HP Omen 16 AMD 2023 Review: A solid gaming laptop for a pretty good price
Pros:
– Solid performance thanks to the CPU and GPU package
– Solid performance for the price
– No non-sense design
– Improved cooling design
– Bang & Olufsen speakers
– Solid build quality
– High refresh rate display
– Pretty solid selection and positioning of ports
Cons:
– Battery life
– Fans can get a little loud
– Materials used are a fingerprint magnet
– 1080P display could have used with more contrast
– Can be a bit cumbersome to carry around
– Missing an SD card reader
Price: Rs 1,34,999/-
Rating: 4/5
Many people tend to assume that gaming hardware always comes with a hefty price tag. HP’s Omen Lineup, however, defies this stereotype in a refreshing manner. The Omen series of gaming laptops, in essence, offers a solution that gets the job done without unnecessary frills and the typical drawbacks associated with traditional gaming laptops.
Enter the HP Omen 16, a standout in the Omen lineup that embodies all the qualities one seeks in a budget-friendly gaming laptop — an impressive performance, robust build quality, and a reasonable price point that won’t obliterate your bank balance. In a nutshell, this machine stands out as an exceptional piece of hardware, appealing not only to casual users but also to seasoned gamers who are more than willing to make it their daily driver.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
What sets the Omen 16 apart is not just its performance and affordability, but also its thoughtful design. HP has struck a perfect balance by incorporating RGB elements into the keyboard rather than saturating the entire body with flashy lights. This design choice allows the laptop to seamlessly transition from a hardcore gaming session to a serious, no-nonsense boardroom meeting.
The subtlety and refinement in the aesthetics of the Omen 16 set it apart from the crowd, a quality that many gaming laptops attempt to emulate but seldom achieve.
In our review of the latest addition to the Omen lineup, we delve into what makes the HP Omen 16 the go-to gaming laptop worth investing your hard-earned money in if you’re currently in the market for one.
HP Omen 16 AMD 2023 Review: Specs and features
Our test unit of the HP Omen 16 was powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU. The system came equipped with a dual-channel configuration of 16GB DDR5 RAM (2x16GB) running at a speedy 5600MHz.
In terms of graphics, our testing model was outfitted with the laptop version of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, boasting 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM for robust graphics performance.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
The display on our unit featured a 16.1-inch FHD (1920X1080) IPS micro-edge display, with an impressive refresh rate of 165Hz and support for Low Blue Light, aiming to alleviate eye strain during extended use.
For storage, our unit was equipped with a 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 SSD, providing ample and high-speed storage capacity. In terms of connectivity, users had access to two USB-C ports with a 10Gbps signalling rate, one of which supports DisplayPort 1.4a. Additionally, there were two USB Type-A ports with a 5Gbps signalling rate, an HDMI 2.1 port, an RJ-45 Ethernet port, a headphone/mic combo jack, and an AC smart pin. Wireless connectivity options included WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
The battery on our unit boasted an impressive capacity of 83Whr, and it could be charged using one of the USB-C ports or the proprietary connector, providing flexibility for users on the go.
HP Omen 16 AMD 2023 Review: Design and build quality
The design philosophy behind the HP Omen 16 2023 is aptly described as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” HP has crafted most of the laptop using a pretty solid grade of plastic that doesn’t feel cheap at all. Only the top lid is made using aluminium. The unit we tested came in the Shadow Black colour, and it looked premium and sophisticated. With the RGB lighting on the keyboard turned off, the laptop becomes very stealthy and seamlessly blends into a professional corporate setting.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
Despite its unassuming aesthetics, the HP Omen 16 reveals just how capable it is as a machine, thanks to the array of vents at both the sides and the bottom of the laptop. Although HP is using a new design of larger and more squarish air vents for better cooling performance, it has been done in a very aesthetic manner. You also get a set of vents under the chassis.
The plastic top lid has some flex but it is minimal. Bezels are again, thin, but not the thinnest by any margin. The lid comes with this really cool-looking chrome-finished OMEN logo that looks awesome when light hits it in a certain way. The hinge that HP has used for the Omen is again, pretty solid. The lid can be effortlessly opened with one hand and we don’t get to see any unnecessary wobbling. Thin bezels surround the screen on the left, and right edges, with a slightly thicker bezel at the top and an even thicker one at the bottom, proudly showcasing the Omen logo.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
The Omen 16 stands out for its excellent port selection, strategically distributed across all edges of the machine. At the rear, you’ll find a full-size HDMI 2.1 port, Ethernet, the power jack, and a lone USB-A port—arranged thoughtfully to keep the bulkier cables neatly routed away from the laptop’s immediate workspace.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
On the left side, you’ll discover two USB-C ports, with one supporting USB power delivery, alongside a 3.5mm headphone jack. Meanwhile, on the right side toward the back, there’s a discreetly positioned USB-A port, ensuring it stays unobtrusive, especially for users employing an external mouse. This thoughtful layout enhances the overall user experience, providing convenient access to a versatile range of ports without cluttering any particular side of the laptop.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
Built like a tank with a weight exceeding 2.32 kilograms, the Omen 16 may seem hefty at first. However, considering the robust specifications and the necessary cooling system housed within, the weight becomes more justified and less burdensome.
HP Omen 16 AMD 2023 Review: Keyboard and trackpad
The keyboard on the Omen 16, has a pretty good travel distance and feels mushy at first, but it is very comfortable to work with and provides a pretty easy and enjoyable typing experience. The keycaps are well-sized and spaced, although, we do miss a number pad. And although the key presses and switch actuation are average, it certainly is better than what we have seen on many laptops that cost more than this.
The Omen 16 features four-zone key lighting, with one of the zones dedicated to the crucial WASD keys. The Light Studio, where users can customize this dynamic lighting setup, is conveniently located in the Omen Game Hub—a user-friendly interface that puts control over the keyboard lighting right at your fingertips. The keyboard comes with 26-key rollover anti-ghosting.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
While the HP Omen 16 is undeniably a gaming laptop, it surprises with a generously sized trackpad. Positioned towards the left side to allow comfortable typing, this design choice frees up extra space on the right.
The trackpad itself is pretty accurate and easy to use, delivering excellent tracking and abd palm rejection sensitivity. It proves suitable for everyday tasks, though gamers inclined towards precision may opt for an external mouse, minimizing the importance of any minor trackpad considerations.
HP Omen 16 AMD 2023 Review: Webcam and speakers
The webcam is housed on the top bezel of the display. We get a 1080P FHD webcam with IR and a physical shutter for security and privacy.
The camera on the device captures images and videos that are more than satisfactory for essential tasks. However, if you have aspirations of streaming while gaming, you might want to consider investing in a separate camera for enhanced quality.
The built-in camera is quite adept in reproducing colours as a typical camera in a laptop and performs well even in challenging lighting conditions. It’s more than sufficient for your typical video conferencing needs. Additionally, the device features an integrated array of dual digital microphones equipped with temporal noise reduction, ensuring clear audio during your virtual meetings and conversations.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
The speakers from Bang & Olufsen deliver an expansive sound characterized by good stereo dispersion, albeit with a noticeable bias towards higher volume on the left side. Strategically placed towards the front, just beneath the display, the sound emanates directly or reflects off the screen for an immersive experience.
While the bass lacks a certain punch, the overall audio quality provides a pleasant experience across various media—be it music, films, games, or vocals. It’s not exceptional, but it’s certainly decent.
The speakers demonstrate a well-balanced output, achieving noteworthy volume levels without distortion. Even at 70 per cent volume, the sound is loud enough to easily fill a room.
HP Omen 16 AMD 2023 Review: Display
The display on our test unit was a 16.1-inch FHD (1920X1080) IPS micro-edge display, with a refresh rate of 165Hz, with 7ms of response time and support for Low Blue Light to reduce the strain on your eyes.
Although the resolution may not be exceptionally high, the high refresh rate more thank makes it up and suits the laptop for what it is meant to do — gaming. And because this is a gaming laptop, the 16:10 aspect ratio doesn’t seem that weird.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
The image quality-wise, the display truly bring colours to life. It covers 100 per cent of the sRGB colour space. With excellent brightness and colour reproduction, this display appears to have everything one could desire in a gaming display.
However, even for an LCD panel, the display isn’t that bright and is rated at 300 nits. Having said that, the colours are still vibrant, with impressive contrast levels.
Content consumption is still great, games look really good, but not to an extent that you will be blown avail. The focus is really on gaming and not on sitting back and enjoying the visuals of an environment-rich game like Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
HP Omen 16 AMD 2023 Review: Performance: Productivity and Gaming
The Omen 16 AMD showcases an impressive hardware setup, powered by the formidable AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU boasting 8 cores, 16 threads, and a maximum boost clock of 5.1 GHz. Accompanying this powerhouse is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM.
This configuration allows the laptop to strike a balance between performance, maintaining coolness during lighter workloads, and preserving graphic functionality when running on battery power or in eco mode.
We also get the Omen Gaming Hub provides control over the keyboard’s RGB, temperature and also allows resource utilization monitoring, fan curve customization for improved cooling, and the ability to switch between performance modes for enhanced efficiency and longer battery life.
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The overall performance of the Omen 16 is nothing short of exceptional. The Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU excels in both single-threaded and multithreaded workloads, as demonstrated by outstanding results in benchmark tests. The RTX 4060’s healthy 145W TGP allows it ample room for optimal performance.
The effectiveness of the package is enhanced by HP’s designed cooling solution, the Therman First Trunk Design, featuring larger fans for increased airflow and improved heat dissipation efficiency. HP’s optimization of the cooling mechanism, which includes a 15 per cent reduction in fin length, contributes to the laptop’s ability to stay cool even during prolonged gaming sessions or benchmark runs.
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Practically, the laptop maintains cool temperatures, even during demanding tasks, as observed in a half-hour gaming session. While the fan’s volume is noticeable at maximum speeds, the laptop’s surfaces, including the area around the keyboard housing the GPU and CPU, remain cool. However, areas near the vent can become considerably warm, especially towards the back and the bottom of the laptop.
Benchmarks further emphasize the Omen 16’s outstanding performance. In 3DMark’s Time Spy test, the laptop achieved a score of 10,440. Cinebench R23 yielded a single-core score of 1,684 and a multicore score of 16,016. PCMark10’s overall score stood at 7,410, while in Crossmark, the laptop achieved an Overall score of 1.560, a Productivity score of 1.545, Creativity score of 1,668, and a Responsiveness score of 1,215. In Geekbench6, a single-core score of 2,498 and multi-core score of 11,218 were recorded.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
Gaming performance is equally impressive, with titles like Red Dead Redemption II, Forza Horizon 5, Cyberpunk 2077, Far Cry 6, GTA V, Call of Duty Warzone 2.0, and Valorant running smoothly at the highest presets, 1920X1080 resolution, and ray tracing off.
In 1080p, we got some pretty solid framerates, with averages of 70 fps in Red Dead Redemption II, 103 fps in Forza Horizon 5, 67 in Cyberpunk 2077, 98 fps in Far Cry 6, 121 in GTA V, 92 fps in Call of Duty Warzone 2.0, and 310 fps in Valorant.
HP Omen 16 AMD 2023 Review: Battery
The Omen 16 comes with a pretty sizeable battery pack. It has a 6-cell, 83W/hr battery, and that supports fast charge. The Omen 16 comes with a pretty sizeable battery pack. It has a 6-cell, 83W/hr battery, and that supports fast charge. However, as expected from a gaming laptop, The Omen 16 doesn’t excel in the battery life department, and has a rather mediocre battery life.
On an average day of work, which consisted of a ton of writing, some photo editing, and quite a bit of content consumption on YouTube and Netflix, we got about 5 hours of usage at about 65 per cent screen brightness.
During our extended battery testing, where we play a 4K Video on YouTube on 75 per cent brightness and 50 per cent volume, the Omen 16 lasted just over 2.5 hours. As with all the serious, hardcore gaming laptops that we have tried, battery life isn’t a strong suit for the Omen 16.
While the Omen 16 doesn’t rank as the worst in terms of battery life, there is room for improvement, and HP could enhance the machine’s longevity when operating on battery power. Fortunately, the Omen Gaming Hub offers a setting that allows users to automatically switch to Eco mode upon disconnecting the charger, although we kept that setting off.
HP Omen 16 AMD 2023 Review: Verdict
The HP Omen 16 AMD faces some really tough competition from its competitors. However, it has one major advantage up its sleeve — its price.
Priced at Rs 1,39,999, the HP Omen 16 comes with a CPU and GPU package that performs really well, especially when you consider that most other gaming laptops at this price point are either using the previous gen RTX 3000 series, or have nerfed the RTX 4000 GPUs by giving it way less headroom for power and thermals.
Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das
HP has been very strategic about some of the compromises it made to keep the price tag of Omen 16 under check, and while there are areas that could see improvement—such as a brighter screen and limited battery life, even when using integrated graphics—the Omen impresses where it matters most for gamers.
The combination of a powerful processor and GPU delivers remarkable gaming performance. Additionally, the high-refresh display ensures smooth and detailed graphics, offering a competitive edge for gamers.
Despite its drawbacks, the Omen 16 manages to deliver on the essentials, making it a solid choice for those seeking an affordable yet potent gaming experience.
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