HP’s new Omen and Victus gaming laptops seem like low-effort refreshes

HP is announcing some very minor refreshes to its Omen 16 and Victus 15 gaming laptops. Like so many other models, the new Omen 16 ships with support for the latest Intel 12th Gen processors as well as the option to go with AMD’s Ryzen 6000 H-series CPUs. It also supports up to Nvidia’s RTX 3070 Ti with 150W of maximum graphics power, along with up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM and fast PCIe 4.0 SSDs.

In terms of dimensions, this year’s Omen 16 is identical to the 2021 model down to the millimeter in terms of thickness, width, depth, and height. One notable change, however, is that its trackpad is a little wider now. Sadly, this model still features a 16:9 aspect ratio display with a large chin near the chassis hinge. And, like last year’s Omen 16, it’s an FHD 60Hz panel by default but can be upgraded to a QHD 165Hz display option.

If you opt for an Intel-based machine, the I/O selection will include two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports (AMD models don’t support Thunderbolt here), alongside three USB-A ports, one HDMI 2.1 port, an SD card slot, an Ethernet jack, a headphone jack, and a power adapter port. The new Omen will begin shipping this summer at HP.com and at Best Buy starting at $1,199.99.

Like last year, HP’s midrange Victus 15 gaming laptop is here to deliver a lower-cost, lower-performance option for people looking for something more affordable than the Omen. Instead of focusing on external changes (although HP did also increase its trackpad size), the company focused on updating the internals of the Victus 15, supporting up to Intel’s Core i7-12700H processor or, weirdly, the last-gen AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor. While last year’s Victus model could be configured up to Nvidia’s RTX 3060, the 2022 model can only go up to the 3050 Ti, or, if you opt for an AMD processor, it can be equipped with the Radeon RX 6500M graphics card. HP expects the Victus 15 to launch this summer, starting at $799.99 at HP.com.

I’m not exactly sure why HP felt the need to go loud with such minor changes to both its Omen and Victus lineups. There’s nothing wrong with iterating on hardware, but neither seems to be moving forward in a meaningful or unique way. But we hope to test them out later in the year when they release to see whether they’re worth keeping on your radar.