HP Omen 17 (i7-6700HQ, GTX 1070) Notebook Review

The design of HP’s current Omen series is similar to the predecessor, so we can once again find the mesh pattern on the lid as well as the palm rest. The red Omen logo is on the center of the lid and confirms that this is a gaming laptop from HP. The black-red design gives the gaming system a special look and it is pretty easy to distinguish from other systems. Thanks to the red keyboard illumination, this design language also continues when the lid is open and creates an overall good impression. Only a closer look will reveal minor design changes. The optical drive was waived, and the battery is now integrated.

Nothing changed in terms of quality, which means the new version cannot quite meet the expectations. HP only uses plastics for the chassis. All material transitions are very clean and there are no conspicuous gaps.

The stability of the base unit is good and it can only be warped with a lot of pressure, but this changes when we move to the display cover. It can be twisted quite easily and this will result in slight color distortions on the panel. We would have liked a sturdier display frame as well. The bezels are made of very thin plastic, so even light pressure will result in inconvenient creaking sounds.

The metal display hinges work well and keep the display in position, but you need both hands to open the lid. At the bottom is a small maintenance hatch, which is secured by two small screws. It gives access to the two memory slots. Getting access to all the other components requires a disassembly of the whole bottom panel. This procedure should only be performed with professional tools to avoid any damage.

Wireless communications are handled by the Intel Dual-Band Wireless-AC 7265 module, which also supports Bluetooth. In addition to the familiar standards IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/h/n, the chip also supports the faster ac-standard. The theoretical transfer rate is specified at 867 Mbps, and the HP Omen 17-w110ng can manage an excellent result of 676 Mbps (receive) and 529 Mbps (send) in our practical WLAN test. The latter is a bit lower compared to the MSI GS73VR 6RF, but the advantage of the MSI (send) is so small that both systems are basically on par. The subjective performance impression is similar, and the signal quality was very good during our time with the device. Even large amounts of data were transferred quickly and reliably.

Besides the possibility to use wireless networks, the HP Omen 17-w110ng can also be used with wired networks via a Gigabit Ethernet port. There is no criticism here, either.

HP did not change the keyboard compared to the previous model. The chiclet input is still well integrated into the base unit and has a subtle red background illumination, which can also be deactivated. However, we do not recommend that in practice, because the red lettering is otherwise hard to read. White letters would have been a better alternative.

The size of the individual keys (15 x 15 millimeters) is good, and the typing sounds are not overly loud, but not silent, either. All keys are on one level and have a spacing of 3 millimeters. The surface of the keys is matte, but not roughened. Pressure point as well as stroke are clearly perceptible, but could be a bit firmer for better feedback. A bit unusual are the small vertical direction keys. There is no spacing between the two, so typos are not uncommon. An advantage of the HP notebook is the dedicated numeric keypad.

After you open the lid of the Omen 17-w110ng, you will quickly notice the touchpad. We immediately wanted to ask HP if they are serious. The dimensions are rather small for a 17-inch system. The width is actually okay at 12 centimeters, but a height of just 6.5 centimeters (4.7 x 2.6 inches) does affect the handling. The manufacturer probably thinks that you will use an external mouse most of the time anyway.

The lack of stability is still the biggest problem. The touchpad leaves a cheap impression, which is supported by the clicking sound. The surface is similar to the keys and provided good gliding capabilities. Gestures work well, but this cannot really save the overall impression.

HP does not take any risks in terms of display and uses a good panel from LG. It is a matte 17-inch IPS display with a native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, which results in a pixel density of 127 PPI. The system is also available with a 4K screen (HP Omen 17-w107ng). Our test sample does not have to hide with an average luminance of 342 nits, and the brightness distribution (87%) is good as well. This means the HP can keep up pretty well with the rivals, even though some of them are much more expensive. All in all, we cannot criticize the system. HP really equipped the Omen 17-w110ng with a very good panel for this price range.

The panel also deserves praise for the lack of PWM, because screen flickering caused by pulse-width modulation is no problem here. That we cannot notice any backlight bleeding is another positive aspect.

The fast quad-core processor is provided by Intel and has the designation Core i7-6700HQ. The performance utilization of the soldered 14-nm model is very good in the case of the HP Omen. Our Cinebench R15 results show that the Turbo utilization is perfect. However, the advantage is very small compared to the rivals, so you will probably not notice any differences in practice. Only the Asus G752VS is faster, but this is not surprising when you consider the more powerful Core i7-6820HK with its free multiplier.

The Core i7-6700HQ is based on the Skylake architecture and has a TDP of 45 watts. Its four physical cores can execute up to eight threads simultaneously and the nominal clock is 2.6 GHz. The latter can be raised to 3.5 GHz (1 core), 3.3 GHz (2 cores) and 3.1 GHz (four cores) via Turbo Boost.

In short: The CPU performance is more than sufficient for almost every application.

Our Pascal test model performs similar to the previous generation in this section. The chassis is conveniently cool while idling and no area exceeds 30 °C (86 °F). Sustained workloads, simulated by the tools FurMark and Prime95, result in a noticeable temperature increase. After one hour, we can measure up to 54.3 °C (129.7 °F), but rivals like the Nexoc G734III, MSI GS73VR, and Gigabyte P57X get even hotter at up to 66 °C (150.8 °F). Still, you should not use the laptop for gaming sessions on your lap. We recommend using the device on solid surfaces to ensure good air circulation.

It is also hot inside the chassis. The stress test is executed with 2.8 GHz by the CPU, which warms up to almost 90 °C (194 °F). The GeForce GTX 1070 (slight throttling) only reaches up to 80 °C (176 °F).

HP also used the Pascal update to increase the battery capacity – the 95-Wh module is the biggest within the comparison. The result is a load runtime of 1:55 hours for the Omen 17-w110ng with the highest luminance (Battery Eater Classic Test). This is almost 50% better than the previous model, which was still equipped with a 62-Wh battery. We can determine about 4 hours for WLAN browsing and video playback at an adjusted luminance of 150 nits (-3 levels). Gaming is possible on battery, but the GPU performance is dramatically reduced. 3DMark 11 only determines 5819 points on battery power instead of 14,116 points on mains.

Many people think about business or office notebooks when they hear HP, but the Omen name represents the gaming series from HP. Our test model, the Omen 17-w110ng, can meet the expectations for a gaming notebook. Users get a powerful CPU/GPU combination inside a stylish chassis, but it is only made of plastic and there is no optical drive. The lack of such a drive is not a deal breaker when you consider gaming platforms like Steam, where you can download your games.

A bit questionable is the port selection with only three USB 3.0 ports. We would have at least expected one USB 3.1 Gen.2 port with a Type-C connector. HP should also have another look at the input devices. We are talking about the touchpad in particular, which leaves a cheap impression for this price range. The dimensions are not perfect, either, because a height of just 6.5 centimeters (~2.6 in) is not very generous.

All things considered, the HP Omen 17-w110ng is a good package for a fair price. The performance of the gaming system does not cause any criticism. The laptop runs very well, and you can enjoy games without any restrictions.

The overall package is pretty convincing, despite the mentioned drawbacks. The performance is very good, and the device was designed for gamers, which is supported by our test results. Intel's fast Core i7-6700HQ provides sufficient performance for all applications, and even demanding games can be played in FHD (sometimes even 4K) thanks to Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1070. The price is also appealing at 1800 Euros (~$2007). Comparable devices from the competition are often priced between 2000-2500 Euros (~$2230-$2787), so the Omen series from HP should definitely be on your short list.