Set to launch some time this summer, the HP Omen 16 and the Victus 15 will start at $1,199 and $799, respectively.
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HP Omen 16 specs
You can configure the HP Omen 16 with up to an 12th Gen Intel Core processor or an AMD Ryzen 6000 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, 3050 Ti, 3060, 3070 Ti or an AMD Radeon RX 6650M GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB PCIe Gen 4x4 SSD. Both the Intel and AMD models are outfitted with a 16.1-inch, 2560 x 1440, 165Hz display with 100% sRGB and a 3-millisecond response time. That sounds nice on paper, but we’ll see if it can hold up when it gets to our lab. As far as the design goes, it’s 22.5 millimeters thin and comes in a gorgeous ceramic white design (only Intel models) or the typical black chassis. For ports, you’ll get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, three USB Type-A ports, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, an RJ-45 Ethernet port, and a headphone jack. The HP Omen 16 comes with a 4-cell, 70Wh battery, which is decent. The biggest battery you can stuff in a laptop is 99.9Whr. However, keep in mind that even the biggest of batteries can drain incredibly fast if the software is not optimized correctly.
Victus 15 specs
The Victus 15 can be configured with an Intel Core i7-12700H or AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, 16GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6500M GPU, and a 512GB SSD. You’ll get a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 144Hz display with a 9-millisecond response time, which is decent for a laptop at this price. Let’s just hope it’s colorful and bright enough to see what you’re doing. The Victus 15 comes in at 0.93 inches thick and weighs about five pounds, which is a bit chunky for a 15-inch notebook nowadays. The laptop comes in a silver, black, and a sleek blue. For ports, you’ll get one USB Type-C port, two USB Type-A ports, an RJ-45 Ethernet port, a headphone jack, an HDMI port, and an SD card slot. This laptop also comes with a 4-cell, 70Wh battery, and according to HP, it can last up to 9 hours on video playback, whereas mixed usage will net you 6 hours and 45 minutes. I would rely on the latter number if you’re interested in purchasing this product — it seems more realistic, but we’ll see what we get in our own lab.
Outlook
I love affordable gaming notebooks, especially when companies get it right. Unfortunately, it’s very few and far between, but it does happen. Power should be the only thing you sacrifice when getting a cheap gaming notebook, not the display or keyboard. We’ll see if the HP Omen 16 and Victus 15 can live up to that.
