Review: HP Omen 15 (2020) Gaming Laptop

We took a look at HP’s high-end offering for 2020 with their Intel Omen laptop, but what about the budget conscious gamer? Today, we’re checking out the entry-level 2020 version of the entry level Omen gaming laptop, which comes with a Ryzen processor inside.

Tech Specs and Design

This budget 2020 Omen 15 comes with a an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H CPU along with 8 gigs of DDR4 RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 1650 Ti graphics card. Storage option is limited with a single 500GB SSD, but it should be more than enough for the OS and a bunch of games for casual gamers.

Ditching the aggressive, angular look that is generally associated with gaming laptops, the Omen 15 comes in a slim and compact rectangular form factor, which looks clean, classy and professional. If you’re someone who also uses their gaming laptop as a work device, you can open this up in a meeting easily, without worrying about drawing too much attention. Talking about carrying it, the laptop is pretty lightweight as well, weighing about 2.36kg, which means you can carry it easily just about anywhere.

The first thing you’ll notice about the laptop is how the Omen logo is no longer that red tribal design, instead a glossy, reflective diamond square will greet you on the lid, keeping in tune with the minimalistic design. The device feels nothing short of premium with it’s sturdy metallic body, covered entirely in black. That said, the lid does feel a little flimsy as it can wobble often, and quite easily. Apart from that, when it comes to gaming laptops, this is definitely one of the best designs we’ve seen – simple, elegant and high quality.

On the connectivity side of things, we have all the options you will need. On the left, there’s an HDMI port, the LAN port, one USB 3.0 port,  one 3.5 mm audio port and an SD card reader, while on the right you can find two more USB 3.0 ports, a USB Type-C along with a MiniDP.

Lifting up the lid, you can see the super smooth display screen with minimal bezels on three sides, along with a smaller QWERTY keyboard sitting amidst a metallic finish. The power button is right between the F12 key and the Delete Key, so be careful because it is possible to accidentally hit that while you’re trying to reach for the Delete button. While the lack of a Numpad means there’s plenty of space between the keys which adds to the typing experience, people who regularly rely on the numpad will end up wanting. The keys themselves are quite comfortable to use even during longer sessions, and feature simple white LED backlight to illuminate the keyboard. The trackpad is responsive and comfortable to use as well, though for gaming you’ll obviously be sticking with a mouse.

Performance and Benchmarks

The Omen 15 doesn’t pack the most powerful specs inside, so obviously, when you can’t expect to run all the biggest titles on the best quality, the laptop did not disappoint at all when it came to performance. Take a look at the benchmarks below:

As you can see, the Omen is actually pretty good for most kind of games at medium to high settings. In addition to gaming performance, we also tested out video editing on Adobe Premiere and were impressed by the render times too. One cause for concern for us, however, was the CPU temperature, which shot up to 99 C while testing, so you’d be wise to invest in a decent cooling dock for this laptop. But on the plus side, most of the hot air vents out from the right side, so you can still keep using the laptop for extended sessions as the left side of the keyboard doesn’t heat up as much. The GPU, on the other hand, runs relatively cooler, reaching a max of about 76 C during our testing.

Though the Omen 15 is an impressive device by all standards, what took our gaming experience to the next level on it was the crisp, ultra-smooth 300Hz IPS display. It does an astounding job of bringing your games to life, and every single one of them feels simply amazing, irrespective of the kind of game you’re playing. Even though I’ve always been in the favour of resolution over refresh rate, this might just being me around. I mean, it’s hard to deny how responsive and immersive it feels, jumping around the map and taking slick headshots on the new Omen’s screen. The colour and contrast settings make the environments pop out vividly, which perfectly complements the tech that powers the laptop.

The battery life on this laptop is fairly average, as the case is with gaming laptops, lasting a little under 3.5 hours of normal usage. Considering that all the gaming will be happening with a charger plugged in, I gather it’s more than enough. After all, the laptop does pack some pretty powerful hardware inside.

The Verdict

At a price point of about INR 1,70,999/-, the Omen 15 (2020) may just be right in the sweet spot for performance and price tag. It’s sleek, sexy and carries more than enough power to handle any kind of application you’d wanna throw at it. For gamers and content creators, this packs an all-in-one solution in a compact chassis that you can take anywhere with you. As of now, this is definitely the best laptop we’ve reviewed on this website in terms of overall experience, and recommending it to anyone who has the budget for such a device isn’t a hard job at all.