CES 2024: HP's New OMEN Gaming Laptop Could Be The Coolest You've Ever Used, But Not How You'd Think
Gaming laptops are infamous for featuring over-the-top design elements and for being bulky. In fact, the words lightweight and gaming laptops generally do not go together. At CES 2024, HP seems to be on a mission to break this long-standing notion with its new lineup of gaming laptops. These new laptops belong to HP's OMEN Transcend lineup and come in 14-inch and 16-inch screen sizes, with the most notable one being the 14-inch variant that is touted as the world's lightest 14-inch gaming laptop.
The most notable feature of the HP OMEN Transcend 14 gaming laptop is its weight (or the lack of it). At just 3.61 pounds (1.637 kilograms), it is closer to compact ultrabooks' weight than full-fledged gaming notebooks. You can get the Transcend 14 in two processor options: a base variant that gets the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H chip and a more powerful variant that uses Intel's Ultra 9 185H chip. While the former ships with NVIDIA's 40 series laptop GPUs, namely the RTX 4050 GPU, the Ultra 9-based variant gives consumers the option to go for the RTX 4060 or the RTX 4070.
The base variant of the Transcend 14 gets 512GB storage using an SSD, with consumers getting the option to upgrade to a 1TB or 2TB option. Features common to all variants of this machine include the 2560 x 1600 pixel OLED panel, a 6-cell, 71 Wh Li-ion polymer battery, and a full-size RGB keyboard. The HP OMEN Transcend 14's claim to fame, however, is its improved thermal performance, enabled by a redesigned chassis as well as Intel's dual-channel flow technology. The Transcend 14 will be on sale starting January 8, with a starting price of $1,499.99.
HP OMEN Transcend 16: Everything you need to know
At first glance, the Transcend 16 may seem like a larger version of its similarly-named 14-inch sibling. However, that isn't quite the case here. The HP OMEN Transcend 16 is based on a completely different family of Intel chips and gets three processor options, starting with an Intel Core i7-37000 HX chip on the base variant and a Core i9-13900HX chip on the top model.
Graphics card options on this machine include the NVIDIA RTX 4050 GPU on the base variant and the choice of getting the RTX 4060 or the RTX 4070 on the higher-end variants. While the base variant ships with 16GB of DDR5-4800 RAM, the higher-end variant lets you add up to 32GB of DDR5 5600 RAM. Storage options begin with a 512GB SSD, going up to 1TB and 2TB on the pricier options.
Like the 14-inch, the HP OMEN Transcend 16 also gets a 2560 x 1600 pixel OLED panel — but only in the top variant. If you opt for the base variant, you'd have to get by with a 1920 x 1200 pixel, 165Hz, IPS LCD panel. This model has two battery options, beginning with a 4-cell 70Wh unit and a larger 6-cell 97 Wh Li-Polymer battery.
Pieces for the HP OMEN Transcend 16 gaming laptop will start at $1,899.99 and will be on sale at HP's online store starting January 10, 2024.
The rest of HP's gaming-focused CES 2024 announcements
Aside from these OMEN Transcend gaming laptops, HP also announced the launch of other gaming-focused products, including two keyboards and the OMEN Transcend 32-inch OLED Gaming Monitor. The new keyboards include the HyperX Alloy Rise and the HyperX Alloy Rise 75 Gaming Keyboard.
These are touted as the company's first hot-swappable keyboards with a gasket-mounted design from HyperX. If not already evident, these two keyboards are essentially the same devices, with the "75" variant being the 75% option and the other being the standard full-size option.
Both these keyboards feature pre-lubed HyperX Linear Switches and pre-installed HyperX PBT Keycaps. They also have RGB lighting support and an ambient light sensor for auto-adjusting brightness. Other notable features include the option to store up to 10 keyboard profiles directly on the keyboard, support for hot-swappable key switches, and magnetic top plates. Pricing for the full-sized keyboard is $199.99, while the 75% variant will be slightly cheaper at $169.99. Both these keyboards will be available starting Spring 2024.
As for the OMEN Transcend monitor, this one features a 32-inch QD-OLED panel that supports 4K UHD resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. It is also touted as the world's first gaming monitor with independent switchable USB Ports. Additional features include support for Dolby Vision and a response time of just 0.3ms. HP hasn't shared availability and pricing details for this monitor.