We're a full month into 2024, and as with all technology, it's forever being updated and replaced as time goes on. The benefit of this for us is that unless you're only interested in early adoption of said tech - the older it gets usually means price reductions. Today we're looking at the 2023 version (model - 16-xf0033dx) of HP's Omen 16 gaming laptop that's reduced to $1,099 at Best Buy after being reduced by $750 from its original $1,849 MSRP - a significant price drop for a fairly high-spec computer.
The Omen 16 uses a 16.1-inch screen that has an FHD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It's not the most amazing IPS screen at only 300nits brightness, but it does have a reasonably high 165Hz refresh rate for a smooth framerate experience whilst gaming, and combined with the RTX4070 GPU (140 TGP) it's an easily achievable experience in most games.
Contained inside the HP Omen 16 is the previously mentioned Nvidia RTX 4070, with other components consisting of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor, 16GB (2x 8 GB) DDR5 5600MHz RAM, and 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD. The size of the SSD is the most disappointing thing about this laptop, but it's consistent with other manufacturers offering below-needed storage capacity for gaming machines. With the size of the latest games - especially AAA - you want 1TB as a bare minimum.
Although the HP Omen is designed with a sleek and subdued plain black design, there are still some areas of the gaming laptop that feature RGB - namely the keyboard. The Omen 16 comes with a full-sized, 4-zone RGB backlit keyboard with 26-key rollover and anti-ghosting technology.
We've reviewed the HP Omen 16, albeit a different model with slightly differing hardware specifications. We gave the Omen 16 4 out of 5 stars and found we liked its performance, how easy it was to repair, and its subdued design aesthetic. Things we were not fond of were how much unnecessary bloatware was pre-installed and the cheap feel of the touchpad.
