If there is a category of laptops that is always interesting to try, it is gaming. And between them, each member of the OMEN family is a colossus in its category. In this case, what we have in our hands is the OMEN 16, a product capable of capturing the attention of those looking for a high-performance computer for the latest games that hit the market.
Not surprisingly, OMEN is a guarantee of having in our hands a premium product for video game fans. In this case, we are dealing with a very “top” product and, above all, with a design that fits into any lifestyle. Straight and sober lines that offer an elegant and professional appearance, which makes a difference with other proposals on the market that are much more strident and that is appreciated, above all, when you have to take it out of the house for a meeting, to go to class or any other exercise. So whether you’re gaming or anything else, this OMEN laptop is guaranteed to be your best companion.
We stop, as usual, in one of the details that always stands out in these gaming equipment and they are their particular backlit keyboards. In this case we have one that is spacious and comfortable. Its independent RGB LED system for each key allows lighting customization with infinite options through the Light Studio application that is integrated into the device with the OMEN Gaming Hub.
Performance at the highest level
What we have inside this new OMEN 16 is one of the most powerful of the moment. We have a 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700H processor (up to 4.7 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 24 MB L3 cache, 14 cores, 20 threads). Or what translated into a language for “humans”: minimum loading times, almost instant application execution and maximum fluidity of the entire Windows 11 system that comes pre-installed.
Supporting the CPU we have a latest generation graphics card for laptops, which guarantees excellent performance at full power in the latest games on the market, but, at the same time, also for all those who do creative work such as video editing, image, etc. We are talking about this generation of laptops, and specifically the one we have tested, mounts an NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 (dedicated 6 GB GDDR6) but it can be configured with an NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 Ti with 8 GB of memory Dedicated GDDR6 with DLLS, Ray Tracing and Max-Q technology. That is, the complete package.
We can accompany the system with up to 32 GB of RAM – the one you can see in the photos mounted 16 GB and was already flying – in two modules and enjoy plenty of storage space with a PCIe® Gen4 NVMe™ TLC M.2 SSD that can reach up to 2 TB.
In the end, what enters the eyes of a laptop is its screen and the first thing that we can highlight about the HP team is the thinness of its frames. We are facing a 16.1-inch FullHD panel with a 3-sided narrow bezel and 16:9 aspect ratio. It has elements such as low blue light intensity options, to be easy on the eyes, 100% sRGB, up to 300 video nits and, above all, a response time of just 3 milliseconds and up to 144 Hz frequency. This means that we can not only enjoy games at 60 or 90 fps, which is already fluid, we can reach FullHD resolutions at 120 fps, which we can already tell you is really crazy how you get to see it.
Squeezing the OMEN 16 game by game
With these wickers, it is possible to imagine that the response and performance of the OMEN 16 can only be described as excellent. In any test that we have subjected to the team, it has succeeded both when it comes to running high-level games and editing 4K video without breaking a sweat. The sensations with the team are outstanding. A stable performance, without drops and both locally, where the highest quality is achieved, and through streaming platforms such as Microsoft Game Pass xCloud.
In fact, we have the test when running any game that, as in the test we did with Forza Horizon 5, the title itself tells us that we can play it at maximum power and with all the graphic options at maximum.
However, we do not have to stay here. HP’s own OMEN Gaming HUB will let us know if we can still squeeze more out of the system thanks to its Optimizer.
And it is useless to have the best hardware if it is not used intelligently. This is what HP does thanks to this system that allows us to activate this Optimizer in a general way or for each game that, while we are in the game, eliminates all unnecessary system processes and will pour all the power of the equipment into the game.
This achieves things like in the photo that you can see below, freeing up a huge amount of RAM to improve significantly, as we have been able to verify in several titles.
We assure you that it is spectacular to see how something like what you have on the screen approaches, a sandstorm with all its particles – those who know about the subject will surely realize the dimension of this challenge – and its lighting changes, everything This without losing framerate, smoothness or suffering any type of cut or lag.
Precisely, the framerate that we have just mentioned is something that has been on everyone’s lips lately. And currently, only a handful of PCs can afford to maintain 120 fps across the board – and on consoles it’s virtually non-existent. And the OMEN 16 is one of them.
We’ve put it to the test with Deathloop, one of Arkane’s latest titles. And as you can see in the configuration, only when starting we have detected the 144Hz of the laptop screen and the 120 fps as a target in the maximum resolution offered by the equipment, which is FullHD.
And the result? Well, a real rock. The game has moved smoothly to that framerate and we have also been able to enjoy a truly spectacular representation of shadows, lights and scenery.
But in the tests we did not want to stay in the “local” game. After all, we are in the era of streaming and online gaming. Obviously, with streaming, where the entire process depends largely on the cloud, the OMEN 16 has had no problems with titles like A Plague Tale: Requiem that you can see in the images.
But we are going to get into something more committed, Battlefield 2042 and its battles of 128 simultaneous players. And the truth is that the result, compared later with the experience on a game console, has been spectacular. Smooth, seamless, with hundreds of items on screen and actions at the same time.
In fact, they say that the “bow” does not make the “goalkeeper”… but with the same player, the results at the end of the game with the OMEN 16 – we are talking about statistics such as the number of kills or objectives achieved – thanks to the power that offers a PC like the OMEN 16 compared to those, with the same game, in the same house. We even use the same gamepad, to be able to compare with the console since only the keyboard and mouse in a shooter gives an advantage. The results, however, were better. The reason? Those moments of response, those moments when the game doesn’t crash, etc. They don’t make you a “better” player, but they certainly help.
Spectacular audio signed by Bang & Olufsen
Although it is true that we almost always use headphones to play, if the time comes to enjoy movies or series, sound plays an important role. As with everything else in this OMEN 16, we find equipment that is high-end. Headphones with double speakers from Bang & Olufsen ensure that at no time do we have that terrible feeling that occurs with laptops in which “canned” sound is heard. Wide spectrum of treble and bass for a very remarkable sound performance in this equipment.
Little extras that make the difference
We finish off the sensations that OMEN has aroused in us with some details that are not seen with the naked eye but are those little things that are noticeable. First, its webcam, tucked into the minuscule edge of the screen, HP Wide Vision 720p HD with temporal noise reduction and integrated dual-array digital microphones.
On the other hand, there is the extensive list of ports that it incorporates. The easiest thing to sum it up is: it has them all. We talked about not only wireless connectivity, as you would expect with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, but also:
- 1 Thunderbolt™ 4 with USB4™ Type-C® and 40 Gbps signaling rate (USB with Power Delivery, DisplayPort™ 1.4, HP Sleep and Charge);
- 1 SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate (HP sleep and charge); 2 SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate;
- 1 HDMI 2.1; 1 RJ-45;
- 1 AC Smart Pin;
- 1 headphone/microphone combo;
- 1 mini DisplayPort™
Conclusion: superior hardware for gaming at the highest level
Without a doubt, this generation OMEN 16 aims high, very high. Performance, design, benefits and all of this also combined with the different OMEN platforms such as the OMEN Gaming Hub that allows us to connect with our friends to chat and play in OASIS Live, control the entire RGB system of our “setup” (which not only includes the laptop but any other connected equipment) with the Light Studio, manage the performance of the equipment in any situation, monitor the operation of the system components and optimize it and, to top it off, control the use of the wireless network independently for each application that we have open.
In short, both for day to day and for when we want to get behind the controls of our favorite games, if there is a recommendation this Christmas 2022 for those who are looking for a powerful and complete gaming laptop, be sure to take a look at the OMEN 16.
