Hi, this video is an in-depth comparison of the 2018 HP Omen 15 and Asus ROG Strix Scar II.
You may be wondering which one is better choice since both laptops are similare in terms of
specs and features, but there are few major differences between them that you should definitely
know to make a wise choice.
Today i will also mention other configurations of these laptops, because i found some RTX
models at really good prices.
As always in the video description you can find Amazon links for US and UK residents
to check the current prices, and the timestamps to skip to any part of this video.
I'm Chris from techfindsreview.com and now let's jump into the comparison.
If it comes to design i prefere the style of the Asus Scar 2.
It has no red accents and no fancy shapes at all.
The top pannel is metal with brushed aluminium texture and the ROG logo that you can light
up with RGB colors.
The rest of the body is made of polycarbonate that feels very solid.
On the deck you have carbon fiber pattern and moro skin on one half.
The Omen has plastic top pannel with red logo, 4 red lines and carbon fiber pattern in combination
with brushed metal finish.
The deck is made of metal and it also has brushed metal texture, however at the bottom
you will find the plastic again.
Inside we have the opposite situation.
I prefere the look of the Omen because i think that it's cleaner.
The elegant touchpad with minimalist looking keyboard makes Omen's interior look more toned.
The Scar 2 has more gamer-looking inside.
If it comes to dimentions the HP Omen is slightly smaller but the weight is about the same for
both laptops.
I think they both are pretty portable so carrying any of them everyday should not be a problem.
Alright, let's take a look inside.
The Scar 2 has a good looking and well-functional keyboard with long 1.8mm key travel and good spacing.
The lighting is divided into 4 zones and what i like the most about that is that every key has the
transparent stroke so you can see more light comming out of the keyboard.
The useful feature that it has is the "overstroke" technology which registers the key press before
you actually press the key all the way down.
You have also 4 additional keys for volume, microphone and control center app.
The keyboard in Omen looks cleaner and it's comfortable to use too, but it lacks features
compared to Scar's keyboard.
You have only one additional key for control center app.
Nonetheless it has good spacing, 1.5mm key travel and 4-zones of RGB where the 4th zone
includes only WSAD keys.
There are also configurations of 2018 Omen with red keyboard only so make sure that you
buy the right one.
If i have to compare the touchpads i think that Omen is the winner.
Despite the fact it's using synaptics drivers i find Omen's touchpad one of the best among
gaming laptop touchpads that i've tested so far.
It's very precise, it has smooth surface and 2 dedicated buttons that don't require much
force to click.
The touchpad in Scar is using windows precision drivers so you can take advantage of gesture controls.
It has also 2 dedicated buttons but somehow i liked Omen's touchpad more in general.
If it comes to port selection it's almost the same for both laptops.
The only difference is that Omen supports Thunderbolt 3,it has also separated headphone
and mic jack while the Scar has one audio jack for headphones and mic and no Thunderbolt 3.
The display in Omen is 1080p 144Hz IPS pannel with about 9ms response time and G-Sync support.
It's fast enough for gaming and the G-Sync provides additional smoothness for better gaming experience.
You can also buy Omen with 60Hz 1080p or 4K at 60Hz display.
The Asus Scar 2 has only 1080p 144Hz IPS pannel but thanks to 3ms response time it provides
smoother gaming experience.
However the G-Sync is not available here.
You have also 17" models of these laptops, but please note that the 17" Omen from 2018
has the same chasis as 2017 model and it's called HP Omen 17.
If it comes to Asus, the 17" model is indicated by GL704 number.
The color accuracy of 144Hz models is almost the same for both laptops.
The Scar 2 can reproduce 97% of sRGB color gamut, 75% of AdobeRGB and the brightness is 329 nits.
For Omen the sRGB color coverage is 96%, 74% for AdobeRGB and the brightness is 329 nits too.
However i found that Scar's display has colder tones to the colors while Omen's colors are
a little bit warmer.
In terms of sound the Asus Scar 2 just crashes the HP Omen 15, as well as it crashes other gaming
laptops that i've tested.
I have never seen before a laptop with such good bass presentation.
Every shot and every explosion in game sounds full and punchy.
Mids and highs are just on point and it's loud enough.
You can equalize the sound in Sonic Studio 3 software.
Omen's speakers are not bad but since this is a comparison i have to say that they don't
sound as good as Scar's speakers.
They have some bass and the sound is fairly loud without distortion on higher volumes.
As i mentioned before i'm gonna quickly show you available configurations and approximated
prices of both laptops but please note that the prices may vary with time, so in the video
description I left Amazon links for US and UK residents to find the configuration that
suits you best and check the current price.
So if it comes to Omen you can have it with GTX or RTX graphics cards while for the GTX
models you have wide range of configurations starting from GTX 1050 and ending with GTX
1070 Max-Q.
There are also 3 display options that i mentioned before but certain displays may not be available
with selected GPU depending on the country.
The GTX models of Omen were usually expensive in the USA, however the price is not an issue anymore.
The RTX models are even cheaper than GTX models and 144Hz display is a standard now.
You can choose between RTX 2060 and RTX 2070 Max-Q. The RTX update also brought 240Hz display
option to Omen laptops.
If it comes to Scar II there is only 144Hz display option available and you can choose
between full size GTX 1060, 1070 and also RTX 2060 and 2070.
It's a good time to get some GTX models now since because of the RTX update the prices
of GTX models dropped down.
Nonetheless the RTX models of Scar II show a good price to performance ratio compared
to other gaming laptops.
In some countries, the Scar II may not be available with GTX 1060 and RTX 2060, but
there is a moba version of this laptop called Hero II.
It's basically the same laptop, but instead of transparent "WSAD" keys, it has transparent
"QWER" and different pattern instead of Moro on the deck.
Alright, comming back to the review let's talk about the performance.
As first i would like to mention that features and build are the same for GTX and RTX models
of both laptops, the only difference is GPU.
Since the units that i've got here have different specs i can't really compare them but recently
i tested the GTX 1060 model of Scar 2 which matches the Omen in terms of specs.
You can check out my gaming benchmark videos for both laptops with GTX 1060 but if you
wonder how other configurations perform i also tested the RTX 2070 Scar 2 that i'm reviewing
now and i'm going to get the RTX 2060 Omen very soon so expect the benchmarks too.
In each video you can see the results of 20 different games tested so i think that this
will clarify a lot of questions about performance.
Links to the videos will be in the description.
Now if you would like to upgrade Omen down the road you have easy access to your RAM
and Hard Drive.
In most cases it comes with one 16GB RAM stick installed so if you would like to add more
RAM in the future, you have still one slot free.
With Asus Scar 2 we have the same situation, it comes with single and dual channel RAM
configurations too.
If you buy it in the USA you will most likely get the single channel one but my unit has
dual channel since i bought it in the UK.
With single channel RAM you have better way to upgrade the memory in the future but it
performs slower than the same ammount of RAM in dual channel, so if you want to take full
advantage of the performance of any of these laptops i recommend you to add one more RAM stick.
I made a quick guide where i am showing how to disassembly and upgrade each laptop, so
if you're planning to add more RAM, swap out your hard drive or SSD, you can check it out.
Ok, so now let's talk about cooling system.
I tested both laptops playing demanding games for a long period of time to simulate the
way you will probably use your laptop.
Omen was tested on comfort mode and automatic fan speed since you can't control the fans.
In Asus i set the turbo mode and max fan speed as i always do for my tests.
In general the Scar 2 has better cooling system than Omen, and it's actually one of the best
among laptops that i've tested.
There was no thermal and no power limit throttling during my test.
The average temperature of the CPU was 82 degrees celcius and the GPU temperature was
74 degrees.
In Omen the power limit throttling didn't occure but the thermal throttling took place.
However it was not happening often and when it did the frame rate drop in games was not huge.
The average temperature of the CPU was 85 degrees and the temperature of the GPU was
78 degrees.
If you buy Omen make sure that your BIOS is up to date and switch it from default to comfort
mode - this will help you reduce the temperature and limit throttling.
It also would be good to undervolt the CPU in Omen while the Scar doesn't need that at all.
The fan noise on idle is slightly louder in Omen but it's still comfortably quiet.
While gaming it gets loud as every gaming laptop but the Scar is slightly louder under heavy load.
However on idle and silent mode enabled it stays completly quiet.
As for the battery life i managed to use Asus for 4,5 up to 5h when browsing the web and
doing light productivity work.
When gaming battery died after 1,5h hour.
Omen achived almost the same results - 4,5 hours for light work and 1,5 hour for gaming.
Alright, it seems to be everything that you need to know to wisely choose one of these
laptops but before we finish let me share my closing thoughts.
So if it comes to the Asus Scar 2 i think that this is the laptop for those who are
looking for solid performance at low temperatures.
It has great cooling system which is one of the best among 15" laptops.
The display in Scar is the fastest and smoothest 144Hz pannel that i've seen so far.
It has good color reproduction, remarkable speakers and useful keyboard with additional keys.
The advantage of Scar II is for sure a good price to performance and quality ratio - it's
not the cheapest out there but in my opinion it's worth that price since Asus made no compromises
in terms of performance and overall quality of this laptop.
Worth mentioning is that the prices of GTX models dropped down so now it gives you even
better bang for your buck.
Trying to find the weak sides of this laptop i have to point out no G-Sync support,
no Thunderbolt 3 and awkward webcam placement.
On the other hand we have the HP Omen 15 which offers us G-Sync and Thunderbolt 3 which Scar
is missing.
The real advantage of Omen is price - you can get the RTX 2060 model for under $1300
which is surprisingly low price compared to Scar II with similare specs, especially that
Omen is not that far behind in terms of quality and features.
It has an interesting design, excelent 144Hz display plus few other options including 240Hz,
and wide range of configurations from budget ones with GTX 1050 to high-end RTX 2070 Max-Q.
For the weak sides of Omen we can include higher temperatures and lack of control over the fans.
Alright, have you chosen your laptop already?
If you found this video helpful you can consider to order it on Amazon via one of the links
that i left in the description to support my channel.
I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you so i can afford more laptops for future reviews.
That's all for today and as always if you have any questions feel free to ask in comments
- i answer every question.
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