HP's latest Omen 16 laptops, Omen 16L gaming desktop offer compact, understated design and AMD or Intel CPU options

 Like pretty much every other gaming PC company here at CES 2025, HP is updating its gaming-centric Omen lineup with new chassis designs and new silicon under the hood, including Nvidia's 50-series GPUs. And like several other companies, there are also more AMD-based options housed in the same chassis as Intel-based systems than in previous years. That's generally a good thing since competition tends to lead to lower prices.

Starting on the high-end laptop front, the Omen Max 16 is, as you might guess, a 16-inch high-end portable available in white or black, with an optional front-facing light bar. The company says its per-key RGB keyboard is inspired by HyperX, which HP bought back in 2021.  The laptop's exterior design is nice enough, with a futuristic minimal aesthetic. But it's hard not to be reminded of a certain Dell-owned competitor. At least HP opted to put its size / model number on the keyboard deck and behind the hinge, rather than the laptop's lid.

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Internally, The Omen Max 16 will offer up Ryzen AI 7 350 or AI 9 HX 375 AMD CPUs, or Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX or Ultra 9 275HX processors, and up to top-end Nvidia 50-series graphics. RAM is offered at 16, 24, 32, or 64GB. And storage is 512, 1TB or 2TB, with a 1TB option offered in PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 (the latter is a first for HP laptops).

As for the 16-inch screen, you can opt for a 2560 x 1600 OLED with 48-240 Hz refresh and a 500-nit brightness rating, an IPS panel with the same resolution and similar refresh, or a 1920 x 1200 IPS panel with a promised 400-nits of brightness and a VESA True Black HDR 400 rating. HP says the Omen 16 starts at 5.5 pounds and can go up to 5.92 pounds.

The non-Max HP Omen 16 will be offered with eight different Intel options (including Raptor Lake and Arrow Lake H) and four AMD (again, a mix of last-gen Ryzen 9 8945HX and newer Ryzen AI 300 models), and either Nvidia RTX 4050 graphics or unspecified "next-gen" Nvidia graphics. Ram is offered up in 16 or 32GB, at 5200 or 5600 speeds, with either 512GB or 1TB of storage (just PCIe 4.0 here).

On the display front, there will be a 1920 x 1200 panel at 300 nits and a 60-144 Hz refresh, a brighter 400 nits screen with the same resolution and slightly faster 165 Hz refresh, or a top-end 2560 x 1600 screen with a 60-240 Hz refresh and 50 nits. All are listed as IPS. HP lists the Omen 16 as offering up either a 150 W or a 230 W charger, which should give you some indication of the level of GPU that will be offered.

Omen 16L

HP's Omen 35L is also getting a smaller sibling, in the form of the Omen 16L, which again offers either AMD AM5 or Intel Core i5/i7 or Ultra 5/7 CPUs, Radeon RX 760 graphics or Nvidia from a 3050 up to a 4060 Ti. RAM starts at 8GB (yuck) and goes up to 32, while PCIe 4.0 storage starts at 512GB (also yuck) and goes up to 2TB. With front and side vents, it's likely these cases could handle some higher-end components. But HP is putting a cap on things with either a 400 W or a 500 W power supply.

Victus 15, now in Powder Pink!

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While we didn't get to see it in person at HP's pre-CES event in New York, the company is also updating its budget-gaming Victus 15 laptop, in gray / silver, blue, or pink. Again, CPU options are a mix of AMD (four models from the Ryzen 5 8645HS to the Ryzen 9 8945HS) and Intel (three options, including i5-13420H up to a Core 5 210H), RAM is 8 or 16GB, and storage is either 512GB or 1TB (both PCIe 4.0). There's only one screen option here: a 1920 x 1080, 144 Hz IPS panel with a 300 nits brightness rating.

On the graphics front, there's a wild mix, with Radeon RX 6550M and RTX 2050 (yes), a 4GB RTX 3050A or 6GB RTX 3050, or an RTX 4050 or RTX 4060. The Victus has never been a powerhouse performer, but previous models have been some of the best laptops under $1,500 and best laptops under $1,000, so we're curious to see how the new models stack up in terms of price and performance. And the pink color choice is a welcome addition to what has traditionally been a pretty drab budget gaming laptop realm on the color and style front.