HP Omen 16 (AMD Radeon) review: Reasonably good gaming package

In the midst of NVIDIA RTX powered mid range gaming laptops, HP comes up with an all-AMD machine that promises to deliver high on performance. Part of HP’s prestigious Omen series, the HP Omen 16 AMD promises great value on paper, and loads of fun in reality. Unlike the multitude of RTX powered graphics cards, HP has gone ahead to offer both an AMD CPU and AMD GPU in the Omen 16 AMD edition.

With prices starting at Rs. 109,999, the Omen 16 AMD relies on the Ryzen 5000 series processors and the Radeon RX 6600M GPU, both of which are highly tempting on paper. Coupled with a sensible design made up for simple materials, and a high refresh rate display, the Omen 16 AMD makes most of its NVIDIA powered competition feel inferior. Wondering how it feels in reality? I used it for two weeks to figure out the answer.

HP Omen 16 AMD Design

Sticking to the traditional HP design ethos, the Omen 16 AMD looks no different to the company’s Victus range of laptops. And if you know a thing or two about HP laptops, you know these aren’t the most exciting looking laptops to begin with. Compared to the Asus ROG laptops at similar prices, the Omen 16 AMD looks bland in comparison. However, this is a handsome laptop that plays the understatement card, and hence, this won't do the “HEY LOOK, I AM A GAMING LAPTOP, LOOK AT MY LIGHTS AND ALL” thing. The multi-gradient reflective Omen logo is the only exciting bit that breaks the monotony of the lid.

Peep inside and you will appreciate a well-appointed keyboard deck with well-spaced out interiors. The same understated theme goes on here but boot it up and the whole keyboard lights up in RGB colours; none of the fancy ambient lighting strips you get on some laptops at this price. This 2.3Kg laptop has a deck made of metal but the rest of the laptop is an all-plastic affair. The display is surrounded by thin bezels but that fat chin looks out of place on a 2022 laptop.

Since this is meant for gaming and creative work, there are all sorts of ports available. There are three USB Type-A ports, a single Type-C port, a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 port, HDMI 2.1, RJ-45 LAN port, an SD memory card reader and a 3.5mm audio jack. Wireless connectivity is handled by Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.

HP Omen 16 AMD Display

Another major aspect of the Omen 16 AMD’s appeal is its display. At 16.1-inches, this is a large display and paired with goodies such as 1440p resolution as well as 165Hz refresh rate, this is tempting by all means. In reality, it looks as good as it sounds. With its 100 percent sRGB colour gamut, content looks bright and vivid, with the latter part being closer to natural output. The Viewing angles are fairly wide as well. The display should serve the content creators nicely too.

HP Omen 16 AMD Performance

With a Ryzen 9-5900HX processor at the helm, performance on the Omen 16 AMD was never a question. We have seen this processor prove itself in previous midrange high-performance laptops in the past, and on the Omen 16, it is no different. What was concerning was the Radeon RX 6600M GPU with 8GB VRAM and 100W TDP rating. On paper, the performance is usually on par with the Nvidia RTX 3060 mobile GPU. My unit came with 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM as standard, and booted Windows 11 out of the box.

In the real world, the Omen 16 AMD with these bits of hardware performed nicely for a midrange gaming laptop. The RX 6600M performed better in some of the latest games, although the output had to be tuned down to 1080p at times to gain the frames during the gameplay. Sample this – Forza Horizon 5 ran at its highest settings in 1080p, with frame rates averaging between 40-60 fps. This was consistent across an hour of gameplay, and the laptop heated up substantially but never dropped frames to levels that was unacceptable.

On the other hand, F1 2021 ran at the highest 1080p resolution with the Highest settings enabled, and still returns consistently above 60 fps. Red Dead Redemption 2 also ran at its highest settings but in 1080p resolution to keep the fps counter above 60 fps. On the whole, the RX6600M GPU here performs on par with the RTX 3060 GPU but the extra dollop of VRAM helped it host more effects and higher textures in the game.

And for all the regular PC stuff, the Omen 16 AMD handled it all with absolute ease (was never in doubt). Basic productivity tasks were a joy to do on this laptop, with the keyboard playing a large role in it. The Omen 16’s keyboard offers substantial travel with decent feedback and enough space to make long hours of typing very comfortable. Coupled with a responsive trackpad, this is a very easy laptop to work on.

The Omen 16 AMD also does a good enough job with its audio output. These Bang & Olufsen speakers aren’t going to replace the experience from your headphones or speakers, but these are good enough for casual YouTube sessions, or some gaming. There’s a slight hint of bass with nicely balanced mids and highs, but the low are squashed.

HP Omen 16 AMD Battery Life

The Omen 16 AMD has a 83Whr battery and while such a larger capacity cell delivers upwards of 9 hours of battery on regular laptops, it could only manage to do 6 hours at a stretch. Subjecting to regular office workloads while connected to the Wi-Fi, it could only deal with Chrome and WhatsApp for an average of 6-7 hours with 50 percent screen brightness. For a gaming laptop, this is adequate.

Verdict

With its AMD guts, the HP Omen 16 AMD edition is a great choice if you can spend north of Rs. 1 lakh on a midrange gaming laptop. The combination of the Ryzen 9 5900H processor and the Radeon RX 6600M make this a solid choice for those looking for a reliable gaming machine in the midrange segment. The presence of a 1440p 165Hz colour accurate display is a boon but not all games can take advantage of this higher resolution. The general build quality is good and even if you want to use it as a regular work PC, it can serve you well.

On the whole, if you have less than Rs. 1.5 lakhs to spend on a gaming laptop, the HP Omen 16 AMD edition is a laptop you should definitely check out.