, costs $699, a staggering 55% more expensive).

The Core 5 315 has a neural processing unit (NPU) that offers up to 15 TOPS, ideal for light AI workloads. None of the comparable chips from Intel in the same price range (Core 5 120U, Core i5-1334) offer this.

The rest of the configuration is fairly standard: 8GB of RAM (soldered and
not upgradable), a 256GB SSD (most likely PCIe 3.0, decent for the price
tag), a large 16-inch screen (full HD plus optional touchscreen feature).

There are some drawbacks: the battery is a smallish 41Whr model and its sheer size (remember that its a 16-inch, 3.61lb device) may not be to everyones taste. However, given the plethora of connectors, the not-so-shabby FHD
webcam and a dedicated numeric keypad, great for university students and high schoolers, I am ready to forgive all of its shortcomings.

I couldnt find any reviews of this exact model (16T-BU000) online. Existing reviews like this one from sister publication Windows Central , or that one from PC World , look at a different version that runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor and a completely different configuration. So bear that in mind when doing your research. Also consider Want a bigger SSD and dont care about a slower CPU, then consider the Dell 15 ( $489 at Amazon ). Not only is it slightly cheaper than the OmniBook, it is also far less expensive than buying direct from Dell where it sells for $700 .

Like the HP laptop, it has a large display (albeit with a lower brightness) and a separate numeric keypad. The highlights are the large 512GB SSD and the memory slot. The negatives include a slower processor (20% less powerful), a proprietary adapter (HPs own uses a Type-C one) and a HDMI port that cant do 4K .

Want to save a bit more money? The HP 17 has twice the memory compared to its two rivals and cost way less ( $419.99 at Newegg ). Its CPU is marginally slower than the OmniBook 3 but it has twice the memory and twice the storage (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD).

Its biggest flaw is its screen: it is big (17.3-inch) and has a lower resolution. Big screen means bigger (and heavier) laptop while a worse
display resolution means less sharp pictures. Two other niggles I found were the small battery, not idea when you have a large screen, and the HDMI 1.4b port, which doesnt support 4K.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-best-laptop-under-usd500-right-now-save-usd4 50-on-hp-omnibook-with-an-intel-core-5-315-cpu-and-wi-fi-7


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