HP HP14, Celeron N4500, 16GB, 64GB SSD + 512GB SSD, Rose Gold

The HP14 is a $320 USD budget laptop with a surprising 16GB of RAM and 576GB of total storage, but the Celeron N4500 CPU is a serious bottleneck. Gaming is essentially off the table with a 9.9 out of 100 score, and the 1366 x 768 display is dated. It's fine for basic schoolwork and browsing, but anyone doing more than that should save up for something with a better processor.

The Celeron N4500 is the bottleneck here, and it's not close. With 2 cores and 2 threads running up to 2.8GHz, this chip lands in the bottom fifth of all laptop CPUs we track. It'll handle a few browser tabs, Word documents, and video calls, but don't expect snappy multitasking. The 16GB of RAM helps, but it's like putting premium tires on a go-kart. The RAM sits in the 37th percentile, which is fine for this price, but the CPU will tap out long before the memory does.

The integrated Intel Pro graphics are even less impressive, ranking in the 30th percentile. Gaming is essentially off the table, with a gaming score of 9.9 out of 100. That's not a typo. Casual browser games and solitaire will run, but anything 3D will chug. The 64GB SSD means Windows 11 will boot reasonably fast, but app launches from the SD card will feel sluggish. If you're just streaming video and typing, it's workable. If you're editing photos or running anything heavier than a spreadsheet, you'll feel the ceiling quickly.

Stacked against the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x or ASUS Zenbook UX3405CA-U7512, the HP14 looks rough. Those machines have high-resolution displays, modern processors, and proper SSD storage. The Yoga Slim 7x in particular is a standout for portability and screen quality. But again, those cost three to four times as much. The HP14 exists in a different universe.

A more realistic comparison is against other budget Windows laptops and Chromebooks. The HP14's 16GB of RAM beats most Chromebooks in this price range, and Windows 11 gives you more software flexibility. But the Celeron N4500 is slower than many mid-range Chromebook processors. The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge and MSI Prestige 16 Evo are both far more capable, but they're also premium machines. If you can stretch your budget, even a used business laptop with an older Core i5 would run circles around this Celeron.

At $320 USD, the HP14 is cheap, and that's its main selling point. You're getting 16GB of RAM and a decent amount of total storage for less than a lot of Chromebooks. But the value proposition gets murky when you look at what that money actually buys. The CPU is a serious limitation, and the screen resolution is something we'd expect from a laptop five years ago.

Compare that to the competition. The Apple MacBook Pro MWP72LL/A and Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x are in a completely different league, but they also cost several times more. The HP14 isn't trying to compete with those. It's competing with other sub-$400 laptops, and in that bracket, the RAM and storage are genuinely above average. Just don't mistake this for a hidden gem. It's a budget machine with budget compromises.

The HP14 is one of those laptops that looks like a great deal on paper until you squint at the processor. You get 16GB of RAM and a combined 576GB of storage for around $320 USD, which sounds generous. But the engine under the hood is an Intel Celeron N4500, a dual-core chip that sits in the 19th percentile for CPUs in our database. That's a pairing you don't see every day, and it tells you exactly who this machine is for.

This is a budget laptop aimed at students, office workers, and anyone who lives in a browser. The 14-inch HD display, Windows 11, and Wi-Fi 6 cover the basics. The rose gold finish and 2.09kg weight make it feel more like a daily carry than a desktop replacement. And HP Fast Charge is a nice touch if you're constantly running between classes or meetings.

The interesting wrinkle is the storage setup. It's listed as a 64GB SSD plus a 512GB SD card, not a single 576GB drive. That's an unusual configuration, and it means your actual Windows install and core apps live on a pretty small SSD. The SD card handles the bulk storage, which is slower and less reliable than a proper SSD. Keep that in mind if you plan to install big programs.

Skip this if you do anything beyond basic productivity. Photo editors, video editors, programmers, and gamers will all hit the Celeron N4500's limits fast. The 64GB SSD is another dealbreaker if you install large applications. Even casual photo editing apps will eat that space quickly, and running them from an SD card is a recipe for frustration.

If you need more power, look at a used business laptop with an older Core i5 or Ryzen 5. You can often find those for similar money, and they'll run circles around this Celeron. If you want a new machine, consider stretching to a budget laptop with at least a Core i3 or Ryzen 3 and a proper 256GB SSD. The HP14's RAM and storage numbers look good on the spec sheet, but the CPU and screen hold it back in ways that matter every single day.

For a student who needs a cheap machine for essays, email, and streaming, the HP14 is acceptable. The 16GB of RAM means you can keep a dozen browser tabs open without the system grinding to a halt, and the 576GB of total storage means you won't run out of space for documents and media. The Wi-Fi 6 and Fast Charge are genuinely useful for campus life.

For anyone doing photo editing, programming, or even light gaming, look elsewhere. The Celeron N4500 will frustrate you daily, and the 1366 x 768 screen makes everything look soft. The 64GB SSD is also a real constraint. Windows 11 alone eats a big chunk of that, and once you install a few apps, you'll be juggling storage constantly. This is a single-purpose machine: basic productivity and web browsing. Nothing more.