HP Stream Latest Stream 14" HD 2023, Core i5-1135G7, 16GB, 1TB eMMC, Silver

The HP Stream 14 has a screen in the 1st percentile of our database, which is the worst display we've seen on a modern laptop. It's cheap though, with prices ranging from $189 to $680, and at the low end it's a passable machine for basic tasks. The 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage will frustrate you daily, but the 11.5-hour claimed battery life and included Office 365 subscription soften the blow.

Let's be blunt: the Celeron N4120 is a 4-core, 4-thread chip with a 2.6GHz burst clock, and it sits in the 32nd percentile for CPUs in our database. That's below average, and you'll feel it every time Windows decides to run an update or you open more than a handful of Chrome tabs. The 4GB of DDR4 RAM is even worse at the 26th percentile, which means multitasking is a constant exercise in patience. And the 64GB of eMMC storage? That's not an SSD. It's the same kind of flash storage you'd find in a cheap tablet, and it's slow. Really slow. Boot times are okay, but anything involving file transfers or app installs will make you want to take a coffee break.

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 600 lands in the 47th percentile, which sounds almost respectable until you realize it's still an integrated GPU from a budget Celeron. Gaming is the weakest area here at 11.9 out of 100, so don't even think about it. The one bright spot is battery life, which HP claims can hit 11.5 hours. We haven't tested it ourselves, but a few owners report it's surprisingly decent, especially if you ditch Windows for something lighter like Arch Linux. That's not a solution for everyone, but it tells you something about how much overhead Windows 11 S mode adds to this hardware.

Stack this against the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and it's not even a fair fight. The ThinkPad has a better screen, better build quality, and a CPU that doesn't make you want to cry. But it also costs several times more. The Acer Aspire A14-52M-72FH and ASUS Vivobook X1404VAP are closer competitors in the budget space, and both offer better displays and more storage for not much more money. The MacBook Pro 16 is in a completely different universe, but it's worth mentioning because one reviewer compared the Stream's battery life to their MacBook Air M4 after installing Linux. That's a fun data point, but it doesn't make this a MacBook competitor. It makes it a cheap laptop that punches above its weight only when you strip out the operating system it ships with.

Here's where things get weird. The price spread across US listings is $491, from $189 to $680. At $189, this is a genuinely interesting deal for a secondary machine or a kid's first laptop. At $680, it's a scam. You're paying MacBook-adjacent money for a Celeron with a screen from 2012. The affordability percentile is 95th, but that's based on the low end of that range. If you're seeing this listed anywhere near the top of that spread, walk away. The Office 365 subscription adds some real value, since a year of Microsoft 365 alone runs about $70, but that doesn't excuse paying $500+ for this hardware. Shop around, check the actual listing price, and don't get fooled by the bundle.

The HP Stream 14 is cheap, and that's about the nicest thing we can say before the numbers start talking. At 4.2 stars from 201 reviews, people seem to like it, but our database puts the screen in the 1st percentile. That's not a typo. One. Percent. A 1366x768 TN panel at 220 nits with 45% NTSC coverage is the kind of display you'd find on a budget laptop from a decade ago, and it's the single biggest reason this thing is hard to recommend for anything beyond basic tasks.

But here's the twist: the affordability score lands in the 95th percentile, and that's the entire pitch. You're getting a Windows 11 laptop with a one-year Office 365 subscription for somewhere between $189 and $680 depending on the listing. The Celeron N4120, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage are all firmly in the bottom third of our rankings, but for a kid's school machine or a Linux tinker toy, that might be enough. Just don't expect it to feel fast doing anything more demanding than a web browser with a few tabs open.

If you care about your eyes, skip this. The 1st percentile screen is genuinely bad, with a TN panel that shifts colors when you tilt it and a resolution that makes text look fuzzy. If you need to run anything beyond a web browser and Office apps, the 4GB of RAM and Celeron N4120 will have you staring at loading spinners. And if you're buying this for a student who needs to install software, the 64GB of eMMC storage will be full before the first semester ends. The 33rd percentile reliability score also suggests this isn't a machine built to last, so anyone hoping for a multi-year daily driver should look elsewhere.

The HP Stream 14 is a $189 laptop pretending to be a $680 laptop, and the truth is somewhere in the middle. If you can find it at the low end of that price range, need something for basic web browsing, word processing, and email, and you're willing to live with a terrible screen and sluggish performance, it's a defensible purchase. The Office 365 bundle sweetens the deal. But the 1st percentile screen, 26th percentile RAM, and 33rd percentile reliability score are all red flags that this machine is built to a price point, not a standard. For most people, spending a bit more on something with an actual SSD and a 1080p display will be money well spent.