HP 14 14" 14-em0038ca Jet black

The HP 14-em0038ca lands in the 5th percentile for CPU performance, making it one of the slowest laptops we've ever benchmarked. At $450, the 1366x768 screen, 8GB of non-upgradeable RAM, and anemic integrated graphics make it hard to justify even for basic tasks. Skip it and find a used ThinkPad or a new Chromebook instead.

The HP 14-em0038ca lands in the bottom 5% of all laptops we've tested for CPU performance, and honestly, that's the big story here. For $450, you get an AMD Athlon Silver 7120U that struggles with basic multitasking, an 8GB RAM setup that sits in the 14th percentile, and a 1366x768 display that barely cracks the 21st percentile for screen quality. This isn't a machine for students or anyone pushing beyond a single browser tab.

But the numbers don't paint a completely hopeless picture. Its compact chassis hits the 62nd percentile, and Wi-Fi 6 is a welcome modern touch. If your workload is literally email, light document editing, and streaming at low resolution, it runs Windows 11 Home without crashing. Just don't expect more than that, because the integrated graphics and 256GB SSD (both 18th percentile) cap any ambition right out of the gate.

The Athlon Silver 7120U is a 2-core chip at 3.4GHz, and in our database it's one of the slowest laptop CPUs you can buy new today. We're talking about a processor that falls behind even budget Chromebooks from two years ago. Boot times are okay thanks to the SSD, but opening a handful of Chrome tabs or launching a Zoom call will have the fan whirring and the cursor hesitating. The 8GB of soldered RAM doesn't help, you can't upgrade it, and the 256GB storage is tight even for a light user.

Gaming is essentially a non-starter, the integrated GPU sits in the 18th percentile and our testing puts it firmly in "undemanding indie titles at lowest settings" territory. The 14-inch display's 1366x768 resolution and mediocre panel mean you'll notice soft text and washed-out colors. It's functional, but watching a movie or editing a photo will leave you wanting more. If performance matters at all, this thing is a letdown.

At $450, this HP is competing with some really capable refurbs and entry-level Chromebooks that offer sharper screens and better internals. A used Lenovo ThinkPad with an 8th-gen i5, 16GB of RAM, and a 1080p IPS display can often be found for similar money, and it'll run circles around this Athlon Silver. If you absolutely need a new Windows laptop at this price, you're paying a premium for the HP badge and not much else. The price-per-performance ratio here is one of the weakest we've seen this year.

Stacked against the MacBook Air M5 or ASUS ProArt PX13 is almost comical, those machines live in a different performance universe with CPUs in the 95th+ percentile. But even within its own budget bracket, the HP loses ground. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i offers a beautiful 120Hz OLED display and a 13th-gen Intel chip for a lot more money, sure, but it shows you what even a slight stretch can get. If $450 is your hard cap, a Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro is overkill, but a Chromebook like the Acer Spin 714 with a 1080p touchscreen and better battery life makes this HP look dated and sluggish by comparison.

Almost everyone should skip this laptop. If you need any kind of multitasking, a screen that doesn't look blurry, or a machine that won't feel obsolete in a year, your $450 is better spent on a refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad or Dell Latitude with an older but faster i5 CPU and a 1080p IPS panel. Even if you're just browsing the web and writing emails, a Chromebook in this price range often gives you a sharper display and better battery life. The only reason to pick this HP is if you absolutely require Windows 11 on a brand-new machine and have no way to stretch your budget further.

We can't recommend the HP 14-em0038ca. The Athlon Silver CPU is just too weak for 2025, and the low-res display, minimal RAM, and tight storage turn daily computing into a chore. Unless your needs are exceptionally light and you're locked into Windows, spend your $450 on a refurbished business laptop or a well-reviewed Chromebook, you'll get far more for your dollar.