HP Omen 15: Early Reports of HP’s New Gaming Flagship

Once considered a bit of a joke among gaming enthusiasts, HP has managed to recapture some of their lost respect with their Omen line. Omen gaming laptops are surprisingly excellent, sporting great design, size and performance all for a reasonable cost. The HP Omen 15 is no exception: early takes on the new laptop show it’s got some seriously impressive hardware under the hood. Not to mention, it’s sleek, sexy and well worth the attention it’s getting. Let’s dive on in! 

Design 

HP took a page from Razer’s book and went with the sleek, black matte plastic look. It even has the glowing logo on the back, but Omen’s logo is much less subdued than Razer’s. The back plate has a series of cross-hatchings that give the laptop an industrial, almost alien appearance. The keyboard section of the computer is aluminum, giving the laptop a premium finish.  

The most striking aspect of this year’s design, however, is the incredibly small bezels. Compared to other laptops, the Omen 15’s display looks huge, even though it’s comparable to most modern gaming laptops. The reduced bezel size does wonders for the viewer: the laptop itself vanishes and only the game you’re playing remains. 

Hardware 

The Omen 15 wouldn’t be a gaming machine without the right graphics. And boy, does it have the right graphics. This mean machine sports Nvidia cards, specifically the GTX 1070 with Max-Q, 8th gen Intel processors, and options for 32gb of RAM. What’s more, the laptop has both solid state and hard drive options for memory, allowing for the best of both world when it comes to storing your games.  

Both forms of memory, as well as the RAM, can all be accessed through a single panel. This is an excellent design decision for those who want to upgrade their rigs as technology improves. These design decisions, coupled with the beefy hardware, make the Omen as serious contender in the realm of gaming laptops. The high-tier rigs of the Omen 15 will be able to handle 4K graphics at 60Hz, which puts it on par with modern gaming desktops. That’s some serious power for this little thing! 

Omen 15 Meant to be Gaming Hub 

HP also announced some additional features and accessories for their new laptop. Omen’s new program, Omen Game Stream, is slated to launch with the laptop. It will allow users to stream games from their laptop to another screen, like the one in their living room. The Omen 15 promises 15 gigabit wi-fi, which should allow for even the most demanding of games to be streamed via the software. 

Other accessories set to launch include the Reactor Mouse and the Sequencer keyboard. Their cool sci-fi names underscore their cool sci-fi innards. Both are stated to make use of optical mechanical sensors, allowing for lightning-fast response time from both. HP has also announced a headset called the Mindframe headset, set to launch later in the year. The Mindframe is stated to have internal cooling, an odd choice for a headset, but perhaps required during more serious gaming sessions!