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HP Pavilion Gaming 16 Laptop Review: Low-priced 16-inch laptop with a GeForce GPU

Reasonably priced gaming device! Even though HP already has many good gaming laptops in its Omen series, the manufacturer also offers low-priced gaming notebooks in its Pavilion series. The system surprises with a good level of performance and usable battery runtimes.

The Pavilion-branded gaming laptops from HP offer a great level of performance at a low price. This holds true for the Pavilion Gaming 16, which we have in our test lab right now. Our review device retails for 900 Euros (~$1,067). For this money, users will get an Intel Core i5-10300H, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD.

Those who need more performance can get a configuration with a Core i7 chip and an RTX graphics card from NVIDIA. However, such a configuration will cost considerably more than 1,000 Euros (~$1,185).

HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng (Pavilion Gaming 16 Series)
Processor
Intel Core i5-10300H 4 x 2.5 - 4.5 GHz, Comet Lake-H
Graphics adapter
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile - 4 GB VRAM, Core: 1350 MHz, Memory: 6000 MHz, GDDR6, Optimus
Memory
16 GB 
, DDR4-3200, Dual-channel
Display
16.10 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel 137 PPI, BOE08F6, IPS, glossy: no, 60 Hz
Mainboard
Intel HM470
Storage
Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8, 512 GB 
, 430 GB free
Soundcard
Realtek Audio
Connections
3 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, Audio Connections: combination headphone/microphone jack, Card Reader: SD
Networking
Realtek Gaming GBE Family Controller (10/100/1000MBit/s), Realtek RTL8822CE (a/b/g/h/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 5
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 23.5 x 370 x 262.5 ( = 0.93 x 14.57 x 10.33 in)
Battery
52 Wh Lithium-Ion, 3 cells
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
Camera
Webcam: 720p
Additional features
Speakers: B&O, two speakers, HP Audio Boost 1.0, Keyboard: chiclet-style, 12 Months Warranty
Weight
2.198 kg ( = 77.53 oz / 4.85 pounds), Power Supply: 324 g ( = 11.43 oz / 0.71 pounds)
Price
899 EUR
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

For comparison purposes we included several similarly priced gaming laptops in this review, all of which you can see in the chart below. 

Rating
Date
Model
Weight
Height
Size
Resolution
Price
79.9 %
08/2020
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
i5-10300H, GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile
2.2 kg23.5 mm16.10"1920x1080
83.7 %
06/2020
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
R7 4800H, Radeon RX 5600M
2.4 kg21.6 mm15.60"1920x1080
82.7 %
06/2020
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
R7 4800H, GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
2.2 kg24.9 mm15.60"1920x1080
82.3 %
11/2019
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
i7-9750H, GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
2.6 kg21 mm15.60"1920x1080
83.3 %
07/2020
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
i5-10300H, GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
2.5 kg26.1 mm15.60"1920x1080
79.5 %
07/2020
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
R7 4800H, Radeon RX 5300M
2 kg22 mm15.60"1920x1080

Case - Plastic everywhere

The housing is made mostly of plastic. The case of the HP Pavilion Gaming 16 comes in the black colour scheme. A few green colour accents adorn the device, making it seem less stern. There are no other case adornments. The housing is very rigid. The chassis exhibits little to no flex. The display lid is not as rigid as the chassis. However, that is not something to worry about. When poking the screen with a finger, there is no ripple effect. The hinges are not tight and allow the device to be opened with one hand. There is some slight screen-wobbling. 

HP Pavilion Gaming 16
HP Pavilion Gaming 16
HP Pavilion Gaming 16
HP Pavilion Gaming 16
HP Pavilion Gaming 16
HP Pavilion Gaming 16
HP Pavilion Gaming 16

Because the HP Pavilion Gaming 16 is a 16.1-inch laptop, it does not offer that much more screen real estate than its 15.6-inch counterparts. When compared to other competing devices, the Pavilion Gaming 16 is slightly wider. The depth of the Pavilion Gaming 16 is slightly smaller than that of the Xiaomi Mi gaming laptop. Our review device is rather slim. Weighing in at 2.2 kg, the Pavilion Gaming 16 is one of the lightest devices in our comparison chart.

Size Comparison

370 mm / 14.6 in 262.5 mm / 10.3 in 23.5 mm / 0.925 in 2.2 kg4.85 lbs363.1 mm / 14.3 in 259.6 mm / 10.2 in 26.1 mm / 1.028 in 2.5 kg5.42 lbs365.5 mm / 14.4 in 254 mm / 10 in 21.6 mm / 0.85 in 2.4 kg5.35 lbs364 mm / 14.3 in 265 mm / 10.4 in 21 mm / 0.827 in 2.6 kg5.73 lbs359 mm / 14.1 in 256 mm / 10.1 in 24.9 mm / 0.98 in 2.2 kg4.8 lbs359 mm / 14.1 in 254 mm / 10 in 22 mm / 0.866 in 2 kg4.32 lbs297 mm / 11.7 in 210 mm / 8.27 in 1 mm / 0.03937 in 5.7 g0.01257 lbs

Connectivity - Only the basics

When it comes to the ports, the HP Pavilion Gaming 16 offers only the basics. All in all, there are three USB ports, one of which is a Type-C port. However, the USB-C port cannot be used with all external devices. That being said, it can output a DisplayPort signal in combination with an adapter. If users decide to game on an external display, then they will have only two USB Type-A ports at their disposal, one of which is going to be occupied by a mouse. Things are going to be much simpler if you opt to output a video signal to an external display via the HDMI port. The device also features a Gigabit Ethernet port. All the ports are located on the two sides of the Pavilion Gaming 16. Because the ports are very close to the back of the device, there should not be any problems when using a mouse right next to the laptop. 

Left side: power socket, one USB 3.1 Gen. 1 port (sleep-and-charge)
Left side: power socket, one USB 3.1 Gen. 1 port (sleep-and-charge)
Right side: SD card reader, 3.5-mm combination headphone/microphone jack, one USB Type-C port (5 Gbit/s; DisplayPort 1.4 over USB), Gigabit RJ-45 port, one USB 3.1 Gen. 1 port, HDMI 2.0 output
Right side: SD card reader, 3.5-mm combination headphone/microphone jack, one USB Type-C port (5 Gbit/s; DisplayPort 1.4 over USB), Gigabit RJ-45 port, one USB 3.1 Gen. 1 port, HDMI 2.0 output

SD Card Reader

The HP Pavilion Gaming 16 comes with an SD card reader, which operates at USB 3.0 speeds. The benchmarks that we conducted with our reference-grade SD card (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) reveal this to be the case.

SD Card Reader
average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs)
Average of class Gaming
  (19 - 202, n=90, last 2 years)
95.1 MB/s +32%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
78 MB/s +8%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
72 MB/s
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
36.6 MB/s -49%
maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB)
Average of class Gaming
  (25.8 - 269, n=91, last 2 years)
119 MB/s +32%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
90 MB/s
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
85 MB/s -6%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
37.9 MB/s -58%

Communication

Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi module does not support Wi-Fi 6. This is why the Pavilion Gaming 16 has somewhat lower data transfer rates than the devices that support Wi-Fi 6. Here our review laptop lands a spot in the middle of our compassion chart. We did not encounter any problems with wireless networking. Users can also rely on wired networking if they so choose, which works flawlessly. Here, speeds of up to 1 Gb/s are possible.

Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650x Wireless Network Adapter (200NGW)
1385 (1268min - 1486max) MBit/s +117%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200
1190 MBit/s +87%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
Intel Wireless-AC 9560
1160 MBit/s +82%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
Realtek 8822CE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC
662 (553min - 769max) MBit/s +4%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Realtek RTL8822CE
638 MBit/s
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201
566 (37min - 647max) MBit/s -11%
iperf3 receive AX12
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650x Wireless Network Adapter (200NGW)
1470 (1297min - 1511max) MBit/s +129%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
Intel Wireless-AC 9560
1380 MBit/s +115%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200
1340 MBit/s +109%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201
880 (772min - 916max) MBit/s +37%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Realtek RTL8822CE
641 MBit/s
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
Realtek 8822CE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC
630 (571min - 641max) MBit/s -2%

Web Camera

The integrated web camera (0.9 MP) offers a maximum resolution of 1280x720. The image quality is very poor (sharpness, detail, etc.). Moreover, there is a lot of noise under poor lighting conditions. The Delta E colour deviation of 9.44 is high. It is far away from the optimal value (Delta E less than 3).

ColorChecker
9.7 ∆E
9.8 ∆E
15.7 ∆E
11.6 ∆E
14.5 ∆E
7.8 ∆E
8.1 ∆E
19.3 ∆E
11.9 ∆E
8 ∆E
8.4 ∆E
6 ∆E
13.4 ∆E
7.6 ∆E
10.8 ∆E
6.8 ∆E
11.4 ∆E
9.5 ∆E
2.3 ∆E
7.5 ∆E
8.2 ∆E
8.9 ∆E
3.7 ∆E
5.7 ∆E
ColorChecker HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng: 9.44 ∆E min: 2.28 - max: 19.34 ∆E

Accessories

There are no accessories. Besides the device and the charger, users will find only a safety brochure and a warranty brochure in the box.

Maintenance

There is no maintenance hatch, which means that users will have to remove the bottom cover to gain access to the internal components, which can be upgraded or replaced if need be.

Warranty

The HP Pavilion Gaming 16 comes with a 12-month warranty. Buyers can extend the warranty duration to 36 months by purchasing a Care Pack on HP’s website, which costs about 70 Euros (~$83).

Input Devices - Usable, but with old flaws

Keyboard and Touchpad

The input devices of the HP Pavilion Gaming 16
The input devices of the HP Pavilion Gaming 16
The backlit keyboard of the HP Pavilion Gaming 16
The backlit keyboard of the HP Pavilion Gaming 16

We have already seen this chiclet-style keyboard in the somewhat bigger 17.3-inch device. All in all, the input devices are very usable and are on the same level as the rest of the competition. The keys have a short travel distance and a clear actuation point. They also put up some resistance, which is why the keyboard does not feel mushy when typing. However, the larger keys are not as well stabilised as the letter keys or the number keys on the numeric pad. After some getting used to, we did not have any problems with this keyboard. Moreover, it comes with a backlight, which offers two brightness levels.

The Pavilion Gaming 16 has a larger ClickPad than the Pavilion Gaming 17. It has the same width of 11.5 cm, but it has a depth of 7.5 cm (the Gaming 17’s trackpad had a depth of 6 cm). The larger touchpad makes much better use of the space below the keyboard. The input device fits well with the overall design. The ClickPad has a very smooth surface. We encountered some problems with accuracy at the edges of the input device. However, this did not prove to be a major issue in day-to-day use, because the trackpad offers a large surface area, which is more than sufficient for multi-touch gestures. Both hardware buttons at the bottom of the input device produce an audible click when pressed and offer a clear actuation point.

Display - 16 inches and high contrast ratio

Pixel arrangement
Pixel arrangement
There is some backlight bleeding at the top of the display
There is some backlight bleeding at the top of the display

As we already mentioned, the HP Pavilion Gaming 16 has a 16.1-inch display. It has a native resolution of 1920x1080 and a pixel density of 137 PPI.

The panel offers an average display brightness of 306 cd/m². This is the second-best result behind only the MSI Bravo 15. Thanks to a low black value and a good brightness level, the panel has a high contrast ratio. However, the HP Gaming 16 loses to the competition when it comes to response times. Here, the competing devices deliver much better results. There is some backlight bleeding at the top of the screen. The display does not suffer from PWM flickering. This makes the overall package look a bit better.

290
cd/m²
295
cd/m²
291
cd/m²
314
cd/m²
319
cd/m²
316
cd/m²
307
cd/m²
311
cd/m²
311
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
BOE08F6 tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 319 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 306 cd/m² Minimum: 14 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 91 %
Center on Battery: 319 cd/m²
Contrast: 1772:1 (Black: 0.18 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.94, calibrated: 3.52
ΔE Greyscale 1.53 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
60% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
38% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
41.77% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
60.7% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
40.42% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.39
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
BOE08F6, IPS, 1920x1080, 16.1"
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
BOE NV156FH, WVA, 1920x1080, 15.6"
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
LM156LF-2F01, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.6"
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
NV156FHM-N4G (BOE0867), IPS, 1920x1080, 15.6"
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
BOE CQ NV156FHM-NX1, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.6"
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AU Optronics B156HAN08.0 (AUO80ED), IPS-Level, 1920x1080, 15.6"
Display
52%
-4%
57%
-4%
49%
Display P3 Coverage
40.42
63
56%
38.92
-4%
65.2
61%
38.8
-4%
62
53%
sRGB Coverage
60.7
90.1
48%
58.5
-4%
92.1
52%
57.8
-5%
86.8
43%
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage
41.77
64.1
53%
40.22
-4%
66.4
59%
40.09
-4%
62.7
50%
Response Times
59%
21%
71%
42%
65%
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *
43.2 ?(22, 21.2)
20.4 ?(10.8, 9.6)
53%
34 ?(16, 18)
21%
8.8 ?(4.4, 4.4)
80%
26 ?(12, 14)
40%
16 ?(7.6, 8.4)
63%
Response Time Black / White *
30.4 ?(16.4, 14)
10.8 ?(6.4, 4.4)
64%
24 ?(13, 11)
21%
12 ?(6.8, 5.2)
61%
17 ?(8, 9)
44%
10.4 ?(6, 4.4)
66%
PWM Frequency
198.4 ?(99)
Screen
-6%
-31%
2%
-26%
-15%
Brightness middle
319
292
-8%
280
-12%
316
-1%
301
-6%
311
-3%
Brightness
306
290
-5%
254
-17%
295
-4%
277
-9%
313
2%
Brightness Distribution
91
77
-15%
88
-3%
87
-4%
77
-15%
88
-3%
Black Level *
0.18
0.27
-50%
0.15
17%
0.23
-28%
0.26
-44%
0.43
-139%
Contrast
1772
1081
-39%
1867
5%
1374
-22%
1158
-35%
723
-59%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
4
3.99
-0%
5.89
-47%
3.84
4%
5.12
-28%
4.5
-13%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
11.18
6.11
45%
19
-70%
5.69
49%
8.86
21%
7.97
29%
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated *
3.52
3.02
14%
4.79
-36%
1.64
53%
4.88
-39%
2.65
25%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
1.53
3.3
-116%
4.08
-167%
3.66
-139%
3.47
-127%
3.3
-116%
Gamma
2.39 92%
2.25 98%
2.33 94%
2.62 84%
2.37 93%
2.129 103%
CCT
6533 99%
7047 92%
7303 89%
7165 91%
7062 92%
7227 90%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
38
58.1
53%
37
-3%
60
58%
37
-3%
63
66%
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
60
89.7
50%
58
-3%
92
53%
57
-5%
86
43%
Total Average (Program / Settings)
35% / 13%
-5% / -19%
43% / 21%
4% / -14%
33% / 7%

* ... smaller is better

Straight out of the box, the DeltaE2000 colour deviations against the sRGB colour space are not very high, which means that the Pavilion Gaming 16 comes with a factory-calibrated panel. Our own calibration shows that the colour reproduction can still be slightly improved. We saw improvements in both colour accuracy and grayscale tracking. Our review device achieves only mediocre results when it comes to colour-space coverage. However, these results are normal for a gaming notebook.

CalMAN: Grayscale
CalMAN: Grayscale
CalMAN: Saturation
CalMAN: Saturation
CalMAN: Colour accuracy
CalMAN: Colour accuracy
CalMAN: Grayscale (after calibration)
CalMAN: Grayscale (after calibration)
CalMAN: Saturation (after calibration)
CalMAN: Saturation (after calibration)
CalMAN: Colour accuracy (after calibration)
CalMAN: Colour accuracy (after calibration)
HP Pavilion Gaming 16 vs sRGB (60%)
HP Pavilion Gaming 16 vs sRGB (60%)
HP Pavilion Gaming 16 vs AdobeRGB (38%)
HP Pavilion Gaming 16 vs AdobeRGB (38%)

Display Response Times

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.
       Response Time Black to White
30.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 16.4 ms rise
↘ 14 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 80 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.1 ms).
       Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
43.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 22 ms rise
↘ 21.2 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 69 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.1 ms).

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.
Screen flickering / PWM not detected

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17204 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

The IPS panel offers great viewing angles. The colours become slightly distorted only at extreme angles. The device is not built for outdoor use, which is reflected in our images. Those who want to use the laptop outdoors should do so in the shade.

Viewing angles
Viewing angles
The HP Gaming 16 in the shade
The HP Gaming 16 in the shade
The HP Gaming 16 in direct sunlight
The HP Gaming 16 in direct sunlight

Performance - not surprising, but sufficient

The combination of an Intel Core i5-10300H and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti offers a good level of performance for 1080p gaming. The system also has 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD.

CPU-Z
CPU-Z
CPU-Z
CPU-Z
CPU-Z
CPU-Z
CPU-Z
GPU-Z
GPU-Z
GPU-Z
GPU-Z
HWiNFO
Intel Extreme Tuning Utility
Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (Benchmark)

Processor

The Intel Core i5-10300H is a 4-core/8-thread chip with a base clock of 2.5 GHz. A single core can turbo up to 4.5 GHz. The all-core turbo is 4.2 GHz. In our review, the Core i5-10300H battles against the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H. The Intel processor is able to keep up only in single-core benchmarks. In the multi-core benchmarks, it is thoroughly beaten by the AMD part.

The HP Pavilion Gaming 16 does very well in our first stress test. There are no significant performance drops in our multi-core Cinebench R15 continuous loop. The average score after 50 benchmark runs amounts to 871 points.

You can find out how the Core i5-10300H stacks up against other processors on our CPU Benchmarks page.

Single-core performance
Single-core performance
Multi-core performance
Multi-core performance
GPU under load
GPU under load
050100150200250300350400450500550600650700750800850900Tooltip
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng: Ø871 (865.2-901)
Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit
Average of class Gaming
  (191.9 - 318, n=201, last 2 years)
276 Points +45%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
Intel Core i7-9750H
190 Points 0%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
190 Points
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
188 Points -1%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
187 Points -2%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
186 Points -2%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
186 Points -2%
CPU Multi 64Bit
Average of class Gaming
  (905 - 5663, n=204, last 2 years)
3362 Points +271%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
1972 (1142.92min - 1972max) Points +118%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
1850 Points +104%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
1741 (1664.03min - 1741.33max) Points +92%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
Intel Core i7-9750H
1242 Points +37%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
905 Points
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
898 Points -1%
Blender - v2.79 BMW27 CPU
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
514 Seconds *
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
485.9 Seconds * +5%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
284 Seconds * +45%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
276 Seconds * +46%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
262.5 Seconds * +49%
Average of class Gaming
  (87 - 555, n=193, last 2 years)
173.4 Seconds * +66%
7-Zip 18.03
7z b 4 -mmt1
Average of class Gaming
  (4199 - 7581, n=197, last 2 years)
6262 MIPS +27%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
4919 MIPS
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
4903 MIPS 0%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
4666 MIPS -5%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
4666 MIPS -5%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
4584 MIPS -7%
7z b 4
Average of class Gaming
  (23795 - 140932, n=197, last 2 years)
83694 MIPS +238%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
49685 MIPS +101%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
47520 MIPS +92%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
45679 MIPS +84%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
24772 MIPS
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
24635 MIPS -1%
Cinebench R20
CPU (Single Core)
Average of class Gaming
  (439 - 855, n=198, last 2 years)
720 Points +55%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
485 Points +4%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
482 Points +3%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
477 Points +2%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
466 Points
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
Intel Core i7-9750H
460 Points -1%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
459 Points -2%
CPU (Multi Core)
Average of class Gaming
  (2179 - 13832, n=198, last 2 years)
8144 Points +285%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
4396 Points +108%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
4257 Points +101%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
3956 Points +87%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
Intel Core i7-9750H
2588 Points +22%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
2217 Points +5%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
2117 Points
Geekbench 5.5
Single-Core
Average of class Gaming
  (986 - 2210, n=199, last 2 years)
1874 Points +53%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
1225 Points
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
1224 Points 0%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
1220 Points 0%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
1166 Points -5%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
1158 Points -5%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
1154 Points -6%
Multi-Core
Average of class Gaming
  (4557 - 23194, n=199, last 2 years)
14706 Points +211%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
7775 Points +64%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
7453 Points +58%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
5920 Points +25%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
4728 Points
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
4701 Points -1%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
4640 Points -2%
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 - 4k Preset
Average of class Gaming
  (6.72 - 38.9, n=197, last 2 years)
23.1 fps +214%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
12.6 fps +71%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
11.7 fps +59%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
10.8 fps +47%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
7.69 fps +5%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
7.35 fps
LibreOffice - 20 Documents To PDF
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
93.9 s * -71%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
69.1 s * -26%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
54.8 s *
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
52.6 s * +4%
Average of class Gaming
  (31.4 - 96.6, n=194, last 2 years)
47.8 s * +13%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
28.6 s * +48%
R Benchmark 2.5 - Overall mean
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Intel Core i5-10300H
0.634 sec * -0%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel Core i5-10300H
0.634 sec *
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
0.603 sec * +5%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
0.597 sec * +6%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
0.569 sec * +10%
Average of class Gaming
  (0.3609 - 0.759, n=198, last 2 years)
0.4407 sec * +30%

* ... smaller is better

Cinebench R10 Rendering Single 32Bit
7130
Cinebench R10 Shading 64Bit
6836 Points
Cinebench R10 Rendering Multiple CPUs 64Bit
35899 Points
Cinebench R10 Rendering Single CPUs 64Bit
9326 Points
Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit
6836
Cinebench R10 Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit
27692
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Multi 32Bit
9.32 Points
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 32Bit
79.3 fps
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Single 64Bit
2.16 Points
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Multi 64Bit
10.06 Points
Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64Bit
79.9 fps
Cinebench R11.5 CPU Single 32Bit
1.92 Points
Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit
190 Points
Cinebench R15 Ref. Match 64Bit
99.6 %
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64Bit
129.3 fps
Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit
905 Points
Help

System Performance

Our review device performs somewhat worse than the competition in the PCMark 10 benchmarks. Nevertheless, the Pavilion Gaming 16 is not inferior to other competing devices, because it feels very responsive in day-to-day use.

PCMark 10 - Score
Average of class Gaming
  (5776 - 9852, n=174, last 2 years)
7754 Points +59%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H, Samsung PM991 MZ9LQ512HALU
5936 Points +22%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H, Toshiba XG6 KXG60ZNV512G
5681 Points +17%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
Radeon RX 5300M, R7 4800H, Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR
5639 Points +16%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, R7 4800H, Kingston OM8PCP3512F-AB
5095 Points +5%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i5-10300H, Samsung PM991 MZALQ512HALU
4887 Points 0%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i5-10300H, Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8
4868 Points
PCMark 8
Home Score Accelerated v2
Average of class Gaming
  (4560 - 5937, n=21, last 2 years)
5216 Points +17%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H, Samsung PM991 MZ9LQ512HALU
4894 Points +10%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, R7 4800H, Kingston OM8PCP3512F-AB
4698 Points +5%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i5-10300H, Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8
4455 Points
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i5-10300H, Samsung PM991 MZALQ512HALU
3984 Points -11%
Work Score Accelerated v2
Average of class Gaming
  (5520 - 6853, n=19, last 2 years)
6093 Points +18%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, R7 4800H, Kingston OM8PCP3512F-AB
5773 Points +12%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H, Samsung PM991 MZ9LQ512HALU
5352 Points +3%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i5-10300H, Samsung PM991 MZALQ512HALU
5319 Points +3%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i5-10300H, Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8
5176 Points
PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2
4455 points
PCMark 8 Creative Score Accelerated v2
6793 points
PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2
5176 points
PCMark 10 Score
4868 points
Help

DPC Latencies

LatencyMon reveals no latency issues when opening several browser tabs in Edge. However, the latencies significantly increase when playing back 4K video. The utilisation of the iGPU amounts to 58% in our 4K video test.

Maximum latency when opening multiple browser tabs and when playing back 4K video
Maximum latency when opening multiple browser tabs and when playing back 4K video
Maximum latency after 10 second of Prime95
Maximum latency after 10 second of Prime95
Driver latencies
Driver latencies
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i5-10300H, Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8
3371 μs *

* ... smaller is better

Storage Devices

AS SSD
AS SSD

The HP Pavilion Gaming 16 comes with a fast 512 GB SDD. The Intel SSD was able to achieve good results in our benchmarks. Here, the 4K read speed is particularly noteworthy. The transfer rates when copying files are also good. All in all, the system feels very snappy because of the fast storage device. However, 512 GB of storage space is not enough for a gaming laptop, given the sizes of modern games. Howbeit, users can add a second 2.5-inch storage device if they run out of storage space. 

You can find out how the storage device in the Pavilion Gaming 16 stacks up against other storage devices on our HDD/SSD Benchmarks page.

HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
Samsung PM991 MZ9LQ512HALU
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
Kingston OM8PCP3512F-AB
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
Toshiba XG6 KXG60ZNV512G
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
Samsung PM991 MZALQ512HALU
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR
AS SSD
17%
11%
114%
29%
155%
Seq Read
1438
1386
-4%
1682
17%
2772
93%
2012
40%
2730
90%
Seq Write
905
1234
36%
904
0%
2489
175%
1261
39%
2513
178%
4K Read
50.3
41.32
-18%
60.2
20%
48.62
-3%
43.66
-13%
61.4
22%
4K Write
111.7
128
15%
164.8
48%
136.6
22%
109.3
-2%
156.1
40%
4K-64 Read
324
854
164%
472.5
46%
1393
330%
851
163%
1780
449%
4K-64 Write
729
721
-1%
845
16%
1450
99%
780
7%
1920
163%
Access Time Read *
0.105
0.098
7%
0.087
17%
0.088
16%
0.117
-11%
0.063
40%
Access Time Write *
0.047
0.095
-102%
0.02
57%
0.03
36%
0.036
23%
0.025
47%
Score Read
518
1034
100%
701
35%
1719
232%
1096
112%
2114
308%
Score Write
931
973
5%
1101
18%
1835
97%
1016
9%
2327
150%
Score Total
1707
2536
49%
2143
26%
4424
159%
2643
55%
5518
223%
Copy ISO MB/s
1145
1284
12%
675
-41%
1481
29%
Copy Program MB/s
602
401.9
-33%
248.4
-59%
467.5
-22%
Copy Game MB/s
929
1013
9%
535
-42%
734
-21%

* ... smaller is better

Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8
Sequential Read: 1438MB/s
Sequential Write: 905MB/s
4K Read: 50.3MB/s
4K Write: 111.7MB/s
4K-64 Read: 324MB/s
4K-64 Write: 729MB/s
Access Time Read: 0.105ms
Access Time Write: 0.047ms
Copy ISO: 1145MB/s
Copy Program: 602MB/s
Copy Game: 929MB/s
Score Read: 518Points
Score Write: 931Points
Score Total: 1707Points

Continuous read speed: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8

No graph data

Graphics Card

The Pavilion Gaming 16 comes with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, which is responsible for 3D rendering. Thanks to NVIDIA Optimus technology, the system is able to save energy in 2D applications, because the iGPU is utilised in such applications.

The dedicated GPU features 4 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. The HP Gaming 16 has no chance against the competition. The GeForce GTX 1650 Ti is simply too slow to be able to keep up. The Pavilion Gaming 16 is able to fully utilise the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, which means that our review device performs as well as it possibly can.

You can find out how the GPU in the Pavilion Gaming 16 stacks up against other graphics cards on our GPU Benchmarks page.

3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU
Average of class Gaming
  (1029 - 72178, n=194, last 2 years)
43173 Points +228%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Radeon RX 5600M
25706 Points +95%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
21542 Points +64%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
21480 Points +63%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
21303 Points +62%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Radeon RX 5300M
14437 Points +10%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile
13150 Points
3DMark
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics
Average of class Gaming
  (15902 - 193851, n=109, last 2 years)
141800 Points +115%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
106538 Points +62%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
98425 Points +49%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Radeon RX 5600M
72335 Points +10%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile
65867 Points
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Radeon RX 5300M
55837 Points -15%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
55325 Points -16%
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics
Average of class Gaming
  (781 - 53059, n=203, last 2 years)
31007 Points +217%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Radeon RX 5600M
18807 Points +92%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
16571 Points +69%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
15967 Points +63%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
15609 Points +60%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Radeon RX 5300M
10550 Points +8%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile
9779 Points
2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics
Average of class Gaming
  (224 - 22717, n=198, last 2 years)
12874 Points +259%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
AMD Radeon RX 5600M
6312 Points +76%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
6164 Points +72%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
6109 Points +70%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile
6043 Points +68%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile
3587 Points
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
AMD Radeon RX 5300M
3539 Points -1%
3DMark 11 Performance
12461 points
3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score
101019 points
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score
27911 points
3DMark Fire Strike Score
8780 points
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme Score
4315 points
3DMark Time Spy Score
3748 points
Help

Gaming Performance

In our gaming benchmarks, the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti performs exactly the way it is supposed to. The Pavilion Gaming 16 is thoroughly beaten by the competition, which is not surprising. It has a slower graphics card after all. Nevertheless, the Gaming 16 offers a sufficient level of GPU performance to run some current titles on the highest settings.

The Witcher 3
1920x1080 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off)
Average of class Gaming
  (40.1 - 449, n=131, last 2 years)
236 fps +241%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i5-10300H
124.8 fps +80%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H
113 (95min) fps +63%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, R7 4800H
105 (90min - 115max) fps +52%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
103.6 (92min - 110max) fps +50%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i5-10300H
69.2 (63min - 78max) fps
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
Radeon RX 5300M, R7 4800H
60 (48min) fps -13%
1920x1080 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+)
Average of class Gaming
  (18.4 - 216, n=177, last 2 years)
125.7 fps +243%
Lenovo Legion 5 15IMH05H
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i5-10300H
68.3 fps +87%
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F
Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H
66.1 (62min - 70max) fps +81%
Xiaomi Mi Gaming Laptop 2019
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H
60.6 (50min) fps +66%
Asus TUF Gaming A15 FA506IV-HN172
GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, R7 4800H
60.5 (51min - 68max) fps +65%
MSI Bravo 15 A4DCR
Radeon RX 5300M, R7 4800H
38.3 (31min) fps +5%
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i5-10300H
36.6 (28min) fps

Our gaming stress test with The Witcher 3 reveals that long gaming sessions should not be marred by flagging GPU performance. 

05101520253035Tooltip
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i5-10300H, Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8: Ø36.7 (34-39)
lowmed.highultra
BioShock Infinite (2013) 309 251 227 99
GTA V (2015) 173 165 107 53.2
The Witcher 3 (2015) 202 123 69.2 36.6
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) 136.2 123.8 117.1 113
Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) 181 124 68.3 58.9
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) 107 55.2 40.9
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) 90.1 81.4 69.5
Far Cry 5 (2018) 119 67 62 58
Strange Brigade (2018) 230 95 75.2 62.7
Far Cry New Dawn (2019) 104 66 62 57
Borderlands 3 (2019) 122 63.4 40.8 30.5

Emissions - Long-lasting, but also loud and hot

System Noise

Gaming laptops have a bad reputation when it comes to system noise. When idle, the HP Pavilion Gaming 16 is very quiet and sometimes completely silent. However, under load, both fans start to spin at a high RPM. The sound pressure level peaked at 54 dB(A). Under load, the fan noise amounted to 48 dB(A) on average, which is still very audible. Moreover, because the fans produce high-frequency noise, the laptop sounds somewhat louder than it actually is.

Noise Level

Idle
25 / 33 / 42 dB(A)
Load
48 / 54 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light   Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance)   environment noise: 25 dB(A)
dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2037.441.438.943.336.338.82531.834.836.33737.938.13139.24344.242.943.541.1402930.833.831.926.428.55033.324.828.922.519.635.36329.228.6302428.626.48024.120.922.718.316.331.91002418.423.416.315.92712526.517.625.41915.328.816029.519.427.918.517.334.320031.828.22822.32134.725030.120.827.717.71533.431532.420.228.116.313.736.540033.321.328.213.212375003423.229.512.312.138.263035.523.431.811.511.339.780035.122.731.511.511.539.9100035.221.531.211.911.839.8125035.821.531.811.41140.4160037.221.732.112.511.442.4200036.822.231.312.111.842.425003923.733.713.312.544.5315036.419.430.612.512.342400036.517.228.513.512.943.3500036.217.228.114.414.643.7630033.716.125.815.414.741.3800030.416.823.216.41638.31000027.114.421.414.313.534.91250025.216.121.315.812.732.6160002314.919.214.311.928.6SPL47.93342.425.825.253.6N6.21.74.10.70.79.2median 33.7median 20.2median 28.1median 14.3median 12.7median 38.3Delta4.22.83.82.524.3hearing rangehide median Fan NoiseHP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng

Temperature

HP Pavilion Gaming 16 during the stress test
HP Pavilion Gaming 16 during the stress test

The slim chassis requires the cooling system to work hard to keep the internal components from overheating. The 50 °C (122 °F) mark is only exceeded at one measurement point. However, temperatures at many other areas reach 49°C (120.2°F), which means that they are not much cooler than the hottest area. Due to high temperatures, users should abstain from long gaming sessions on the lap.

During our stress test we paid close attention to the CPU and GPU temperatures. Here, the CPU temperatures reached 97 °C (206.6 °F). The GPU temperatures peaked at 70 °C (158 °F). Despite high temperatures, the CPU frequencies remained well above the base clock (2.5 GHz). However, because of the high temperatures the CPU is not able to maintain its maximum boost clock. The CPU ran at 3.5 GHz on average in our one-hour long stress test.

Max. Load
 46 °C
115 F
49 °C
120 F
48 °C
118 F
 
 33 °C
91 F
49 °C
120 F
49 °C
120 F
 
 27 °C
81 F
40 °C
104 F
41 °C
106 F
 
Maximum: 49 °C = 120 F
Average: 42.4 °C = 108 F
50 °C
122 F
49 °C
120 F
37 °C
99 F
49 °C
120 F
40 °C
104 F
30 °C
86 F
38 °C
100 F
35 °C
95 F
30 °C
86 F
Maximum: 50 °C = 122 F
Average: 39.8 °C = 104 F
Power Supply (max.)  61 °C = 142 F | Room Temperature 24 °C = 75 F | Fluke t3000FC (calibrated), Voltcraft IR-900
(-) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 42.4 °C / 108 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F for the devices in the class Gaming.
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 49 °C / 120 F, compared to the average of 40.5 °C / 105 F, ranging from 21.2 to 68.8 °C for the class Gaming.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 50 °C / 122 F, compared to the average of 43.2 °C / 110 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 27.6 °C / 82 F, compared to the device average of 33.9 °C / 93 F.
(-) Playing The Witcher 3, the average temperature for the upper side is 39.1 °C / 102 F, compared to the device average of 33.9 °C / 93 F.
(-) The palmrests and touchpad can get very hot to the touch with a maximum of 41 °C / 105.8 F.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.9 °C / 84 F (-12.1 °C / -21.8 F).
Heat distribution under load (top side)
Heat distribution under load (top side)
Heat distribution under load (bottom side)
Heat distribution under load (bottom side)

Speakers

The sound system from Bang & Olufsen is located above the keyboard and produces enough sound to fill a small room. However, the sound lacks bass. This cannot be rectified even via the included Bang-&-Olufsen utility.

There are no distortions or background noise at full volume. For a perfect listening experience we recommend using a set of headphones. During our review, the 3.5 mm audio jack worked without any issues.

dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2036.339.72537.938.13143.549.44026.432.35019.630.56328.629.68016.318.610015.917.812515.327.616017.341.32002147.62501557.131513.758.4400126050012.163.163011.361.780011.563.3100011.863.812501165160011.461.3200011.861250012.562.4315012.363.5400012.966.7500014.667.3630014.761.980001657.61000013.553.91250012.754.41600011.948.5SPL25.275.4N0.736.8median 12.7median 61Delta27.3hearing rangehide median Pink NoiseHP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng
Frequency diagram (checkboxes can be checked and unchecked to compare devices)
HP Pavilion Gaming 16-a0242ng audio analysis

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (75 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 19.4% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (14.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 1.6% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (3.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 3.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (5.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (17.8% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 51% of all tested devices in this class were better, 9% similar, 39% worse
» The best had a delta of 6%, average was 18%, worst was 132%
Compared to all devices tested
» 32% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 60% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Energy Management

Energy Consumption

The HP Pavilion Gaming 16 draws considerably less power than competing devices, because it has weaker hardware. This is true not only under full load but also under low load and when idle. The Pavilion Gaming 16 draws only 3 to 18 watts when idle. The energy consumption peaks at 144 watts under full load. Our review device comes with a 150-watt power adapter, which is able to supply enough energy to the notebook to keep it from discharging even during our stress test.

150-watt power adapter
150-watt power adapter
150-watt power adapter
150-watt power adapter
Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.3 / 0.3 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 3 / 7 / 18 Watt
Load midlight 86 / 144 Watt
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Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Metrahit Energy
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