Head-to-head · Best Budget Laptops Under $700

Acer Aspire 5 vs HP OmniBook 5 14

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

The short answer

HP OmniBook 5 14 comes out ahead by a narrow margin (4.1 vs 4.3). The gap is mostly about Mobile users who prioritize all-day battery life and a vivid OLED screen over maximum app compatibility and raw horsepower. — read the strengths below before deciding.

Ranked #5 in Best Budget Laptops Under $700

Acer Aspire 5

4.1

$499as of Jun 7

The Aspire 5 is the budget anchor: a genuinely cheap 15.6-inch laptop that covers the basics well, with a Ryzen 5 5500U and a surprisingly likable IPS display. PCWorld called it "a great budget option for most people," review-rating.com scored it 72/100, and Notebookcheck praised its quiet, cool operation. The soldered 8GB RAM and small SSD are real limits, but for the price it delivers the essentials.

Strengths

— One of the lowest prices for a capable 15.6-inch Windows laptop
— AMD Ryzen 5 5500U handles everyday productivity comfortably
— Praised FHD IPS panel with warm, natural-looking colors

Watch-outs

— Only 8GB of soldered, non-upgradable RAM
— 256GB SSD fills up quickly for media or app-heavy users
— Older Ryzen 5000-series platform rather than the latest chips

$499 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

Higher ratedRanked #3 in Best Budget Laptops Under $700

HP OmniBook 5 14

4.3

$909.99as of Jun 7

The OmniBook 5 14 is the battery-life champion: an ARM-based ultraportable that PCWorld and TweakTown measured at over 25 and 28 hours respectively, paired with a gorgeous 2K OLED touchscreen. PCWorld called it "a strong contender if you want a Windows laptop with great battery life," and TechRadar praised its display and endurance. The catch is the Snapdragon platform's app-compatibility quirks.

Strengths

— Outstanding battery life, exceeding 25 hours in independent video tests
— Vivid 2K OLED touchscreen with wide color gamut and deep contrast
— Light, portable 14-inch design built for all-day mobile use

Watch-outs

— Snapdragon X Plus is an ARM chip, so some Windows apps run emulated or not at all
— Performance is adequate but not exceptional for heavy workloads
— Can run warm on the rear underside under sustained load

$909.99 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

How they stack up

Acer Aspire 5

The cheapest way into this group by a wide margin, undercutting the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5, HP Pavilion 15, Acer Swift Go 14 and HP OmniBook 5 14 on price. It gives up the IdeaPad's premium aluminum build, the Pavilion's touchscreen, the Swift Go's faster CPU and the OmniBook's battery and OLED, but its likable IPS panel and rock-bottom price make it the value floor of the category.

HP OmniBook 5 14

The endurance and screen-quality pick: its battery comfortably outlasts every x86 rival here, including the Acer Swift Go 14, and its OLED panel beats the IPS screens on the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5, Acer Aspire 5 and HP Pavilion 15. The trade-off is the ARM Snapdragon platform's app-compatibility limits, which the x86 machines avoid.

Specs side-by-side

Spec	Acer Aspire 5	HP OmniBook 5 14
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 5500U (6-core)	Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 (8-core)
RAM	8GB DDR4	16GB LPDDR5x
Storage	256GB NVMe SSD	512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
Display	15.6-inch FHD (1920x1080) IPS	14-inch 2K (2880x1800) OLED touch
Graphics	AMD Radeon Graphics	—
Wireless	Wi-Fi 6	Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3
Keyboard	Backlit	—
OS	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home (Copilot+ PC)
Battery	—	Up to 34 hours rated; 25+ hours tested
Camera	—	1080p FHD IR webcam

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