Until early this year, when people ask me whether HP makes good gaming laptops, I would say No straight to their face.
HP gaming laptops, mainly the HP Pavilion Gaming and the HP Omen Series, would always have some problems.
They would come with problems like thermal throttling, hinge issues, or uncompetitive pricing.
But finally, in 2021, I can finally say that HP does make good gaming laptops.
In 2021, the HP gaming laptops lineup comes with better thermal performance, build quality, and great price.
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Is an HP Laptop Good for Gaming?
From the past couple of years, HP gaming laptops have always come with some kind of drawbacks compared to its competitor on the market.
The Omen series, HP’s main line of gaming laptops, would come out with different problems with overheating and thermal throttling being the two most annoying problems.
Also read: 5 Easy Ways to Cool A Laptop While Gaming in 2020
Not to mention the HP Pavilion Gaming line up that would come with bad hinges and overall poor build quality.
However, everything is changed in 2020.
Now, I can confidently say and recommend to people that an HP laptop is good for gaming.
HP Omen Gaming Laptop
Let me start with HP’s main gaming laptop series, the HP Omen Gaming Laptop 2020 Model.
Finally, HP makes a good gaming laptop this time around in 2020.
In its previous iteration, the Omen was known for thermal throttling and ran very hot while gaming.
It has an excellent cooling system with dual fan systems that helps cool the laptop really well.
However, the 2020 HP Omen Gaming Laptop does not have that problem anymore.
The HP Omens are great gaming laptops in 2020.
The Omen Gaming Laptop comes in AMD and Intel configuration with a base specification of Intel 10th Gen i5 Processor and Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics card.
It comes with a price tag of $899 for the base specification, which is an excellent price for a modern gaming laptop.
The first thing you’ll notice is that this laptop is THIN. It’s light enough to be carried around with ease.
The design is cool, and the build is excellent, with some standard flex on its screen and the lid.
The next thing you’ll notice is the display. The colors are very vibrant, thanks to the 144Hz refresh rate.
It’s an IPS display that is a very lovely display to look at, and it’s not as glossy as most gaming laptop displays either.
The speakers are very loud and clear, but they’re placed at the bottom of the laptop, so the sound quality gets muffled when the laptop is on your lap or a soft surface.
The keyboards are great to type at and feels sturdy. I don’t have any problem playing games and working and the laptop.
Now, here comes the best part of this laptop: The performance. This thing is a BEAST. It handles gaming really well.
I’ve played a few different games on this machine, and I haven’t had a problem with any of them.
The HP Omen Gaming Laptop that I test comes with an AMD Ryzen R7 4800H Processor and Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti.
All the AAA modern gaming titles that I play on this machine run very well with respectable FPS in the highest settings.
Heck, it can even run some VR games very well.
That combination of Ryzen 4800H and GTX 1660 Ti is such a value steal.
Now, this laptop isn’t perfect.
The battery life isn’t the best. I can only get around 3 hours of battery life when doing light tasks.
The fans can be a little loud even when the laptop is on idle.
However, it does the job very well in cooling down the laptop even under heavy gaming.
And this is me nitpicking, but the keyboard layout is kinda weird.
HP decided to put this power button between the F12 and Delete keys.
Since using this laptop for a couple of days, I have lost count how many times I pressed that power button due to the unusual layout.
Overall, The HP Omen is a great gaming laptop that can run any current game on the market.
I would definitely recommend this laptop to anyone looking for a good gaming laptop on a budget.
HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop
Next, let us talk about the budget gaming lineup from HP, the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop.
The HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop has a sleek, futuristic design.
It’s a little large, but it’s still easy to carry around.
The laptop has a beautiful 15-inch and 16-inch options for you to choose from.
The HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop usually comes for under $1,000 with excellent configurations.
It makes the HP Pavilion Gaming worth it and really good at playing games.
Even though the build quality is not as good as the HP Omen line up, you can expect a durable build with excellent thermal performance.
On my test unit, I tried running demanding games like The Witcher 3, and the game ran just fine on the highest settings with respectable FPS (60+ FPS).
The thermal stayed pretty cool when I was running the game hovering around 70 degrees.
Another thing that makes the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop is the right choice for the budget consumer is the upgradability.
You can easily upgrade this laptop’s RAM and the storage by just opening the back of this laptop.
Last but not least, from my observation, the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop goes on sale a lot. Like really a lot.
I often see this gaming laptop comes at a price under $800 bucks for the 1660 Ti configuration.
This configuration will make running most modern games in the highest settings possible on this budget gaming laptop.
All in all, This makes the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop is worth your money because of the price and the performance you get.
The performance you get from this machine makes the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop an outstanding laptop for gaming.
Which is the Best HP Gaming Laptop?
We come to the part of choosing which HP Gaming Laptop is the best for gaming.
We know we have HP Omen Gaming Laptop and HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop.
Both of these laptops are great at playing games at their respective price point.
It all depends on the budget you have.
I’d say if you have a budget of less than $1,000, you might want to go to the HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop.
But, if you have more than a $1,000 budget, you should go to the HP Omen Gaming Laptop.
Of course, with gaming laptops, the more budget you have, the more performance you get.
That is why the Omen Gaming Laptop is the best HP Gaming Laptop you can buy to play games.
Conclusion: Does HP Make Good Gaming Laptop?
Because of the performance of the HP Omen and HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop in 2020, I believe HP does make good gaming laptops.
HP provides two gaming laptop lineups that cater to a wide range of budgets while still delivering excellent gaming and thermal performance.
Through this post, I hope to make your purchasing decision for your gaming laptop a bit easier.
If you got any other questions, please drop a comment below and let us talk.
