Amazon’s Big Spring Sale doesn’t officially begin until tomorrow, but early deals have already started sprouting. The clock is ticking on a sale for the HP Stream 14, which is discounted to $329 right now. This deal is set to expire at midnight PT tonight.
I review laptops for CNET, but rarely test a model this inexpensive. The closest I’ve come to the HP Stream 14 recently is the MacBook Neo, which costs $599, and the Acer Aspire 14 AI, which costs $575. The HP Stream 14 makes those budget laptops seem positively pricey by comparison. There are some trade-offs you’ll need to accept with a laptop at this low of a price, but the HP Stream 14 is not without its charms. Let’s get into things.
LAPTOP DEALS OF THE WEEK
Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.
HP Stream 14 specs
The HP Stream 14 is based on an Intel N150 processor. Amazon labels it as a member of Intel’s Celeron line, but it’s from a newer series that takes the place of the retired Celeron brand. The N150 chip is from the Intel N series that was developed under the codename Twin Lake. Like Celeron before it, the N series comprises lower-power mobile processors for budget laptops. The Intel N150 is a four-core chip released in early 2025, so it’s not some ancient processor ill-equipped for today’s demands.
The Intel N150 supports up to 16GB of RAM, and I am happy to see the HP Stream 14 offers that maximum, especially with the global RAM shortage driving up prices. I’m less enthusiastic about the memory being DDR4 rather than the newer DDR5 variety that the chip supports, but 16GB of DDR4 RAM is better than 8GB of DDR5. And most laptops that cost less than $500 come with only 8GB of RAM.
The Stream 14 is short on internal storage, but comes bundled with a docking station that more than doubles the capacity. The Stream 14 has an internal 128GB eMMC drive, and the docking station comes with 128GB of flash storage, plus a 32GB microSD card, for a total of 288GB.
The display is a bit of a disappointment. It’s a 14-inch display with a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and only a 1,366×768-pixel resolution. Most of today’s laptops offer a more modern 16:10 ratio and at least a 1,920×1,200-pixel resolution. So, it’s not going to have the sharpest picture, but should suffice for basic web browsing, emailing and office tasks.
The Stream 14 offers a nice selection of ports with both USB-C and USB-A ports, along with an HDMI port and an SD card slot. And the docking station adds more of each.
HP Stream 14 software
Like many entry-level laptops, the Stream 14 features Windows 11 Home in S Mode, a limited version of Windows 11 Home that emphasizes security and lets you download apps only from the Microsoft Store. You can always switch out of S Mode and install the full version of Windows 11 Home, but there’s no way to switch back. Notably, you won’t find Google’s Chrome browser in the Microsoft Store, so you’ll need to use Microsoft’s Edge or another alternative in the Store, such as Firefox.
The upshot of S Mode is you might get a bit better performance and even longer battery life with the streamlined OS that’s designed to run on lower-spec hardware, in addition to the added protection against malware.
Also on the software front: The laptop includes one year of Office 365, which is a nice bonus on such a cheap laptop.
HP Stream 14 colors and pricing
The Stream 14 offers three color choices: blue, gold and silver. The silver model is the cheapest at $329. Gold costs $10 more, and blue costs $20 more.
Amazon lists a full price of $549, but that’s an inflated figure. This model was released with a full price of $399, so you are saving $70 at the silver model’s current sale price.
HP Stream 14 verdict
If you need a laptop for basic tasks and web browsing and can’t or don’t want to spend $500 to $600 on something like the MacBook Neo or Acer Aspire 14 AI, the HP Stream 14 is a suitable step down. The combination of the Intel N150 processor and 16GB of memory should provide enough performance for general, everyday use.
Read the full article here