GoKawiilOne of things I like most about the OmniBook Ultra is its design. It's super sleek and comes in two color options (eclipse gray and silk sand, which is what you see here) while offering a distinctive look that won't get lost amongst the sea of premium metal-clad laptops. Instead of aping Apple and others with a unibody chassis, HP went with a forged stamped aluminum build that increases strength and rigidity while keeping weight to a minimum and supporting good repairability.
Not only has the OmniBook Ultra passed a series of MIL-STD 810H tests for things like shock resistance, extreme temperature and humidity, accessing its internals is as simple as removing four screws, one on each corner of the system. HP even claims the Ultra is "the world's most durably slim consumer notebook," which is the marketing team's way of saying this thing is way tougher than its pretty exterior might suggest.. After more than a week of lugging it around, it certainly felt quite sturdy, though I did notice that its matte finish may be prone to scratching when tossed in a bag with other metal objects like a camera or keys. And weighing just 2.8 pounds and measuring 0.42 inches thick, the OmniBook Ultra is significantly thinner and lighter than an equivalent 14-inch MacBook Pro (3.4 pounds and 0.6 inches).
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Elsewhere, HP kept the OmniBook UItra's design super simple. When it comes to I/O, there are three USB-C ports with support for Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort 2.1 and USB Power Delivery 3.1, plus a 3.5mm audio jack. That's it aside from Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity. There's no room for a dedicated HDMI jack or an SD card reader, which may be a bit of a bummer for anyone planning on using this thing for photo or video editing. Meanwhile, there's also a very large and precise haptic touchpad along with a comfy keyboard. The keys have just the right combination of stiffness and bounce, even though HP's trapezoidal keycaps aren't my preferred shape.