HP has revamped its Omen 15 gaming laptop to be thinner, faster, and cheaper. The new Omen 15 starts at $1,000 and has both Intel and AMD CPU options. While it’s thinner and less clunky than the last-gen Omen laptops, this is still a hefty device at 5.4 pounds. Although, there aren’t exactly lightweight options if you want high-end graphics in a laptop form factor.
HP waited just one year to release a new Omen 15 gaming laptop, possibly because the 2019 version was so divisive. It had a secondary display above the keyboard for chat, screen captures, and other functions. That shifted the keyboard toward the bottom of the chassis and the trackpad to the far right. The hinge shape was also extremely distinctive with its tapered design.
The new Omen 15 should have much broader appeal with its traditional form factor. It still has an RGB backlit keyboard, but it’s a standard layout (tenkeyless) with a big trackpad below. HP says this design change comes from talking to users, many of whom use Omen laptops for general computing as much as they do gaming. Doing office work with something that looks like an alien spaceship isn’t always desirable.
The Omen 15 is 22.5mm thick, which is an 11 percent reduction from last year’s model. HP says that it has increased the fan size and airflow by 62 percent despite the overall smaller body. There are also plenty of ports, including a full-size Ethernet, three USB-A, a headphone jack, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, and an SD card reader. Unfortunately, there’s only one USB-C and the laptop charges with a DC plug instead of USB-C.
Inside, this laptop will feature your choice of either Intel’s 10th-generation Comet Lake H chips or AMD’s Ryzen 7 4000 series. The AMD support is a first for HP’s Omen laptops. This is a gaming laptop, so you’d expect some top-tier GPU options. And you’d be right. You’ll be able to configure the Omen 15 with up to a GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q. You can also add as much as 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The 15.6-inch screen has a few different options as well. There’s a 4K OLED, a 4K LCD with 120Hz refresh, and a 1080p LCD with 300Hz refresh.
The HP Omen 15 is available now from HP and Best Buy. Keep in mind, you’ll have to spend a lot more than the $1,000 starting price if you want an RTX 2070. The lower-specced models have a GTX 1660 and 8GB of system RAM.
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