The best budget gamer? HP Omen 16 laptop review

With the Omen Max taking over the high-end slot, HP’s 2025 Omen 16 is now positioned as the more affordable model. However, you wouldn’t notice that right away: its cohesive design, solid input devices, and excellent CPU/GPU performance make it feel anything but cheap. It’s a budget gamer without some of the usual compromises.

That said, some corners have been cut. HP saved on Wi-Fi and USB ports, which is acceptable. The smaller battery is another minor tradeoff. The biggest letdown, though, is the display—not terrible, but clearly below today’s standard and lacking visual punch. If HP offered a better screen even on the lower-end configs, the Omen 16 could easily be our go-to recommendation for gamers on a budget.

Our Omen 16 test configuration comes with Ryzen 9 8940HX, RTX 5060, 16 GB RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. It’s not the cheapest RTX 5060 laptop out there, but the pricing still seems like a good middle ground between budget and performance.

HP’s shift toward more affordable builds was already noticeable in the Omen 17 (2024), and this new Omen 16 clearly builds on that direction.

The chassis has been redesigned this year: instead of a 16:9 screen, we now get a 16:10 display, which makes the bottom bezel slimmer. The dimensions have changed slightly—less width, a bit more depth, same thickness. The display opens up to about 135 degrees, with minor wobble in the hinges.

The overall black design language with the mirrored OMEN logo remains mostly unchanged. Compared to last year’s more rounded model, the new version reintroduces a few sharper lines and edges.

HP has switched from an aluminum base to an all-plastic build. That makes it a little less rigid, and the keyboard deck can flex slightly—but not enough to be a problem. Fingerprints, however, show up quickly on the dark surfaces.

HP also cut back on ports: gone are the two Thunderbolt/USB 4 connectors. The lone USB-C port now supports only USB 3.2 Gen 2, while two of the three USB-A ports are still Gen 1 (5 Gbit/s). There’s no card reader either—similar to Lenovo’s LOQ 15 .

Wireless connectivity also took a step back. Instead of Wi-Fi 6E, HP now uses a Realtek Wi-Fi 6 module, which delivers mediocre transfer speeds. The  XMG Core 15 and the Lenovo LOQ 15 show similar results, though.

HP doesn’t give precise numbers for our configuration. However, a sustainability report for the 15.6-inch Omen 16 cites 270–1,110 kg CO₂e per device. HP also claims to use ocean-bound plastic in the display bezels, recycled plastic in the keycaps, and recycled metal in components like the hinges and base.

The packaging was mostly cardboard, though the power adapter still came wrapped in plastic.

Our test model packs AMD's Ryzen 9 8940HX and Nvidia's RTX 5060, paired with 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD. That positions it as an upper entry- to mid-range gaming laptop, more than capable of running most titles smoothly at native resolution.

The AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX (16 cores, 32 threads) delivers strong and consistent performance in Cinebench R15 loop testing, with only minimal throttling.

Across all CPU benchmarks, it outperforms most rivals. It even beats the Intel i9-14900HX in its predecessor in sustained performance, though initial burst performance is about the same. Overall, it’s a very capable CPU. Expect around 40% lower performance on battery power.