HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

Hitting a price point of R39,999 isn’t easy to get when looking at gaming notebooks but the HP Omen 16 has managed just that. This little beast of a gaming device packs an NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti and an Intel Core i7 12700H CPU. That combined with a 16-inch 2560 x 1440 display makes this notebook one of the better models on the market when you’re on a budget.

Let’s be honest, “on a budget in post-pandemic 2022 while Russia is invading places” isn’t the same as “on a budget” in 2019. You can’t do much for R39,999 when shopping around for good technology but at least you can get a fairly decent gaming notebook.

HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

The HP Omen 16 is just that. An all-around beefy device that packs a simple yet effective design, great GPU and CPU, and a good panel. The specs include:

HP Omen 16 Tech Specs

  • Processor
    • Intel Core i7-12700H 14 x 1.7 – 4.7 GHz, 115 W PL2 / Short Burst, 90 W PL1 / Sustained, Alder Lake-P
  • Graphics Adapter
    • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU – 8 GB VRAM, Core: 1035 MHz, Memory: 1500 MHz, 115 W TDP, GDDR6, ForceWare 511.15, Optimus
  • Memory
    • 32 GB 2x 16 GB SO-DIMM DDR5-4800 (two slots, both in use)
  • Display
    • 16.10 inch 16:9, 2560 x 1440 pixel 182 PPI, BOE09E5, IPS, 165 Hz
  • Storage
    • WDC PC SN810 1TB, 1024 GB, M.2 NVMe-SSD
  • Ports
    • 3 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 0 USB 3.1 Gen2, 1 USB 4.0 40 Gbps, 1 Thunderbolt, USB-C Power Delivery (PD), 1 HDMI, 2 DisplayPort, Audio Connections: 1 Combined (Headset/Mic), Card Reader: SD/SDHC/SDXC
  • Dimensions
    • 2.29 kg, Power Supply: 636 g / 23 x 369 x 248mm\
  • Battery
    • 83 Wh Lithium-Ion, 6 cells
  • Price
    • R39,999

HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

HP Omen 16 Design

The HP Omen 16 is mainly plastic. It has been designed to give off the look at the device is brushed metal but in fact, it isn’t. The device features plastic all around it including the bottom, top shell and under-panel area. Plastic means things get very dirty very quickly and it is almost impossible to keep it clean. It attracts every fingerprint and is incredibly tough to clean.

There isn’t much going on here in terms of design flair. The only real striking feature on the notebook itself is the Omen logo on the front which boasts some cool mesmerising foil which acts as a sort of gateway into another world. I think the design works for it. There’s a nice mixture of “business” and “gamer” here that makes this notebook approachable for more people.

HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

It isn’t the strongest notebook around and the plastic definitely isn’t premium to any degree but HP wanted this to cost less so cheaper notebooks are made of plastic. It is what it is. The 2.29Kg weight also means it is portable, you can pull this out in a coffee shop and it will likely blend in with other business notebooks around the table.

The keyboard and trackpad are okay too. The keyboard is a half-sized one that has decent key travel. I would have preferred a bit more of a click but you’ll likely get used to how this types within a day or so. The keyboard also features some dedicated HP Omen buttons on the top. There’s a button to open the HP Omen Gaming Hub, the calculator and a screenshot button. Sadly, you can’t reprogram these buttons. It would have been nice to have these as simple function keys which you could have changed around.

HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

There’s also some open area underneath these keys that cold have been used for even more buttons. I just think that if you’re adding buttons, you might as well add them properly and offer more function to the user.

The trackpad is fairly large and doesn’t feature any dedicated buttons. It has a subtle click and it works. The larger size is great for gestures and getting around Windows. HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

When it comes to the ports, on the left you’ll find the power jack which uses the 200W charger and the RJ245 security port. There’s also a USB 3.0 Type-A port, Mini Display-Port, HDMI, USB 3.0 Type C, headset jack and SD card slot on the same side. On the right, here you’ll find two more USB 3.0 Type-A ports. The rest of the device is made up of vents which are used to keep the notebook cool.

More vents are found at the bottom of the notebook. The vents have a lot of breathing room thanks to the rubber feet that help raise the notebook up off the surface. There are plenty of vents here and they are definitely needed. I will get to the performance tests and thermals in a bit.

HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

The HP Omen 16 also features a 16-inch 165Hz 1440p display and it gets the job done. There’s also a webcam and an LED light to indicate when the camera is on.

HP Omen 16 Performance

The display bezels are nice and thin and the panel is vibrant and packs some decent viewing angles. It doesn’t get very bright though. I only measured 325 nits of peak brightness in a 100% window which isn’t great at all. This means you’ll likely be unable to use this notebook correctly outside or in very bright environments. HP should have aimed for at least 400 nits here which have become the baseline for most notebooks. Apart from that, the panel is accurate with colour and range.

HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

When it comes to gaming performance, the HP Omen 16 definitely brings quite a lot of power to the table. The NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti GPU offers 8GB of VRAM and 115W of TGP. That combined with the Intel Core i7-12700H means most games managed to hit medium to high settings at 1440p. However, the display does give this notebook enough breathing room to fiddle around with various resolutions and frame rates to suit your preferences.

I ran some benchmarks and got the following scores across games and programs:

Gaming benchmarks were run at 1080p

  • 3DMark Fire Strike 
    • 22950
  • 3DMark Time Spy
    • 10309
  • Resident Evil Village
    • Medium Settings – 193fps
    • High Settings – 175fps
    • Ultra Settings – 155fps
  • Dying Light 2 
    • Medium Settings – 80fps
    • High Settings – 70fps
    • Ultra Settings (1440p) – 55fps
  • Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
    • Medium Settings – 170fps
    • High Settings – 119fps
    • Ultra Settings – 90fps

You can see from the tests that the HP Omen 16 manages to run most modern games at over 60FPS on 1080p. Of course, if you’re looking to make use of that 1440p display, you’ll sacrifice some frames and settings to keep things running smoothly.

HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

When it comes to temperature and cooling, the notebook generally does a great job of keeping things cool under pressure. During the most intense gaming benchmarks, I only measured 62C max on the hottest part of the notebook. Things did spike to 69C during testing when I was sitting in a warmer room but it was still manageable. The notebook also doesn’t get very loud and the fans, while spinning like crazy, still managed to keep the noise pollution down. I only measured a max of 52DB when it was really being put to the test. The fan sound is noticeable but definitely not as annoying as some notebooks I have tested.

As for the speakers, the HP Omen 16 uses so-called Bang & Olufsen drivers to power them. In all honesty, they sound like any other pair of cheap speakers you’ll get on any other basic notebook out there. Not sure what B&O are doing to help the matter here but it isn’t working. Bass is non-existent and as the sound gets louder, things start to muzzle.

HP Omen 16 (b1000ni) Gaming Notebook Review

Lastly, the battery life. This 83Wh cell is quite a hefty battery to be included in this notebook and it does a decent job lasting for as long as virtually possible. You can likely squeeze 8-10 hours of life out of it by watching the screen brightness and performance. However, if you’re web browsing and watching videos, you’ll just scrape past 5 hours.

HP Omen 16 Verdict

This notebook might not be perfect but it has some incredible value for money. The RTX 3070 Ti is packed with power and you’ll enjoy 1440p gaming across the latest games without much of an issue. Sure, everything else here is as basic as possible but it gets the job done and is a lot more affordable than some rival notebooks on the market.

This HP Omen 16 review was based on a unit sent to me for testing. This is based on the b1000ni unit which retails from R39,999. 

HP Omen 16 Review
  • Display - 8/10
    8/10
  • Performance - 8.5/10
    8.5/10
  • Design - 8.5/10
    8.5/10
  • Value - 9/10
    9/10

Summary

This notebook might not be perfect but it has some incredible value for money. The RTX 3070 Ti is packed with power and you’ll enjoy 1440p gaming across the latest games without much of an issue

Overall
8.5/10
8.5/10

Pros

Great performance

Simple design

Competitive pricing

Cons

Dim display

Speakers are meh

Marco is the owner and founder of GLITCHED. South Africa’s largest gaming and pop culture website. GLITCHED quickly established itself with tech and gaming enthusiasts with on-point opinions, quick coverage of breaking events and unbiased reviews across its website, social platforms, and YouTube channel.

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