HP Omen gaming laptops welcome $800 Victus to the squad

Once upon a time, HP had two dedicated gaming lines, the enthusiast-focused Omen X and the more mainstream Omen, which it ended up merging into a single Omen line that offered traditional, high-power gaming. Times have changed and so have gamers, so HP’s turning back to the mainstream with a dash of lifestylishness in a new line. 

HP’s new Victus models are for the less hardcore. They come at the same sub-$1,000 starting prices as the company’s Pavilion Gaming laptops, but incorporate more powerful AMD and Intel processors and graphics. HP also introduced newly redesigned Omen 16 and 17 laptops, a new Omen 25i monitor and free Oasis software you can use to chat with up to 16 friends while you venture into Resident Evil Village.

Now playing:
Watch this:

Nvidia and Intel announce new chips, Razer and Asus update…

1:21

Technically it’s called the “Victus by HP,” a name no one will use, just like no one ever says “Omen by HP.” Unlike the rest of HP’s gaming laptops, the 16-inch Victus will come in colors: mica silver, performance blue and ceramic white. Configurations can max out with up to a QHD 165Hz display, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 5500M, Core i7-11800H or AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU and 32GB memory.

The Victuses are slated to ship in June starting at $800 for the AMD model and $850 for the Intel model. (International prices weren’t immediately available, but $800 is about £570 or AU$1,040.)

For the more old-school gamers, HP’s followed the trend of inching up its 15-inch laptops to 16-inch, replacing the HP Omen 15 with the Omen 16. It can be configured with up to the lesser 1440p 165Hz sRGB panel (compared to the better 240Hz P3 options), RTX 3070, Core i7-11800H or Ryzen 9 5900HX, 32GB RAM and so on. The solid-state drive and RAM are replaceable, and it’s got a denser battery for better life.

Big boy Omen 17 introduces optomechanical keys to HPs laptops for gamers who prefer fast and clicky over quiet and mushy. You’ll be able to buy it configured with up to an RTX 3080 and Core i9-11900H, 32GB RAM and more.

Both have updated cooling systems to battle the extra heat generated by the new components.

They ship in June. The Omen 16 starts at $1,150 for the Intel model and $1,050 for AMD, while the Omen 17 starts at $1,370.

There’s also a new Mini-Me offshoot of the Omen 27i, one of my favorite general-purpose monitors, the 25-inch Omen 25i. It also has a 165Hz panel, though it’s 1080p (which makes sense for 25 inches) with a 90% P3 color gamut and DisplayHDR 400 compatibility, plus G-Sync Compatible and FreeSync Premium Pro support. It features the same clever angled connectors on the back. You’ll be able to buy it in July for $350.

Some of its features will only be available via HP’s updated Omen Gaming Hub software. They include Shadow Vision, which boosts dark areas for better visibility; Edge Precision, which performs selective sharpening; Dynamic Crosshair, an extremely customizable center crosshair which can be set to change color based on the scene order to keep it visible at all times; and Game Remastered mode, which can automatically upscale and remap tonal ranges for old, sub-1080p resolution games.

Another introduction in the software is Omen Oasis, a free add-on launching in beta today in the US. It lets you invite up to 15 people to see your streamed gameplay with voice and text chats or host watch parties. And the people on the other end won’t need Omen Hub to join the fun.