HP releases new MacBook Neo rival with OLED touchscreen display and Intel Wildcat Lake

HP has unveiled its latest Star Book Air 14 laptop in China, where it carries a different name from its international counterpart, the OmniBook 5 14. While both laptops share similar core specifications. To recall, the OmniBook 5 14 debuted last month in the global market with a $699 price tag. As for the China price, the laptop is priced at CNY 5,399 (~$740). In comparison, the Chinese variant is priced around $40 higher than its global counterpart.

It comes as a direct rival to Apple’s MacBook Neo (curr. at $689 on Amazon). Dimensionally, the laptop is thinner and lighter than Apple’s MacBook Neo, measuring 11.77 mm (0.46-inch) thick and weighing 1.16 kg (2.56 lbs), compared with the latter’s 12.7 mm thickness (0.50-inch) and 1.23 kg (2.71 lbs) weight. Both laptops ship with aluminum enclosures, although the HP model also offers a hinge that opens up to 180°. 

Under the hood, the Star Book Air 14 is powered by the Intel Core 5 320 processor paired with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD. Furthermore, the machine sports a 14-inch OLED display that outputs at 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution with 10-point touch support. Plus, the display also carries TUV hardware low blue light and HP Eye Ease certifications, which reduce eye strain during extended use. Unfortunately, HP hasn’t specified the display’s refresh rate. For context, the global variant ships with a 120 Hz OLED panel. 

A 60 Wh battery powers the entire unit, rated for up to 42.5 hours of runtime on a single charge. Connectivity options include an HDMI 2.1, a 3.5 headphone jack, and two USB-C ports. Other features include an FHD IR camera, dual microphones, and speakers tuned by Poly and DTS Ultra audio technology. Interested buyers can purchase the laptop in China through JD.com.