HP Omen 16 Review (i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3060)

On May 20, HP refreshed its Omen series by introducing the new 2021 models, which cover HP Omen 16 and Omen 17. The new 2021 models are now equipped with more robust configurations and prominent aspects.

Today, our main aim is to review the HP Omen 16, which can also be called the base version of the 2021 models. Starting from the design and appearance, we have many different things to discuss, like the keyboard, ports, display, hardware tests, battery life, and verdict. All of them are mentioned below:

Specifications

HP Omen 16 Review: Design & Appearance

The new HP Omen 16 (2021) comes with many optimized adjustments. This gaming book continues to feature the simple design concept (from the previous generation). At first sight, the overall appearance of the notebook appears to have remained relatively unchanged, but a closer examination reveals that there have been numerous changes.

One of the significant differences between the old and new models is the display size. The screen on the HP Omen 16 has been upgraded from 15.6 to 16.1 inches, increasing the viewing area by 6.6 percent and also improving the visual experience while keeping the body size close to 15.6 inches.

The HP Omen 16’s backside maintains the previous generation’s finely carved exterior design. The Omen Logo is placed in the middle, and its gradient design allows for different visual effects when viewed from various angles. Not only that, but the frosted spraying process gives the notebook’s backside a lovely and delicate feel.

Furthermore, the HP Omen 16 features a novel cloud screen design that conceals the hinge, allowing for a smaller gap between the screen and the keyboard surface while maintaining heat dissipation behind the hinge, making the complete machine more compact; the weight is kept at 2.3kg, the entire machine is light and thin, and portability is good.

Display

The display has been upgraded to a 16.1-inch high-definition IPS panel with a complete optional 2K (resolution) + 165Hz (refresh rate) gaming screen. The screen ratio is 16:9, which is the most popular right now. At the same time, the screen boasts a 100% sRGB high color gamut and a rich and full-color display.

It can create a great display impact whether it is being used for gaming or post-editing, and on three sides as well. The aesthetic effect of the narrow frame design is fantastic. Furthermore, the screen’s rapid refresh rate can result in a more fluid visual experience. Players may enjoy silky-smooth gaming at high resolutions with the RTX 30 series graphics card.

The new HP Omen 16 also features DC dimming, which eliminates the PWM dimming splash screen issue. At the same time, the e-sports screen model has received the German Rheinland Eyesafe blue light eye protection certification, ensuring that 29% of blue light may be filtered without causing a color cast on the screen, effectively protecting the player’s vision health.

Keyboard

The HP Omen 16’s keyboard also appears to be quite simple and elegant. Thanks to the white lighting and the 26 non-impact keys, players will enjoy a better gaming experience. At the same time, the key spacing is appropriate. Each key may be precisely positioned when typing, which is helpful for our regular activities.

This keyboard features key travel of more than 1mm, good key feedback, and no murky water when it comes to key travel. Typing is smoother and pleasant for our daily usage. There is also an HP game control center on the top of this keyboard keypad (Omen Gaming Hub) shortcut keys, which allows you to enter the program with just one keypress.

The notebook’s trackpad area has grown by 19% over the previous generation, and the surface feels good. It has improved placement and enables multi-finger operation, custom shortcut gestures, and other features that make daily use more convenient.

Ports

The majority of the ports in this gamebook are located on the left side of the fuselage. When we connect multiple devices, we may use the right-hand mouse in various ways, which is helpful.

Two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports are located on the right side of the fuselage, while a charging port, RJ45 network cable port, USB 3.2 Gen2 interface, miniDP, HDMI, Thunderbolt 4, 3.5mm audio port, and SD card reader port are located on the left side.

The number is enormous, the diversity is extensive, and it is simple for us to connect various pieces of equipment on a daily basis.

SSD & RAM

The fact that this notebook has been equipped with the latest PCIe 4.0 gaming-grade SSD is also worth highlighting. Almost all games can be loaded in a matter of seconds, and the system is much faster. The hard disk’s Sequential Read is up to 6614.5MB/S after our actual test. This is twice as fast as the fastest PCIe 3.0 Gen3*4 interface on the market, and the overall performance is excellent.
CrystalDisk Mark 6.0.2 scores
Sequential Read Q32T1: 6615MB/S
Sequential Write Q32T1: 5020MB/S
Random Read 4KiB Q32T1: 2268MB/S
Random Write 4KiB Q32T1: 2100MB/S

The notebook supports DDR4 Memory with a maximum clock speed of 3200MHz, which appears to be adequate for a gaming laptop.

CPU & GPU

The HP Omen 16 is powered by an Intel Core i7-11800H CPU from the eleventh generation. This CPU has a 10nm process, Tiger Lake core architecture, eight cores, sixteen threads, a default frequency of 2.3GHz, and the single core is the most powerful. The turbo frequency is up to 4.6GHz, with a 24MB cache and a 45W TDP.

This gaming laptop comes with the latest NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card installed. The graphics are powered by the latest ampere architecture based on 8nm technology. It’s a full-power version of a 115W laptop graphics card with superior performance.

Battery Life

The new Omen 16 comes with a 6-cell, 83 Wh Li-ion polymer battery that, according to the company, can provide a battery backup of up to 9 hours, although this depends on how you use the notebook. A 200W Smart AC Adapter is included in the box for charging the laptop.

HP Omen Gaming Hub

The new gaming laptops also include the HP Omen Gaming Hub, which has to be mentioned in the review due to its extensive functions.

This software can be used to add your favorite games, apps, and other applications and to design your desktop wallpaper, and earn rewards and content by completing challenge tasks in the game center. We can also keep an eye on the machine’s operational status in real-time, as well as the utilization rate and heat dissipation of the core components.

It’s worth mentioning that you can activate the violent mode from the performance control page. After activating this feature, the entire machine’s performance will be entirely unleashed. Players can also adjust the fan speed manually to achieve the most excellent mix of performance and heat dissipation.

The specific method is as follows: after setting the temperature to “manual,” we may alter the fan speed using the right arrow on the performance control page. When the fan speed is changed to the far right, the same high-performance mode as the “Furious Mode” is activated, ensuring that the machine’s overall performance is optimized; when the fan speed is changed to the far left, the silent mode is activated.

Allow the fan to run at a low speed to provide consumers with a more noticeable mute effect; if the fan is placed in the center, it will be in balanced mode, considering both performance, heat dissipation, and noise.

There is also a CPU voltage reduction function in the HP Game Control Center (Omen Gaming Hub), which intelligently cuts the core voltage with one button, lowering the processor’s temperature while delivering the optimum energy consumption ratio.

It’s worth noting that the light Studio in the control center can link multiple peripherals, allowing HP monitors, headsets, keyboards, and mouse to link the lighting effects and allowing players to generate unique settings.

Benchmark Tests:

For the benchmark test session, we enabled the graphics card’s direct connection mode and the system’s berserk mode. The operating system is Windows 10 Home, the RTX 30XX graphics card driver is version 462.42, and the room temperature is 29°C.

CINEBENCH: HP Omen 16 scored 226cb in the Cinebench R15 test and 1868cb in the Cinebench R20 test, which is a substantial improvement over the previous version. This gaming notebook’s single-core score in the Cinebench R20 test is 572cb, while its multi-core score is 4184cb.

Fritz Chess: The Intel Core i7-11800H received a total score of 25068, indicating excellent performance and multi-threading capabilities.

7-Zip Test: This CPU’s overall result in the 7-ZIP test is 70325MIPS, which is excellent. Its multi-threading ability is also incredible.

3DMARK: First, we ran the DX12 benchmark performance test. The TimeSpy scored 8638 points (the CPU Score is 10237 points, and the GPU score is 8409 points). The machine’s overall performance seems decent.

In the TimeSpy Extreme test, the overall score is fantastic. The score is 4104, with a CPU score of 4825 points and a GPU score of 3999 points.

After actual testing, the complete scores of the final machine’s FireStrike, FireStrike Extreme, and FireStrike Ultra projects are 18800, 9698, and 5156, respectively, and the complete results are pretty good.

Gaming Test:

In the gaming test session, we tested the six most popular games, and their final results are the following:

Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The average number of fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider is 107, reaching the standard of a smooth game with the maximum special effects in the game, light chase turned on, and DLSS turned off. This is also one of the few gamebooks that can currently exceed 100 frames.

Assasin’s Creed: Odyssey: The final test average number of fps in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is 68, and the game’s spectacular effects are the best. Among them, the maximum fps count in the game was 125. Overall, this can be said to be a fantastic performance.

Far Cry 5: The final score of Far Cry 5 has an average of 111 fps per second, and the picture quality is excellent. When it comes to the current gaming market, this performance is unquestionably the best.

Zombie World War: We used DX11 rendering in Zombie World War, and the game’s special effects are the highest custom. The finished game’s test fps number is 168, indicating that the performance is excellent and can fulfill the requirements for smooth operation.

Galaxy Ripper: It is a well-received role-playing game. For testing, we use the built-in Benchmark. It can meet the criteria of perfectly smooth running games, whether it is a processor or a graphics card. The average number of CPU fps is 65, the graphics card’s average number of fps is 205, and the game experience is outstanding.

DOTA2: After our actual test, the player’s perspective game FPS during regular gaming is between 190 and 210, and the game FPS during team battles is between 140 and 160, allowing the 144Hz high-swipe screen to fully exploit its benefits. The experience has been fantastic.

HP Omen 16 Review: Verdict

This year’s HP Omen 16 is a hefty new gaming laptop. This gaming notebook has been upgraded with a new RTX 30 series game graphics card and the latest eleventh-generation Core processor, allowing it to perform exceptionally well.

At the same time, this notebook has a simple appearance, continuing the overall style of the previous generation, but it has been upgraded in many places, which is more in line with the aesthetics of young users pursuing a simple appearance.

At the same time, this notebook has a simple design, maintaining the overall style of the previous generation but with many upgrades that are more in line with the aesthetics of young users who like a simple appearance.

The Omen 16 (2021) is already available for pre-order on several e-commerce platforms. According to its specifications, the price is likewise excellent ($849). It is now the most cost-effective enthusiast-level gamebook on the market. It is not to be missed by players who enjoy it.