HP Omen 15: A Detailed Review and Benchmarks

Do you like playing games on your desktop computer? If yes, there is a reason behind that. Desktop computers are easy to upgrade, they provide superior controls and are powerful productivity tools. Unfortunately, most people like portable devices. And if you are familiar with building of personal computers, you already know that some peripherals can be expensive. A quality monitor and top-notch speakers might cost you an amount equal to that you spent to buy the computer itself. Luckily, there is a solution: The HP Omen 15. The product offers you the convenience of desktop gaming, in a more portable package.

What makes this product a wonderful choice?

The HP Omen 15 is a top consideration when it comes to shopping for a quality gaming laptop. Some of the features that make it great include:

The design

HP could not avoid the black-and-red appearance, – common with PCs  in the gaming industry – but in this case, it provided the Omen 15 with a wonderful appearance – possibly, because they used premium materials to manufacturer this product. The product has a black lid that features four lines (red) that join to form an “X”. Possibly, the manufacturer used the X to divide this lid into quadrants – covered in plastic and aluminium fibre and to give the computer a brushed aluminium appearance.

The carbon fibre is unexpected and premium. Even though the manufacturer does not add anything special on the plastic, the upper quadrant boasts the beautiful Omen logo, which is shiny red. Unfortunately, the foil might peel out very fast.

After lifting the lid, the first thing you are likely to notice is the 15.6-inch display. The other unique thing you will notice is the full island-styled keyboard that boasts a number pad. Its WASD keys are brighter red, but the letters and sides have remained black-and-red.

Unlike the laptop’s lid, the manufacturer uses aluminium to make the deck and that alone makes it feel stronger and durable. Even though the designer chose plastic for the laptop’s bottom, some under-casing features like the logo, the vents and the textured plastic make it attractive. To access the HDD and the RAM, you just need to remove a port at the bottom.

The weight of this product stands at 5.7 pounds, which makes it heavier than the competing notebooks in the market, and its thickness is only 1-inch. The manufacturer has included all the ports gamers require. Expect a Kensignton Lock Slot, a HDMI output, a Mini-DisplayPort, a USB 3.0 port, an Ethernet jack, microphone and headset jacks, in addition to a Thunderbolt 3 port on the product’s left side.

The display  and sound

The 15.6-inch 4K colourful display is not only bright, but it also provides vibrant hues. Its display can reproduce 114-percent of the “sRGB color gamut.” That is above 95-percent (the mainstream average), but ahead of other models like the Acer VX 15, which has 65-percent and the Dell Inspiron 15, which has 67-percent. Even more, you are unlikely to notice that the screen is below average.

The manufacturer equips this laptop with a subwoofer and top-mounted speakers along the undercarriage to help deliver serviceable gaming audio. Even though the product might not produce sound enough to fill up your room, – including at the maximum volume – you will hear all the voices loud and clear. Some strings like harp and violin sound a little washed out unlike the piano sound.

Keyboard and Touchpad

To provide the computer with a premium gaming feel, the manufacturer clothed the trackpad and keyboard, which they have been improving for a long time with an aluminium layer. The keyboard will feel great when typing on it and the amount of travel is decent. Due to its responsiveness to games, you will be able to manoeuvre the same way you do on your desktop computer. It might not be mechanical but to achieve similar results, you will need an expensive laptop.

The full number pad situated on the keyboard’s right side and the crimson backlight for people who like gaming at night are two of the outstanding features. HP offers “26-key rollover anti-ghosting,” which allows the machine to accept many key commands at the same time without mistaking the inputs. The feature is important for very fast typists who might need to hit several keys at once.

The battery life and performance

The manufacturer incorporates Intel’s i7-7700HQ CPU to power the Omen 15. You can also go for the NVIDIA’s GTX 1050, 1060 or 1050Ti graphics card. The lower-end models, which are suitable for people operating at a lower budget, feature AMD’s Radeon RX550 GPU. The manufacturer also offers RAM between 8GB and 16GB. Choose among the various SSD options and the large 2.5-inch hard drives for games storage.

To dabble in VR, you will need to set up the GTX 1060 version, which runs HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Even though all models have adequate USB ports, which support headsets and accompanying sensors, the GTX 1060 will facilitate smoother running of all games.

The manufacturer did an extra job to minimize the level of heat. At full load, the GPU is unlikely to go beyond 72C in an air-conditioned office and the CPU will remain below 80C. That does not mean that you should place the computer on your lap when gaming. The sensible temperatures are a result of the effective fan, which pushes over 20-percent more airflow at the full speed.

Unluckily, the battery life might disappoint you. With the battery-saving feature turned off, the battery will only last for 2.5 hours. That has put it ahead of some other models, but to do your gaming without having to recharge the computer severally, you will need to plug it in.

Bottom line

The product offers many unique features and comes with Windows 10 Edition. The software features JumpStart – “how-to” guides and articles – and HP Orbit, which allows transfer of files between PC and smartphones. The manufacturer supplies this product with one-year warranty. HP Omen 15 is a good choice for serious gamers.