While HP has entered the consumer and business PC markets, it hasn’t forgotten to tap into the nascent gaming market with its Omen gaming line. The HP Omen Transcend 16 is their latest offering in this segment and here is what this laptop has to offer.
design
HP Omen Transcend 16 Laptop | Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh
At just 19.9mm thick, the Omen Transcend 16 feels as compact as a 14-inch Ultrabook. While the Omen Transcend 16 isn’t exactly light at 2.1kg, it’s still pretty decent enough to carry around without noticing too much weight in your backpack.
The chassis is made from a magnesium alloy that can withstand the frequent bites of everyday carry. The only trouble is that the body is prone to smudges when carried, which is very obvious compared to the shadow black color version I reviewed.
exhibit
HP Omen Transcend 16 Laptop | Photo credit: BIJOY GHOSH
The Omen Transcend features a 16-inch WXGA Mini-LED display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The colors are accurate and the Taylor Swift concert video is a joy to watch. The panel contrast is good, and deep blacks can be experienced with ease. Featuring 100% sRGB color accuracy, the Omen easily doubles as a video editing laptop for novice gamers and content creators.
sound
I found the speakers to be average at best, with no particularly outstanding sound signature — not too bass-heavy, and not too treble-heavy. This works great for gamers looking for a sound package that’s balanced between voice and ambient sounds. The laptop is equipped with a HyperX Cloud II Core wireless gaming headset, which provides a great surround sound experience and is suitable for long gaming sessions.
keyboard
HP Omen Transcend 16 Laptop | Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh
The key travel on the keyboard is excellent, making it perfect for both gaming and typing. The keyboard, while nice in the hand, can feel cramped at times, and I often hit adjacent keys for the first few days before getting used to it. The keyboard features RGB lighting which can be used to assign different colors to the individual keys as well as the keyboard area via Light Studio which is part of the Omen Gaming Hub.
In terms of ports, it is equipped with two Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C, 2 USB Type-A, 1 RJ-45 port, 1 headphone/microphone combo, 1 AC smart pin and 1 HDMI 2.1 port, very mellow. Choice of gaming laptop ports. Some ports are located on the back of the laptop, but there are no clear icons on the rear display hinge, and you may not be able to easily access these ports without turning the laptop around.
HP Omen Transcend 16 Laptop | Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh
Performance
The HP Omen Transcend 16 features an Intel Core i7-13700HX with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 30 MB L3 cache, 16 cores, 24 threads paired with an NVIDIA RTX 4070 with 8 GB RAM GDDR6, making the Transcend 16 a gaming powerhouse. On the comprehensive benchmark Cinebench R23, the i7-13700HX of the Omen Transcend 16 scored 1,765 in single-core and 12,878 in multi-core, ranking fourth behind AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX, Intel Xeon W-3265M and AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X.
The Omen Transcend 16 delivered a consistent 80 FPS in Halo: Infinite and 100 FPS in Hitman 3. Another issue here is that the magnesium alloy chassis tends to get hot pretty quickly, which I feel most noticeably on the top half of the body. The keyboard is near the WASD keys.
Omen Gaming Hub helps customize performance profiles, including step-down, Optimus toggles, and tweaking webcam and sound settings.
Battery
The laptop is powered by a 97 Wh battery that supports fast charging. The battery lasts 4 to 4.5 hours unplugged for typing work documents, managing social media, and viewing self-guided tutorials on color grading on YouTube. When gaming, the battery lasts up to 1.5 hours unplugged, thanks to Nvidia Optimus that intelligently switches between the integrated GPU and the Nvidia RTX 4070. The bulky 230 W charger helps charge the laptop in 2 hours, and will likely last forever. If you primarily play games on that device, make sure it’s pinned on your desk.
in conclusion
HP Omen Beyond 16
Pros: Great specs, portability, and Mini LED display.
Cons: Expensive, magnesium alloy chassis runs hot in performance mode.
The HP Omen Transcend 16 is a powerful gaming laptop, a device that offers the perfect blend of performance, portability, and functionality. The only thing to say before its stellar performance is the price, which seems a little high considering the more reasonable pricing of the similarly spec’d Lenovo Legion Pro 5i and Dell’s Alienware m16 R1. Still, the HP Omen Transcend 16 is a solid gaming laptop with a great display.
