Hi, this video is an in-depth comparison of the 2018 HP Omen 15 and MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE.
Both laptops have similare specs and features but there are also few major differences between
them that may be important to you, so today i will be talking about every detail to hopefully
make your choice easier.
As always in the description i left Amazon links for US and UK residents to check
the current price and if you want to skip to any part of this video i also left the
timestamps down below.
I'm Chris from techfindsreview.com and let's jump into the comparison.
Let's start with the design - as you can see both laptops are black with red accents but
Omen has more angular shapes and sharp corners while the MSI's edges are rounded.
Looking inside i think that Omen looks much cleaner without any red accents on the keyboard
or touchpad and the thin bezel display makes it look even cleaner.
The MSI GP63 has one red line on the touchpad and one large sticker on the wristrest but
despite that the interior looks pretty toned.
Leopard has also thicker bezels than Omen.
On the outside both laptops kind of scream gamer so let's get into the build quality now.
The MSI's top pannel is metal but the deck and bottom are made of plastick that feels cheap.
On the other hand Omen has plastic bottom, and plastic top pannel with a nice texture.
The deck is made of metal and to be honest Omen feels much more premium overall.
Also the small detail that is worth mentioning is that GP63 has small rubber feets that don't
prevent it well from sliding.
I usually have to use much more force to push any other laptop.
If it comes to dimentions the HP Omen is noticeably smaller thanks to thin bezel display but it's
still a little bit heavier than GP63 so if you intend to carry your laptop often the
GP63 will be more convinient option.
Alright, let's take a look inside where the first thing that draws attention in MSI is
a georgous keyboard made by Steel Series.
It has long 1.9mm key travel, the keys are nice in touch and typing feels comfortable
but the thing i like the most in this keyboard is the RGB.
Thanks to transparent stroke of each key you can see more light and colors comming out of them.
The lighting is divided into 3 zones for which you can set different colors and effects.
You have also 2 dedicated buttons - one for cooler boost and one for MSI control center app.
The keyboard in Omen is a little bit less fun to use, nonetheless it's a great keyboard
with 1.5mm key travel and good quality vivid RGB.
The lighting is divided into 4-zones for which you can change the colors and brightness but
you can't apply any effects.
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 MSI's touchpad is also using synaptics drivers but it's not as good as Omen.
The surface has the same texture as the deck and because of that it doesn't feel that smooth.
The buttons are ok and overall it's a good touchpad for ocasional use.
If it comes to port selection Leopard has 3 USB 3.1 type A, 1 USB 3.1 type C, Full size
HDMI 2.0, minidisplay port, Full size SD card slot, Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone and microphone
jack separately, and security lock.
In Omen you can find 3 USB 3.1 type A, 1 USB 3.1 type C with Thunderbolt 3, Full size HDMI
2.0, Minidisplay port, Full size SD card slot, Ethernet, 3.5mm jack for headphones and microphone,
and security lock.
If it comes to display both laptops have few options available.
The Omen that i am showing you has 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 MSI GP63 has 1080p 120Hz display with 3ms response time but unfortunetly the G-Sync
is not available here.
It has slower refresh compared to Omen but i wouldn't consider it as a dealbreaker since
with the GTX 1060 you can't take full advantage of high refresh in every game.
You have also 17" models of these laptops, but please note that the 17" Omen from 2018
has the same chasis as 2017 model so it may be a little bit confusing, and if it comes
to MSI, the 17" model is called GP73.
I'll link in the description different configurations so you can easily find them on Amazon.
If it comes to color accuracy Leopard shows slightly higher numbers - it can reproduce
100% of sRGB color gamut, 88% of AdobeRGB and the brightness is 350 nits.
For Omen the sRGB color coverage is 96%, 74% for AdobeRGB and the brightness is 329 nits.
The configurations are various but if we're talking about the units that i'm reviewing
you can buy Omen for about $1500 in the USA or 1200 pounds in the UK.
Leopard with the same configuration costs 1200 US dollars or 1100 british pounds but
please note that the prices may vary with time.
If i have to compare the speakers i think that Omen is a winner.
It has enough bass, the sound is full, mids and highs are just on point and it's loud enough.
On the other hand Leopard has really big speakers for a 15" laptop and it can get much louder
than Omen but somehow the sound is too flat.
I couldn't hear the bass almost at all.
You can equalize the sound in Nahimic app and it sounds a little bit better but still
not better than Omen.
The performance is similare in both devices since they are equipped with the same hardware
but Leopard has much better cooling which may help to reach few more FPS in games.
Here is a quick preview of the game performance but if you want more details you can check
out my gaming benchmark videos for MSI GP63 and HP Omen 15 separately.
I tested 20 games on both laptops 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.
It comes with 1 16GB RAM stick installed so if you would like to add more RAM you still
have one slot free.
I made a quick guide where i am showing how to disassembly and upgrade this laptop, so
you can check it out.
In MSI you have to take out whole bottom lid but before you do it please note that there
is one screw covered by warranty sticker which means that you'll probably void the warranty
if you open it up.
It comes with dual channel 16GB RAM (2x8) so right out of the box it will perform slightly better
than Omen but it's harder to upgrade.
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 MSI i set the max fan speed as i always do for my tests.
As i mentioned before MSI has much better cooling and to be honest it's probably the
best that i've seen in 15" laptop so far.
There was no thermal throttling during my test but i noticed power limit throttling
which didn't affect clock speed almost at all.
The average temperature of the CPU was 82 degrees celcius and the GPU temperature was
72 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.
Now i've made a few videos where i was reviewing and comparing HP Omen 15 and i will always
repeat one important thing about it.
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.
The fan noise on idle is slightly louder in Omen but it's still comfortably quiet.
Under heavy load and max fan speed both laptops are loud.
Nonetheless you should still be able to play without headphones.
As for the battery life i managed to use MSI for 3 hours and 40 minutes when browsing the
web and doing light productivity work.
When gaming battery died after 50 minutes.
When i was testing Omen the same way the battery life reached 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 MSI GP63 i think that this is the laptop for those who are sick of overheating
devices.
It has great cooling system which is one of the best among 15" laptops.
The display is not the fastest available but it has excelent color reproduction and brightness.
The advantage of Leopard is for sure the price - for $1200 you get great performance of the
GTX 1060 and i7 processor.
It has also a great Steel Series keyboard with long key travel which is very comfortable
to type on.
Worth mentioning is that it comes with dual channel RAM so right out of the box it will
perform better than Omen.
The weak side of this laptop is for sure accessibility.
You can't open the casing to upgrade device without losing warranty.
It has also cheap build quality, decent design and weak bass.
On the other hand we have the HP Omen 15 which is a good choice for those who need some smaller
devide than a regular gaming laptop.
It offers much more premium build quality, faster and smoother display with G-Sync, Thunderbolt
3, better battery life and sound.
Omen gives you better way to upgrade the memory in the future but it may perform slightly
slower due to single channel RAM.
For the weak sides of Omen we can include lack of control over the fans and expensive
price of 144Hz model in the US.
It's also slightly louder than Leopard.
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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Now thanks for your time and see you in the next video!