HP 14" 2025 Student Review
With only 4GB of RAM and a painfully slow Celeron CPU, the HP Thin 14 is a recipe for frustration. Save your $235.
Overview
Look, this HP Thin 14 is a $235 laptop, and it feels like it. It's the kind of machine you buy for a single, simple task—like checking email or browsing the web on a guest desk—and nothing more. The one thing you need to know is that its 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage are cripplingly low for modern Windows 11, even in its stripped-down 'S' mode. It's not a computer for getting work done; it's a computer for barely getting by.
Performance
Honestly, nothing surprised me in a good way. The Intel Celeron N4020 is a 2-core processor from a bygone era, landing in the 2nd percentile for CPU power. That means it's slower than 98% of other laptops. Opening more than two browser tabs feels like a gamble, and the 4GB of RAM (0th percentile) means the system is constantly hitting the virtual memory wall. The eMMC storage is also painfully slow. The only mild surprise is that it actually boots into Windows.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- It's very cheap. 92th
- It's relatively light at 1.47kg. 78th
- Windows 11 S mode keeps it somewhat secure from junkware.
- The price is the only real pro.
Cons
- 4GB of RAM is unusable for modern multitasking.
- 64GB of eMMC storage fills up instantly. 5th
- The 1366x768 screen is dim and low-resolution. 7th
- The Celeron CPU is agonizingly slow for any real task. 9th
Specifications
Full Specifications
Processor
| CPU | Intel Processor N150 |
| Cores | 2 |
| Frequency | 100 MHz |
| L3 Cache | 6 MB |
Graphics
| GPU | UHD Graphics |
| Type | integrated |
| VRAM | 4 GB |
| VRAM Type | Shared |
Memory & Storage
| RAM | 4 GB |
| RAM Generation | DDR4 |
| Storage | 128 GB |
| Storage Type | eMMC |
Display
| Size | 14" |
| Resolution | 1366 |
Connectivity
| Bluetooth | Yes |
Physical
| Weight | 1.5 kg / 3.2 lbs |
| OS | Windows 11 Home |
Value & Pricing
At $235, it's not worth it. You're paying for a brand name on a paperweight. For the same money, you could find a used business laptop from a few years ago with twice the RAM, a proper SSD, and a much more capable processor. This thing has negative value if you need to do anything productive.
Price History
vs Competition
Don't even look at the MacBook Pro or gaming laptops on the competitor list—they're in a different universe. The real comparison is to any used Lenovo ThinkPad or Dell Latitude from 2018 you can find for $200. Those will have 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSDs, and Intel Core i5 processors that will run circles around this Celeron. Even a Chromebook at this price offers a smoother, more responsive experience for web tasks than this Windows machine struggling on 4GB of RAM.
Verdict
Do not buy this laptop. It's a trap for unsuspecting buyers who see the low price and HP logo. The specs are so fundamentally inadequate for 2024 that it will be a frustrating experience from day one. If your budget is $250, buy a used business laptop or a Chromebook. This HP Thin 14 is only suitable as a disposable kiosk machine, and even then, I'd have doubts.