HyperX OMEN 16 VALORANT Edition Gaming Laptop Review

Quick summary: The HyperX OMEN 16 VALORANT edition is a beast for a little under $2,500. It games at max settings and renders video fast, with a great keyboard that includes a 10-key. The display and speakers are just okay, and battery life is 3 to 5 hours.

Specs

• AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D, NVIDIA RTX 5070, 32GB RAM, 1TB storage, Wi-Fi 7.
• A 16-inch 2.5K display, not OLED and not touch.
• About 5.5 pounds.

Design and ports

It’s decked out in VALORANT art, but the black and red look good even if you don’t play. I don’t think it says HP anywhere. There are vents everywhere and plenty of ports: USB on both sides, USB-C, a headphone jack, and charging, HDMI, USB and a mic input on the back. I wish it had an SD card slot for creators. There’s a little display wobble.

Display and speakers

Viewing angles and brightness are okay. I’m just used to OLED, and the display is one of the weaker points, though it still looks pretty good. The speakers lack low end and don’t get very loud. They’re nowhere near MacBook Pro speakers.

Keyboard

It’s backlit, with a shallow but easy-to-type feel and a built-in 10-key for real work.

Battery

A 6-cell 83Wh battery gets 3 to 5 hours of mixed use, and the power brick is big, which is par for gaming laptops.

OMEN Gaming Hub

It’s actually intuitive. There’s a built-in fan cleaner, and OMEN AI optimizes laptop and game settings for 16 games, including VALORANT, Counter-Strike, Marvel Rivals, Fortnite and Roblox. The modes are Eco, Balanced, Performance and Unleashed, which is crazy loud, so wear a headset.

Performance

A 10-minute 4K video rendered in under 6 minutes. Games ran at max settings with fans and power turned up, with no hiccups.

Verdict

It’s great for gamers, creators and streamers, and it isn’t one of those 8- or 9-pound monsters. At today’s prices, it’s a pretty good deal.

• HyperX OMEN 16 VALORANT laptop at HP