I’ve been using the 2020 HP Omen for a bit and we’ve realized that it’s probably
the best bang for the buck gaming laptop on the market, not only because of the performance
but also because of the massive amount of upgradeability which we’ll talk about in
a moment.
Now in our previous video where I compared it to the Apple’s 16” MacBook Pro, a lot
of you guys complained that this is not the 2020 HP Omen, but it is in fact a 2020 model,
since it comes packed with Intel’s new 10th-Gen Comet Lake 6-core processor which was just
recently released in 2020.
Now HP is redesigning the Omen with a simpler looking design that's slightly thinner and
that model is not gonna be released until some time next month, but this model is using
the same components but in the older chassis and it’s offered at a great price and possibly
more expandability.
I specced both versions out and it turned out that the newer design was priced at around
$400-500 more for the same exact specs, which I don’t think is worth it.
But enough about that, let’s get into my review of this HP Omen 15 which comes with
some pretty insane specs for the price.
But first, a huge thank you to microcenter for providing us with this HP Omen laptop.
Micro Center has 25 stores nationwide with an impressive variety of electronics. From
Gaming, VR, computer parts like processors, graphics, and everything else needed to build
a PC. They also have a huge variety of desktops, laptops, and all the accessories that you
need. Not only that but they also have highly trained staff and low prices. Check out a
local Micro Center today to get your hands-on a variety of products before purchasing or
use the link below to view the HP Omen 15 at microcenter.com.
For being a budget gaming laptop, I was impressed by the HP Omen 15’s overall good build quality.
I was expecting cheap plastic but it’s actually built really well for a budget laptop unlike
many other brands in this price range.
Even though it’s nowhere near as thin as a MacBook Pro, it’s actually decently thin
and light for a laptop which packs such a crazy graphics card.
I also liked how they made use of the extra space and added a numpad next to the standard
keyboard, and the keys themselves feel pretty good as well.
The keyboard also has four zones of RGB backlighting which you don’t get on some other laptops
like the new Razer Blade Stealth 13.
Unfortunately, I really don’t like the trackpad which doesn’t physically click. It relies
on tap to click or two physical buttons right below it. I discovered a lot of reliability
issues where tap to click just wouldn’t work sometimes, and it’s just a much worse
experience compared to most Windows laptops.
But of course, gamers will most likely be using a mouse, so for them, it really doesn’t
matter.
I also like the variety of ports that you get including an ethernet port which has a
hinge that closes when you’re not using it.
So as far as the price, it’s only $1300, and for that, it comes packing a new 10th
gen 6-core Intel chip, 1TB of SSD storage, 16GB of RAM, WiFi 6 and an RTX 2060 graphics
card, so that is seriously a killer deal for that low price.
But after we compared it to the 16” MacBook Pro, we realized that this laptop is really
only meant for one market, and that’s gaming.
You really can’t do any productivity work on it because the display is basically no
good in terms of resolution, color accuracy and brightness.
However, it’s perfect for gaming since it’s a 144hz display and a perfect 1080P resolution
which gamers love to use.
And because of the RTX 2060 graphics card, you can actually reach a consistent 144FPS
and beyond unlike some other more compact gaming laptops which could struggle getting
FPS that high.
And this is not a Max-Q version of the 2060 either, so you’re basically getting a ton
of bang for your buck since the 2070 is already quite a bit more expensive.
I played some Call of Duty Warzone and I was surprised to see that I was able to get a
consistent 120-144 frames per second if I turned down some of the settings.
And overall, it felt pretty smooth and the anti-glare display helped get rid of reflections
and led to a pretty good gaming experience!
I also noticed that if I maxed out the settings, I would be able to get around 70-80FPS which
was also really impressive!
The 2060 is probably the best bank for the buck laptop gpu and it’ll handle most new
games at mid to high settings. So with gaming out of the way, let’s get into the internals.
We took the bottom casing off and discovered that quite a few different things are easily
upgradeable.
You can swap out the M.2 SSD, you can easily swap out the RAM with up to 64GB, you can
change out the WiFi card if you ever wanted to, you can easily swap out the battery, and
you can even add your own 2.5” SSD or Hard disk drive if you want to further expand your
storage.
That’s actually an impressive amount of upgradability despite being that thin and
coming with an RTX 2060.
So basically, the main question we need to answer is this, does the HP Omen 15 succeed
at what it’s meant for, being a budget gaming laptop, and the answer is definitely yes!
HP did an excellent job of saving money where it didn’t matter very much for gamers, and
focusing on what can give you the best gaming experience for the lowest price, while also
balancing all of the components to make sure they fit well together.
The RTX 2060 offers a ton of graphics performance, being a perfect match for the 144hz display
at 1080P resolution. And the new 6-core processor and 16GB of RAM make sure that the graphics
card doesn’t get bottlenecked in any way, shape or form.
They also packed in WiFi 6 and an ethernet jack to make sure you’re all set on the
internet side, and not only did they give you a 1TB SSD, but they also added a spot
for you to add your own 2.5” drive.
So with all of that said, this is actually a really good laptop if all you really care
about is gaming, and we fully recommend it for people that are on a budget. But if you
want a more premium gaming experience where you can also do some productivity work, then
we would push you toward something like a new Razer Blade but expect to spend a lot
more.
If you enjoyed this review, click the circle above to subscribe and definitely check out
the link to microcenter down below, and also watch our review of the blade stealth right
over there. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you in the next one!