Get lost in the captivating QHD resolution with IPS technology. Coupled with an antiglare screen to reduce light reflection, this display provides a remarkable entertainment experience. Those were the non-gaming scores. During gaming, the temps were slightly warmer but not by much. The touchpad measured 75 degrees and between the G and H keys measured 96 degrees. The underside , topped out at 101 degrees. HP Omen 15 webcam For reference, the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE and Asus TUF Dash F15 powered through 6:30 and 9:10, respectively.

Powering the Omen I tested is an Intel Core i5-10300H, a Nvidia RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, 16GB of 2933Mhz memory, and 512GB of SSD storage. The 144Hz screen looks clear, and colors aren't overly saturated. Instead, they're more life-like, and one could even argue, muted.Previous iterations of the HP Omen 15 clearly chased the hardcore gaming crowd, with angular edges and grooves found all over. I quite liked the look, but it could understandably be accused of being “too much”. Like every Windows 10 computer, you will find apps for Skype, Office 360, Microsoft Solitaire suite, and Xbox console. The Omen scored 94 FPS during our Far Cry New Dawn (1920 x 1080, Ultra) benchmark, surpassing the 84 fps average. In second place was the Alienware m 15 with 80 fps, followed by the Asus ROG Strix Scar with 73 and closing out our group scores with a disappointing 57 fps was the Asus ROG Strix G15. As for gaming-specific software, HP's Omen Gaming Hub comes preinstalled. It's the app you'll use to do things like view device stats, underplot the CPU to decrease power use without impacting performance, or force the Omen to use only the RTX 3060 GPU instead of letting Windows automatically switch between Intel's UHD graphics and the RTX 3060. The HP Omen 15 comes with a 1-year warranty.. See how HP fared on our annual special reports: Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Brands. Bottom line

This came as no surprise since the Omen flaunts an RTX 2070, but it’s still remarkable how cheap this configuration is available for. Having an RTX GPU also means you get access to features such as ray tracing and DLSS, which offer a next-gen gloss to compatible titles. I expected better from the Omen when it came to battery life because it has a powerful 70.9Wh / 5833mAh battery. The video rundown result of 8hrs 50mins wasn’t exactly bad, but other gaming machines have done better recently; namely the Asus Dash F15, which lasted three hours more from an only slightly larger-capacity battery. Of course, this is the downside of running a powerful 45W octa-core CPU. For our finale using our Red Dead Redemption benchmark (1080p) the Omen 15 scored 58 fps, which is above the 54 fps average but, only rewarded the unit with second place as the Alienware m15 R3 scored 59 fps beating our unit by a nose. Closing out our group was the Asus ROG Strix G15 which strolled in at 30 fps. Running the Wolfenstein: Youngblood benchmark we noticed a massive difference between ray tracing off (104fps) and on (39fps). That’s because, while the GTX 1660Ti can run real-time ray tracing, it wasn’t originally designed to do so. Don’t think you’re getting an RTX GPU on the cheap; you’re not.

It would seem not all Omens are bad

Our benchmark results showed the Omen 15 outpace the Zephyrus G14 in every test besides CPU multi-core performance. That means the Zephyrus has the advantage for CPU-intensive games such as Total War and Civilization, as well as creative tasks such as video editing, but the Omen reigns supreme for graphics. We put this to the test, setting the laptop to ‘Hybrid’ mode and turning the brightness down to 150 nits before running a PCMark 10 battery benchmark test. The Omen 15 saw a battery life of 3 hours and 42 minutes. That’s slightly better than your average gaming laptop, but still lags three hours behind the Zephyrus G14. During the Handbrake video editing test, the HP Omen 15 performed solidly within its group, taking only 9 minutes and 11 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p. The leader of our group was the Alienware m15 (8:38) followed by the ROG Strix G 15 (10:28) and sputtering to the finish was the Asus ROG Strix Scar III at (10:34). Again, all the systems failed to meet the premium gaming laptop average of (8:32).

The chassis is noticeably flexible, even when the lid is closed. Providing you don't frequently try to squish your device like a large sandwich, this is unlikely to be an issue, but we're wired to think that something bending must mean it's cheap. In this case, the Omen 15 fit's into the 'affordable' category for gaming laptops, so take from that what you will.The Omen is only capable of lasting up to 3 hours and 42 minutes away from the mains. So if you want a laptop that can keep on chugging through a work day, you’re better off looking elsewhere.