HP has introduced its next-generation of gaming laptops with the refreshed version of HP Omen 16. The latest laptop comes loaded with better cooling performance, crisp display, and more as compared to the previous generation of HP Omen 16 (review). Is that, however, enough to pique the interest of the gaming community? Let’s see in this review.
HP Omen 16 (AMD)
Rs 1,34,990What Is Good?
- Good Display
- Good Performance
- Solid Battery Life
- 4-zone customisable RGB backlit keyboard
What Is Bad?
- Keyboard is cramped
- The sound could been better
HP Omen 16 (AMD) Review: Design and Build Quality
- HP Omen 16 offers a sturdy design, though it is quite heavy for on-the-go business.
- The Shadow Black colour options look elegant.
The newest HP Omen 16 offers an improved design language, as compared to last year’s Omen 16 model. You get a more premium-looking, sturdy laptop with a new trunk design that offers better airflow. The vents are now placed on the left and right sides along with the rear, making air circulation much better than the previous generation model.
The laptop is on the heavier side and weighs 2.32kg, which makes it a bit difficult for travelling purposes. The body has a matte texture that has a subtle metallic undertone and looks elegant. In addition, the laptop features a large trackpad and a full-size keyboard. Directly above the keyboard is the Bang & Olufsen-powered speaker unit. Lastly, the 016 number is inscribed at the base, giving the design some extra brownie points.
| Ports (Right side) | Single USB Type-A port |
| Ports (Left side) | 2 x USB Type-C ports and a headphone jack |
| Ports (Rear) | A charging port, an HDMI port, an RJ45 Network port, and a USB Type-A port. |
| Connectivity Options | Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless card (supporting gigabit data rate) |
The ports are well-distributed on both the sides and on the rear. The addition of a 3.5mm audio jack on the left side, makes it quite easy to connect the headphones without much hassle.
More importantly, the company has given the proprietary barrel connector, HDMI, and ether ports located on the rear side, which is a welcome addition as it helps to connect other peripherals using the ports on the left or right side. Interestingly, one can also charge the laptop using a USB Type-C port, which is again a blessing for gamers.
HP Omen 16 (AMD) Review: Display and Audio
- The HP Omen 16 offers a crisp display that makes it a delightful experience for gaming and other media consumption.
- The display has an anti-glare coating, which makes it easier to use in bright lighting conditions.
| Display | Specifications |
| Type | IPS |
| Size | 16.1-inch |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Refresh rate | 165 Hz |
| Screen brightness | 300 nits |
| Certifications and other features | 100% sRGB, 7 ms response time, anti-glare, low blue light |
The display of the HP Omen 16 is vibrant and offers excellent viewing angles. Whether you watch series or play games, the brightness is apt and blacks appear to be deep.
The blue light filter let us play games for longer periods without becoming tired, and the 144Hz screen refresh rate helped to maintain a smoother frame rate while we played. The anti-glare protection is also effective and makes it easier to view the screen in bright lighting conditions.
Coming to audio, the laptop offers a dual-speaker powered by Bang & Olufsen. We thought the audio was pretty average as compared to last year’s model. The volume levels are not that great and the sound lacks bass, so you may want to buy a headset or low-latency wireless earbuds to play games or watch videos.
HP Omen 16 (AMD) Review: Performance
- HP Omen 16 lives up to expectations and offers some good gaming performance
- The cooling system is quite effective in keeping the core temperature under check.
| HP Omen 16 | Hardware Specifications |
| Chipset | AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, 5.1GHz clock speeds, 8-cores, 16-threads, 16MB of L3 cache |
| RAM | 16GB of DDR5-5600 MHz RAM (2 x 8GB) |
| Storage | 1TB of PCIe Gen 4 NVMe TLC M.2 SSD |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 (8GB GDDR6 dedicated) |
The performance of HP Omen 16 is apt for everyday usage. Be it running multiple tabs on Chrome, photo editing on Adobe Photoshop or streaming videos, Omen 16 could handle it all. Moreover, the laptop didn’t break a sweat even while running many of these apps simultaneously. The benchmark scores below also back these claims.
| Benchmark | Score |
| Geekbench 6 | 8839 (Multi-Core)/ 2036 (Single-core) |
| PC Mark 10 | 6260 |
| 3D Mark CPU Profile | 4748 |
| 3D Mark Time Spy | 7025 |
| 3D Mark Port Royal | 4007 |
| CrystalDiskMark | 6957.93 MB/s (read speed) / 5376.16 MB/s (write speed) |
Now coming to gaming, the laptop can handle most of the games you throw at it. The laptop delivered a lag-free performance in most of the games. However, heavier AAA games like God of War run with a slight lag. That said, the cooling system has been further improved and aids in keeping the core temperature in check. Moreover, the fans are not noisy, which makes it good for those late-night gaming sessions.
| Games | Average Frame Rates (FPS) |
| Valorant | 240fps |
| Spider-Man (Remastered) | 70fps |
| CS: GO | 60fps |
| Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | 30fps |
| God of War | 50fps |
The HP Omen 16 also comes with Omen Gaming Hub, which is a one-stop solution to tweak your system settings. You can check the system vitals, boost network speeds, switch between discrete and do more. There are three power modes, including Eco, Balanced, and Performance. One can seamlessly switch between them according to need. Moreover, you can also control fan speed up to 6000rpm, which is a welcome feature.
HP Omen 16 (AMD) Review: Keyboard and Trackpad
- HP Omen 16 offers a large keyboard with anti-ghosting key technology.
- The trackpad is large and offers good feedback.
The HP Omen 16 includes a full-size keyboard. The backlit keyboard has four zones of RGB lighting as well as a complete numeric keypad. The Omen Gaming Hub allows you to customise the LED lighting. Users may go to Light Studio and personalise their LED lights. There are several ways to tweak the configuration. The software is really basic, and you can utilise many layers of customisation on the keyboard, which is fantastic. As an example, you could make the first zone Wave, the WSAD key some other effect, and so on.
Coming to the performance, we felt that the keyboard was cramped, which made it a bit difficult to type or use it for gaming. There were many instances where we pressed the wrong keys while playing games or typing a review on this device. That said, once you are thrown with the learning curve, things will get easier for you. The trackpad, on the other hand, is large enough and supports multi-touch gestures. It also has palm rejection, which allows you to rest your wrist while playing games or typing without worrying about inadvertent touches.
HP Omen 16 (AMD) Review: Battery Life
| Battery capacity | 6-cell, 83 Wh Li-ion |
| Charging wattage | 200W |
The laptop provided up to 5 hours of battery life while handling tasks like casual gaming and intensive office work, running multiple Chrome tabs and background YouTube playback, among other activities. A notable advantage is the inclusion of a 6 Amp charger plug, which ensures convenient charging throughout the house. Additionally, the laptop offers fast-charging capabilities, allowing it to reach a 50% charge in approximately 45 minutes.
HP Omen 16 (AMD) Review: Verdict
To conclude, the HP Omen 16 is a reliable gaming laptop that offers a good mix of premium design language, a 4-zone backlit keyboard, an improved cooling system, and good gaming performance. At a starting price of Rs 1,34,990, the HP Omen 16 makes a good gaming companion. The competition like the MSI Katana 15 and Acer Nitro 16 does offer similar specifications and features, but the HP Omen 16 delivers a better value-for-money proposition with its larger display, better design, and better software optimisation.
