HP Omen 15 2020: Finally, Almost Perfect!
The HP Omen series has come a long way since the first one was released a couple of years ago. The HP Omen 15 2020 edition is a completely new take on the Omen series but still somehow stays faithful to the Omen design.
HP has decided to completely refresh the Omen gaming laptops to better suit the needs of their customers, increase performance, and improve aesthetics.
Design
The biggest change to HP Omen 15 is the new logo design. From the looks of it, HP is really going minimalistic with the laptop. The logo that used to be a very accented red alien-looking head now comes in a plain blue square standing on one of its edges. We actually like this new logo design that it comes with.
Most of the changes to this laptop come in the form of design. Therefore, the next biggest change that users would notice is the overall look of the new model. HP has decided to ditch its edgy and very gamer look for a simpler square-like look. The laptop really lends itself to being really simple. The slick design of the 2020 model is 11% slimmer than the 2019 edition.
The only downside in terms of design is that the lid has quite a lot of flex, and it wobbles on its hinge. However, this laptop overall has a very solid build except for the lid. It is almost like HP ran out of money for the lid.
Keyboard
The keyboard style used on the new laptop is very close to the keyboard design and spacing system used on a regular desktop keyboard. This is likely to give the user a very tacky feel with good travel and response system. The keyboard features a separated and full-sized arrow keys, as well as isolated feature keys on top of the arrow keys.
The trackpad area has been made bigger to allow a smoother and more comfortable feel while using this machine.
Of course, it is still a gaming laptop, and therefore, the keyboard can still be configured with full RGB colors display or a single-color accent.
Performance
It is no surprise that for the first time, HP Omen laptops would actually come with AMD processors following the improved performance seen from the new Ryzen chips. The HP Omen 15 will feature both the Ryzen 7 4000 and the 10th generation “Comet Lake H” i5 and i7 CPUs from Intel.
In terms of graphics, they did not skimp on performance either, depending on the configuration that you choose, you can get the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650Ti graphics card all the way up to the GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q edition. That is a lot of power in a small form factor, which leads us to the cooling system.
The 2020 model comes with 16GB of DDR4 3200MHz RAM but allows up to 32GB of RAM. In terms of storage, it has a 1TB Samsung NVMe drive. To top it off, it comes with a 15.6-inch OLED 4K display panel. However, it can be configured with a 1080p IPS screen with 120, 144, or 300HZ refresh rate for gamers that rely on reactive screens for performance.
Thermals
The laptop comes with a newly designed cooling system. The former HP Omen used to come with cooling vents only on the back of the laptop. However, the new one now comes with vents on the side and the back of the laptop, making way for better airflow.
The new vents are not the only things that changed in this laptop. The Omen 15 2020 comes with two fans that are bigger than the ones the previous generation of Omens used. The new fans have been reported to provide a 62% boost in maximum airflow around the internals of the laptop. To ensure better heat control, a heat sensor was added to detect the heat around the computer.
Final Verdict
The minimalist design approach makes it a sleek machine that packs a lot of power under the hood. Plus, the starting price of about $999 makes it an affordable machine with lots to offer the user.
We personally recommend that you go with the RTX 2060 or the RTX 2070 Super Max Q edition of the HP Omen 15 2020 to enjoy the best performance possible.