HP updates the Omen 15 gaming laptop with Pascal and Kaby Lake

HP overhauled its Omen notebook design for 2016. While the 2015 model had a unique trapezoidal design and higher quality construction, it also had a higher price tag. Since 2016, HP has refocused on the budget and mid-range gaming markets, and their designs have followed suit. The 2016 Omen sold for hundreds less than the 2015 model and (naturally) performed better, the redesign eliminated the strong build quality and uniqueness of the original, opting for cheap plastic and a derivative chassis and colorway. For 2017, HP has refreshed the Omen again—but this time only with updated internals.

All HP Omen notebooks do come with the very capable i7-7700HQ CPU—one of the strongest mobile processors available. There are no i5/i3s being pitched here. You will have your choice of a 2 or 4GB GeForce GTX 1050, or 4GB GeForce 1050 Ti. It's US$190 more for the GeForce 1050 Ti, but  the vanilla 1050 is a waste to pair with such a strong CPU in a gaming-focused notebook. For an additional US$90, you can upgrade the 1080p IPS display to a 4K panel—but the 1050-series GPU will not be capable of playing games at the native resolution, and will greatly diminish battery life. The notebooks are available now on HP.com.