HP Omen 15 (7700HQ, GTX 1060 Max-Q, Full-HD) Laptop Review

Even though the Omen has already been offering a winning design in the past, HP could not keep from completely redesigning the series. Instead of mouse-gray surfaces and rounded corners, the customers now receive a considerably darker and more edgy case that stands out from the mass of gaming notebooks in many respects.

Although the center-mounted display hinge and the (fake) fan vents to the right and left of it are reminiscent of the Lenovo Y520, elsewhere HP goes its own very peculiar way in the design. For one, we have the cover that is split into four sections that have different textures and besides the red Omen logo, some sort of cross hairs. Then there is the bottom that draws attention to itself with the interestingly formed rubber feet and the triangular pattern typical for the series.

In terms of quality, a lot has changed also. While the lid and bottom of the case continue to be made of plastic, the keyboard in the new Omen is surrounded by brushed aluminum (fingerprint magnet), which makes the case appear of higher quality and provides better stability. Appropriate: the base unit scores in all respects with a good solidity. As with most notebooks, the lid could have been a little more stable, particularly since it also makes some unattractive noises when opening or twisting it.

Overall, we would give a good verdict on the case. HP has made changes at exactly the right places and delivers a mostly cleanly designed case. Anyone looking for a gaming device that stands out is well-served here.

Size and weight have turned out considerably less spectacular than the design. 2.6 kg (~5.7 lb) is neither particularly heavy nor light for a 15-inch game companion. The same goes for a case thickness of 2.5 cm (~1 in), which puts the Omen 15 between the MSI GS63VR or Gigabyte Aero 15 (<2 cm/< 0.8 in) and the Acer Aspire VX5-591G or Schenker XMG P507 (~3 cm/1.2 in).

Compared to the predecessor, the number of connections has increased considerably. Where the old Omen was very stingy with the connections, the new model has all the ports you would expect from a modern gaming notebook, whether it be the display ports (HDMI & Mini-DisplayPort) or the USB-connections. Not only does the test unit offer three traditional USB-3.0 Type-A ports, but also a Type-C port that masters USB 3.1 Gen2, DisplayPort, and even Thunderbolt 3 (but this is not always the case for the more affordable models with GTX 1050 [Ti]). The package is rounded by two audio ports (headphones + microphone), a foldout RJ45 port, and an opening for Kensington Locks.

From a right-handed point of view, the positioning of the connections succeeds. Since all the ports except for the card reader are towards the back, movements are not restricted when using a mouse. This looks different for left-handed people who might be confronted with lots of cables. 

At 87 MB/s for sequential reads and 77 MB/s for transferring images, the performance of the SD-card reader settles in the middle of the field. The two leaders of the field, the Schenker XMG P507 and the Gigabyte Aero 15, have almost the same speed. Our Toshiba reference card can theoretically transfer up to 260 MB/s, which some notebooks are able to achieve at least partially. At least the HP Omen 15 does clearly better than the Acer Aspire VX5-591G and the MSI GS63R, which crawl at USB-2.0 levels (<30 MB/s).

The transmission speed leaves a mixed impression. While the 15-inch notebook sets the top value for receiving with 701 Mbit/s (100 cm/3 ft distance from the reference router), during sending it only achieves one of the last places. Its 426 Mbit/s positions it between the Schenker XMG P507 (513 Mbit/s) and the Gigabyte Aero 15 (346 Mbit/s), which have the slightly newer Wireless AC 8265 instead of the Intel Wireless-AC 7265. At an average of 653 Mbit/s during sending, the Acer Aspire VX5-591G proves that more would really be possible with the integrated Wi-Fi chip.

The accessories are extremely stingy. Besides the large 17 x 9.5 x 2.5 cm (~6.7 x 3.7 x 1 in) and heavy 0.8 kg (~1.8 lb) 200-watt power supply, HP adds only a Quick Start Guide and a small information booklet into the box. The more affordable GTX-1050-(Ti) model would have a more compact power supply.

The possibilities of upgrading and cleaning are on a level typical for gaming notebooks of 2017. The lack of a maintenance flap is alleviated by a bottom that is completely removable. After having unscrewed 10 Philips screws, you can leverage the bottom out of its seat, which is not as easy in some places as it looks.

Under the hood are two SO-DIMM slots for DDR4 RAM, one M.2 slot for SATA-III or PCIe/NVMe SSDs, and one 2.5-inch slot for conventional hard drives. This is accompanied by the Wi-Fi adapter and the screwed-in battery. The cooling system consists of three heat pipes, which run above the CPU and the GPU (soldered-in and thus not removable). Two fans in the back take care of discharging the heat outside.

As with most notebooks, the warranty extends for 24 months. The notebooksbilliger.de internet shop, where we received our test unit, also speaks about a six-month Express-Service warranty. Please see our Guarantees, Return policies and Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

Touchpad

Besides the keyboard, the touchpad also leaps ahead. Instead of a very unstable ClickPad without dedicated keys, the customers are now getting spoiled with a traditional touchpad that acts much more reliably in practice. The 10.2 x 5.7 cm (~4.1 x 2.2 in) surface is slightly roughed and lowered minimally. In the test, the precision was inconspicuous, that is to say, decent. 

We are not quite so enthusiastic about the gesture support. While scrolling with two fingers works well, the zoom function turns out to be quite obstinate (delays, no smooth transitions). HP could also improve on the rather small and slightly undefined mouse keys.

To keep pace with the times, the Omen 15 in the version with the top features offers a 120-Hz display with G-Sync support. The Full HD panel AUO42ED is based on IPS technology and compels not only with a quite good black value (0.26 cd/m²), but also with ample contrast. At 1169:1, the 15-inch notebook outdoes all competitors (714 to 889:1). However, the brightness is just mediocre, and 289 cd/m² are surpassed slightly by the Gigabyte Aero 15 and clearly by the Schenker XMG P507.

Our test unit is spared massive screen bleeding. There is merely some minimal light bleeding at the bottom edge, which in no way is interfering, even with dark backgrounds.

Depending on the graphics card, the Omen 15 trends towards either the mid-range (GTX 1050, GTX 1050 Ti) or the high-end (GTX 1060). In most games, the CPU selection hardly makes much difference, since even the Core i5-7300HQ brings enough power, at least for now. However, anyone wanting to future-proof their device should choose the Core i7-7700HQ with Hyperthreading.

We can confirm these values. A maximum of 3.8 GHz during singlecore tasks and 3.4 GHz during multi-core tasks correspond to the usual 7700HQ level. In our 30-minute loop with Cinebench R15, the Turbo definitely comes into use. The Omen 15 delivers constantly high results which do not drop even after prolonged periods.

Fitting with this, the 15-inch notebook finds its place in the benchmark table. Except for the Acer Aspire VX5-591 which falls back a little, all the competitors are on equal footing.

The system performance is also compelling. Thanks to the fact that Windows 10 is installed on a solid-state drive, the computer boots up in no time and also reacts exceptionally fast elsewhere (program starts, loading procedures, etc.). 16 GB of DDR4 RAM should offer enough reserves for the next 2 to 3 years. With 8 GB configurations, it might become a little tight for the coming game hits.

However, with a maximum of 1200 to 1300 MB/s during sequential writes, it is just enough for a place in the middle of the field. Samsung's 960 EVO in-house competitor, which runs in the Schenker XMG A517, achieves higher scores in almost all the tests. On the other hand, the SSD performance of the Omen 15 is better than the Gigabyte P56XT, whose LiteOn drive performs slower.

Unlike the GTX 1080 Max-Q, whose performance is more similar to the GTX 1070 than the GTX 1080, the weaker clock speeds of the GTX 1060 Max-Q do not quite have such a negative effect, since other elements of the GPU are limiting in many programs. In the benchmarks, the Omen 15 comes in just slightly behind the classical GTX-1060 notebooks such as the MSI GS63VR 7RF and the Gigabyte Aero 15, though the difference is measurable at about 10%. However, the Omen 15 runs miles ahead of the GTX-1050-Ti laptops, which leads us to consider the labeling of the GTX 1060 Max-Q less controversial than that of the GTX 1080 Max-Q, which only conditionally deserves its name. Perhaps calling it GTX 1075 would have been more appropriate.

But back to our current notebook: since the 15-inch notebook supports Nvidia's G-Sync technology, the customers have to make do without graphics switching. The HD Graphics 630 integrated in the processor always remains inactive, which can diminish the battery life considerably.

At least in 3D operation, the power of the GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q is well retrieved. After 60 minutes of “The Witcher 3”, the core settled at about 1440 MHz (CPU @ 3.4 to 3.6 GHz) with a moderate GPU temperature of 70 °C (~158 °F). We did not notice any performance drops or other problems. The throttling of the Omen 15 could only be forced in the practically less relevant stress test with the FurMark and Prime95 tools.

During the gaming benchmarks, the trend of the synthetic graphics tests continues. If you exclude an outlier above (“FIFA 17”) and one below (“Rocket League”), the GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q is mostly just a few percentage points slower than its non-Max-Q version. From time to time, it can also fall behind by more than 10%. Taking all the tested games together results in the following ranking:

In general, anyone calling themselves just an occasional gamer would only be happy in the Full HD area with the GeForce GTX 1060 or better. The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti often demands some larger or smaller compromises in the image quality. However, for 3K displays it should be at least a GTX 1070, and 4K monitors demand a GTX 1080.

As you can see from our table below, the GTX 1060 Max-Q handles almost all the games, even with full detail settings. However, you have to be aware that then the 120-Hz-technology is hardly used. Often you can only reach above 60 FPS in settings that are "only" high.

The Omen 15 delivers only a mediocre performance in idle mode as well. On the one hand, the basic noise level is not particularly low at a base level of 33 to 34 dB(A) (HDD + discrete fan noise), while on the other hand the fans like to rev up unnecessarily. Depending on the power saving settings, they stop completely from time to time, which makes the Omen silent (only right next to it, you can hear a minimal hum).

If we take a quick look inside the case, under load neither the CPU nor the GPU reaches ranges that are too critical. As soon as the Core i7-7700HQ reaches above 90 °C (~194 °F), the Turbo boost simply deactivates, so that it only reaches 2.6 GHz (minimal throttling) to 2.8 GHz (base clock speed). In the stress test, the GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q throttles considerably more to below 1000 MHz at a temperature of about 75 °C (~167 °F). As mentioned above, you do not need to fear any losses in normal 3D applications.

A 2.0 system hidden at the bottom in the frontal area and coming from (or certified by) Bang & Olufsen takes care of the sound reproduction. Compared to the current notebook standard, the offered sound quality ranges from decent (bass) to good (mids, highs). You can fine tune it with HP's audio software. Not only are there several sound modes (music, movie, voice) in the "Output" menu, but also an equalizer. At a maximum volume of 80 dB(A), the Omen 15 is suitable for small to mid-size rooms.

Frequency comparison (Checkboxes selectable!)

Despite the Max-Q design, the Omen 15 is not very energy efficient while idling. 18 to 30 watts is even more than in many non-Max-Q notebooks. The GTX-1060 competitors such as the MSI GS63VR 7RF and the Gigabyte Aero 15 often offer graphics switching (Nvidia Optimus). However, under load you can notice an improvement in terms of efficiency due to the Max-Q. Instead of 111 to 129 watts, the Omen 15 consumes only about 96 watts in “The Witcher 3”. However, the values in the 3DMark 06 and the stress test are similar to the MSI and Gigabyte competition.

The maximum of 158 watts in full load with FurMark and Prime95 indicate that a more compact power supply with 150 to 170 watts would really have been sufficient. 200 watts make the Max-Q concept (more mobility through less cooling and power demands) a bit pointless.

The Omen 15 is hardly suitable for longer excursions beyond the power grid. 3:18 hours of Internet surfing via WLAN with a brightness of 150 cd/m² are as limited in the year 2017 as 3:44 hours of HD-movie enjoyment (also with reduced brightness). In the best case, i.e., with minimal brightness and no load present, the 70-Wh battery lasts a little over 4 hours. In 3D operation with maximum brightness, you can count on 1 to 1.5 hours. Anyone valuing mobility should buy a notebook with graphics switching and a particularly large battery. The 94-Wh model of the Gigabyte Aero 15 manages 7 to 8 hours in everyday scenarios (video, web) and more than 10 hours in idle.

By the way, to play games without a power supply is not a good idea. The frame rate dropped by about 60% in the “The Witcher 3” test.