In terms of durability, the HP Omen 17 can be aptly described as being built ‘like a tank’. With its premium look and feel, the laptop lives up to expectations within its price range. However, both the laptop and its charger are prone to collecting fingerprints easily, detracting from their overall appearance.

One notable aspect of the Omen 17 is the bundled 330W charger, which is undeniably large. While some gamers may appreciate the justification for such a bulky charger due to the laptop’s power-hungry hardware, others may find it compromises the portability of the device when coupled with its 17-inch size.

The laptop boasts a highly customizable RGB keyboard that immediately catches the eye with its vibrant backlighting. The keys provide a satisfying clicky response, offering a comfortable and ergonomic typing experience.

It’s important to note that the Omen 17 is on the larger and heavier side, weighing precisely 2.76kg according to HP’s website. To ensure effective heat dissipation during gaming or resource-intensive tasks, the laptop features large vents at the back and base, as well as a smaller vent on the right side.

In terms of connectivity, the laptop offers a range of I/O ports, including a Thunderbolt 4 port, three USB Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, a mini DisplayPort, a multi-format SD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack port, and an RJ-45 port. Under the hood, it houses the 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900HX processor and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (12GB VRAM), delivering a powerful gaming experience. The laptop is further equipped with 32GB RAM clocked at 5600MHz and a 1TB SSD, ensuring fast boot times and quick loading in games.

During our testing, we extensively played games such as Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Control, and GTA V on the Omen 17. While the laptop performed admirably when running older titles like GTA V, newer and more demanding games truly put its hardware to the test.

GTA V consistently achieved average frames-per-second (FPS) ranging from 174.8 to 185.74 during the game’s built-in benchmark tests across various in-game scenarios. Although the laptop ran smoothly for the most part, we did notice a few frame drops after extended gameplay sessions of 2-3 hours.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider, being a newer and more resource-intensive game, pushed the Omen 17 to its limits. However, despite the audible fan noise indicating the strain on the machine, we observed minimal heating issues. With the game running at its highest graphic settings and 2560×1440 resolution, the benchmark utility delivered an impressive average of 151 FPS in DX12 mode.

The Omen 17 comes bundled with Windows 11 Home and Microsoft Office Home and Student, providing a seamless user experience. The pre-installed Omen software offers additional value for gamers and multimedia enthusiasts, featuring apps like Light Studio for RGB keyboard customization. The inclusion of macro buttons allows for streamlined execution of complex actions with a single tap, particularly beneficial for competitive gaming scenarios where split-second timing matters.

Overall, the HP Omen 17 proves to be a robust gaming laptop, combining durability with impressive performance. While its large size and weight may compromise portability for some users, the device’s powerful hardware, customizable keyboard, and solid gaming experience make it a worthy contender in the gaming laptop market. Click on this link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/HP-17-inch-i7-12700H-17-ck1010nr-Aluminum/dp/B09VV677TW/