HP introduced its refreshed Omen 15 gaming laptop along with seven peripherals and accessories during the HP Gaming Festival in Beijing. The laptop serves as HP’s midlevel “performance” product, falling between its low-tier Pavilion Gaming brand for mainstream gamers and its high-level Omen X brand for enthusiasts.
At launch, HP lists three starting points spanning from the 15-dc0010nr to the 15-dc0030nr. By default, all three sport a 15.6-inch IPS screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution. Specifications provided before launch indicate they likely pack a 144Hz refresh rate although you can upgrade to a 3840 x 2160 resolution at 60Hz, or a 1920 x 1080 resolution at 60Hz with G-Sync support.
Backing the screen is one of two eighth-generation Intel processors. More specifically, the 15-dc0010nr model is the only laptop of the trio to rely on a Core i5-8300H four-core processor while the other two units pack the Core i7-8750H six-core chip.
For graphics, all three include discrete Nvidia chips: The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB of dedicated memory on the dc0010nr and dc0020nr models, and the GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of dedicated memory on the dc0030nr model. HP says you can configure these laptops with up to a GeForce GTX 1070 chip with a Max-Q design.
Meanwhile, you’ll find a slight difference in the system memory too: 12GB at 2,666MHz on the GTX 1050 Ti models (1x 4GB, 1x 8GB), and 16GB at 2,666MHz on the GTX 1060 model (1x 16GB, 1x empty slot). The laptop supports up to 32GB total along with optional Intel Optane “cache” to speed up hard drive access.
“Thoughtfully engineered for the heat gaming generates, with larger fans, a three-phase motor, and fluid dynamic bearings to create less friction and more consistent fan speed control in all configurations,” the company says.
For storage, all three start with 128GB on a PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD and 1TB on a 7,200RPM hard drive. This dual-storage setup is complemented by an SD card reader and three USB-A (5Gbps) ports. Additionally, the GTX 1050 Ti models include a USB-C port (5Gbps) while the GTX 1060 model upgrades that connection to Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps).
As for other connectivity options, you’ll find one Mini DisplayPort connection, one HDMI 2.0 port, one gigabit Ethernet port, an audio combo jack, and a second microphone jack. Wireless consists of Bluetooth 4.2 and Wireless AC supporting speeds of up to 867Mbps. All three sport HP’s Wide Vision HD webcam too.
Finally, the two GTX 1050 Ti models pack a full-size backlit keyboard supporting two lighting zones powered by a 52.5WHr battery and a 150-watt adapter. The GTX 1060 model packs a keyboard supporting four zones, a 70WHr battery, and a 200-watt power adapter. Given the GTX 1060 inside, the dc0030nr is bit thicker and heavier at 1.02 inches thick and 5.56 pounds.
The updated Omen 15 laptop arrives on July 29 starting at $980. Here are all the other Omen-branded devices revealed this week:
- Omen Mindframe Headset — 2H 2018 — price unknown
- Omen Sequencer Keyboard — July — $180
- Omen Reactor Mouse — July — $80
- Omen X Transceptor Backpack — July — $250
- Omen Mouse 400 — July — $40
- Omen Soft Mouse Pad 200 — July — $20
- Omen Hard Mouse Pad 200 — July — $30
