HP OMEN 16 Review

The overall design doesn't stray away from the previous gen Omen models much. You still get that sophisticated all black look which gives the laptop a sense of class and elegance with an undertone of subtlety. Pull it out in a Starbucks and while it may not garner the same attention the Alienware X16 would, it catches the eyeballs of many.

It’s understated design also comes with great build quality. We couldn’t find any faults when performing our standard display lid bend test and the overall results are nothing surprising. It’s built well and like a tank. The major design changes are an extended backside and bigger vents to accommodate better cooling and as a result, higher TGP targets. 

What is immediately apparent though is the sense of space you get when you open the lid. The keyboard is massive and it seems they’ve shrunk the trackpad by a bit. But we’ll come to that later. The Omen 16 is a gorgeous mature slab to look at.

You get two options to choose from. One is a 1080p 165Hz panel and the other is a 1440p 240Hz panel. Our unit came with the 240Hz panel and for any respectable gamer who wants to compete in fast-paced Volarent or Overwatch or even CS, this is the panel to go with. The tones are well balanced, nothing out of the ordinary, however the brightness could be an issue if you plan to work on your laptop outdoors. It really doesn’t do so well outdoors so you rather stick to your dingy gaming room.

The keyboard is pretty much the same unit that you would get on the 2022 model. It is well spaced out and satisfying to type on as well. While the keys are well spaced out people with larger fingers might feel the need for larger keycaps. We didn’t find this to be an issue on the recently reviewed Lenovo LOQ laptop. It’s a peculiar issue but nothing that should be a deterrent. The RGB disco on the keyboard is customisable via the Omen Gaming Hub. The smaller trackpad does its job as intended and we didn’t find any particular issues with it.

Our unit sports the Intel i7-13700HX along with 32GB RAM paired with the Nvidia RTX 4080. It’s quite the spec when it comes to performance and it doesn’t disappoint one bit. With the laptop set to dGPU mode through the HP Omen Hub and everything maxed out, even the fan speed, we got a cool 115fps average while playing GTA V on Ultra settings, over 150fps for Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk hovered at 75fps on QHD. For those who care, 3D Mark 11 scores are above 55,000 on the graphics test and above 23,000 on the Physics parameters. 

The temperatures are also kept in check wonderfully while gaming and we didn’t feel any particularly unusual heating spots on the laptop. The WASD area remains quite cool throughout with most of the heat can be felt around the top middle area of the keyboard since that’s where the pipes are underneath.

The HP Omen Hub is where you control everything. It even has a marketplace and a community section that shares interesting wallpapers and other bits. It’s a nice way to keep you engaged with other gamers and like minded individuals and can be a great way to team up for relevant games. We wish the others in the industry incorporate this as well. However you do need to be signed in to make any changes to your laptop which creates another step before taking things into your own hands which can be frustrating since others don’t have such restrictions like the recently reviewed Lenovo LOQ. It’s just a click and go ease of use scenario which seems to be missing here.

With a starting price of Rs. 1,04,999 for the Core i5 unit with the RTX 4050, the Omen series undercuts its rivals by quite a margin for similar specs. You get the beautiful looks and solid build along with better thermal management and the sprawling HP community. The package is commendable. Throw in the free HyperX Cloud gaming headset with the laptop when you buy one and the deal sounds sweeter still. There’s even a special chip built in for easy connectivity with the headset too. However, even when you progress to the higher specs, it still manages to undercut the Legion Pro series and the Alienware by a fair bit while offering similar performance.