HP Omen 17: An affordable gaming-caliber laptop almost worth buying

For over a decade, I have split my computer use into two discrete categories: highly mobile and highly powered. It's traditionally been a two-device equation, at least with budgetary considerations in mind.

That use case hasn't really changed, but my path to it has. Case in point: I can write and edit articles on my telephone now. That development alone required a marriage of power (CPU, RAM), efficiency (a lovely keyboard app), and stability (an in-browser editor that doesn't crash, even when switching apps and tabs). That's just the tip of the mobile productivity iceberg, in terms of keyboard-attached tablets, functional laptops, and so on.

Specs at a glance: HP Omen 17
	Entry level	Top spec	As reviewed
SCREEN	3840×2160 IPS at 17.1" (258 ppi)
OS	Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU	2.6-3.5GHz Core i7-6700HQ
RAM	8GB DDR4-2160	32GB DDR4-2160	16GB DDR4-2160
GPU	Nvidia GTX 960M 4GB	Nvidia GTX 1070 6GB	Nvidia GTX 1070 6GB
HDD	256GB SSD	512GB NVME SSD + 2TB HDD	256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
NETWORKING	Dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2x2, Bluetooth 4.0
PORTS	3xUSB 3.0, RJ-45 Ethernet, microphone jack, headset jack, MiniDisplay Out, SD card reader
SIZE	16.4×11×1.3"
WEIGHT	7.2lb
BATTERY	6-cell, 95.8Wh Li-ion
PRICE	$1,299.99	$1,799.99	$1,699.99
OTHER PERKS	1080p webcam with Windows Hello

I imagine I'm not the only person in that kind of professional boat, with productivity boosted by an office-minded app here, a convenient telnet app there, and so on. As you ponder your next major computer purchase, you may look at those facts—and at the size- and heat-reduction happening with major computer components—and feel a little freer about what you might buy next. Maybe, for example, you don't want or need a super-slim profile on your computing device, but you still want something to lug around on occasion, as opposed to being trapped in an office.

That's starting to become truly possible this year, especially in terms of the kind of raw 3D performance that separates the PC grown-ups from the console kiddies. Nvidia's leading the way with notebook variants for its 1060, 1070, and 1080 graphics cards. These cards don't have the letter "M" slapped on them, because while their performance is degraded from the desktop versions, the reduction is a lot less than it used to be. Short version: Notebook versions of these cards have the same (or possibly more) CUDA cores and only slightly reduced clock speeds.

HP wants in on this growing fray of unlocked, uncompromised gaming performance in the laptop space, and it's trying to muscle in with a 1070-powered refresh of its Omen 17 laptop line. HP's sales proposition is one of spending your money where it counts—performance and a brilliant 4K screen—and letting most other factors suffer in their wake. Initial-blush impressions were surprisingly good, but ongoing testing over the past few weeks have ultimately revealed a laptop that should send HP back to the engineering cave for another refresh.

While I don't recommend this laptop, I wanted to offer impressions, because I'm hungry for a good gaming laptop—and I'm coming around to the compromises it may require. Just not, you know, these compromises.

You might need a new backpack

For starters, this is the largest laptop I've tested in some time.

Its 1.3" depth extends almost entirely around its 16.4" by 11" base, with only slight tapering in the front, and HP hasn't made room for an optical drive in that giant laptop body. The left and right sides offer three USB 3.0 ports in all, along with an Ethernet port, a full-sized SD card reader, and ports for both HDMI and Mini DisplayPort. Also, individual microphone and headphone jacks. The machine weighs in at about 7.2 lbs.

Oh, sorry, that's not counting the massive 230W power supply, which measures 8"x4"0.85" and weighs 1.65 lbs.

I was able to throw the laptop into a backpack in a pinch, but this hardware clearly isn't gunning for any portability awards—and that's not helped by the Omen 17's excesses in the length and width categories. The 17.1" IPS screen is offset by giant bezels—specifically, 0.625" on each side, 1.1" on the top, and 1.4" on the bottom.

That space isn't used efficiently in the keyboard, either, as the rubber-coated keys are set off by a full 1.375" on both sides; even with a natural indent taken into account, that's still an inch on the left and an inch on the right. The keys offer a decent amount of action, but the layout is a little cramped because of the 10-key number pad HP added. If you're fine with a slight width reduction in exchange for a number pad, you'll probably be fine, but be warned: one of the keys in our Omen 17 review unit has become stuck in our month of testing. I currently have to press very, very hard on the number 7 in the top row to get it to push down. And I can’t recommend comfortably typing on the keyboard for long stretches of time, as the plastic topping around the keyboard starts to feel uncomfortable after about an hour or so.

That's nothing compared to the abysmal trackpad. It's perhaps the worst trackpad I've ever used on a modern laptop, which is inexcusable in the age of Microsoft's Precision Touchpad spec. Rather than describe my endless frustrations with its friction and click recognition—and the fact that it doesn't work as a mouse while playing a game using the keyboard's WASD keys—I'll just say that I e-mailed HP's reviews team with questions about the trackpad, and they declined to answer them. Instead, they recommended that I connect an external mouse. Seriously.

Update: HP's mention of external mice was not intended as a solution to any difficulties with the touchpad, but rather as an illustration that the Omen 17 supports the usual array of Windows input devices and configuration options. Further, the company tells us that there is a setting to disable the palm rejection to address the scenario that we described. While many games will tend to require the greater speed and precision of an external mouse anyway, it's certainly reasonable to play titles such as Dota 2 or Civilization VI with the built-in pointing device.

Out of (G) sync

So what's good here? For starters, the system's performance is up to modern gaming snuff. An i7-6700HQ Intel Skylake processor and a GTX 1070 notebook edition video card combine to deliver an incredible amount of power, paired in our review model by 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 1TB 5400RPM hard drive.

The system more than holds up in our usual litany of benchmarks, as referenced in the above charts. In practical terms, this means you can expect good performance in pretty much every major game launched on PC this year. Battlefield 1, Gears of War 4, Skyrim Special Edition, and Titanfall 2 perform on this machine with the same smoothness as my desktop system, which includes overclocked versions of the i7-4770K CPU and the GTX 980Ti GPU. Maxed settings at 1080p resolution turn in locked 60 frames-per-second performance on all of these games, while near-max settings at higher resolutions mostly stick to that target, as well.

But performance is reduced by a few issues which revolve around the 17.1" 4K display. Whatever driver HP is using here, it needs a serious update, which HP never acknowledged in spite of my repeated e-mails about the issue: This system will only officially acknowledge the 16:9 ratio resolutions of 1920×1080 and 3840×2160. That's a problem for a system that is not equipped for smooth 4K performance. The 1070 is a killer card at 1440p and even 1800p resolutions, but we need no less than a GTX 1080 to successfully run the aforementioned games at full 4K resolution with most settings at near-maximum values.

The most obvious compromise would be a downgrade to, say, 1440p, but unless your favorite game includes its own internal downsampling options, you can't pick a resolution between that massive gap. 1080p or 4K, buddy.

If you want to game on the go, be warned: performance automatically turns down when the AC adapter is unplugged, with no apparent way to force the HP Omen 17 to operate at full blast in a pinch. I checked everywhere—the Nvidia control panel, Windows' power settings, even the HP "CoolSense" utility (which adjusts fans and system performance for the sake of comfort), but I had no luck. That's been a known issue with Nvidia notebook GPUs since the 900 series, and remember, the HP Omen 17 has a freaking 230W power supply. There's no telling how long this system would last if its battery ran the system at full blast.

Still, if you really want to use this for light browsing, typing, or low-res gaming on a plane (good luck fitting this on your coach seat's tiny table), the automatic power downgrade will get you at least three hours of use, as per our battery tests. Anecdotal tests of games running in unplugged mode, on the other hand, saw games that had been optimized for 60 frames-per-second performance drop down to the 15-20 FPS range.

The other performance issue stems from one of the HP Omen's more interesting features: a Gsync-enabled display. We don't see these all too often in the laptop world, and it's a nice touch for compatible games, as it combines the latency-related perks of unlocked framerates with a smoother, tear-free refresh on your display.

And when it works, it's great. If you want a powerful laptop with as little latency between mouse swipes and screen activity as possible, you won't find many twitchier options, and even if you don't discern the exact boost in reactivity, the feel of a smooth, unlocked frame rate in a game is noticeable to at least some extent.

But—and this is a big but—we needed to test out two different versions of the same HP Omen 17 model before we figured out why some games were flatlining at a strange 30 frames-per-second refresh, complete with awful frame-pacing issues. We spent about a week testing and tweaking until we figured it out: Gsync is currently broken on the HP Omen 17. On one system, only Overwatch kicked up this strange testing condition, while on others, every game suffered from the sloppy refresh. Disabling Gsync on both machines fixed the issue.

HP has yet to respond with news of a fix.

The display is otherwise a solid but unexceptional 4K IPS monitor, which means you can expect a noticeable blue tint, a relatively low maximum brightness, and tolerable blur and ghosting in high-speed scenery. If HP can get around to patching in more resolution support in Windows and a Gsync fix, we'd recommend this as a good part of a gaming-laptop package. For now, though, not so much.

X doesn't mark the spot (yet)

Before I noticed and recognized the Gsync issue, I otherwise enjoyed my time with the HP Omen 17, mostly because I used an external mouse and keyboard. I used the laptop to work on reviews and follow-up looks at this season's big PC games without running into performance issues. (I couldn't lug it to a coffee shop, however, because I couldn't guarantee I'd have enough room for an external mouse.) Ample vents and fans keep the system running in stable condition without becoming too hot or loud, and the system's fans don't chug, whine, or make other particularly annoying noises.

The HP Omen 17 has opened my eyes to the possibility of buying a gaming laptop that truly flies. I don't want a 25 percent performance dip just to take gaming-caliber performance on the go. My feeling is, either give me full gaming juice in a laptop, or I'll assume the performance is Intel HD Graphics-level and play graphically simpler fare as a result. I'm the kind of user who doesn't mind some compromises to get a system that I can drag into my bedroom or pack into luggage for the sake of establishing a high-end gaming HQ wherever I want in a pinch.

Nvidia has held up its end of the bargain. Now, it's time for me to find a laptop maker who can hold up theirs.

The good:

• Incredible gaming performance in a laptop.

The bad:

• Plastic keyboard coating hurts after extended use—and picks up too many smudges.
• Giant bezels don't help issues with extreme heft, size, and weight.
• Battery life is a bummer.

The ugly:

• Gsync is great when it works, but thanks to unresolved bug, it impacts performance too much to work.
• HP should be ashamed of this trackpad.
• Even one sticking key is one too many.

Verdict: Avoid.