HP Omen Max 16 Review: A Good Omen for Gamers

HP’s Omen lineup has constructed a stable popularity for delivering spectacular gaming efficiency at aggressive costs. This 12 months, the corporate was among the many first in India to roll out a laptop computer that includes Nvidia’s newest GeForce RTX 50-series GPUs. Enter the HP Omen Max 16 (2025), unveiled in April — a powerhouse geared up with as much as an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU and Intel’s Core Ultra 9 275HX processor. It stands as HP’s strongest gaming laptop computer at present out there in India — and sure, it comes with a premium price ticket.

The Omen Max 16 is offered for buy in India by way of the HP Online Store and Amazon. It is available in a Shadow Black end, which is what we acquired for assessment. Our unit, which comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU and Nvidia RTX 5080 Laptop GPU, is priced at Rs. 3,09,999. Meanwhile, HP additionally provides a variant with the top-tier GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU together with the identical Core Ultra 9 CPU, which is priced at Rs. 3,79,999.

The Omen Max 16 will not be too cumbersome to have a look at however weighs 2.6kgs

 

But this is the true query: Is the HP Omen Max 16 price its hefty value? And how does it evaluate to the competitors? Let’s dive in.

HP Omen Max 16 Design: Premium and minimal

• Dimensions – 35.65 x 26.9 x 2.29 cm (entrance); 35.65 x 26.9 x 2.78 cm (rear)
• Weight – 2.68 kg
• Colours – Shadow Black (Matte end)

The HP Omen Max 16 in Shadow Black incorporates a matte end that provides it a glossy, stealthy look. With minimal branding, it might nearly cross for a enterprise laptop computer — till the front-facing RGB mild bar kicks in, including a daring contact that means its gaming DNA.

The matte end does have a tendency to collect fingerprints and smudges

 

Design parts embrace a refined Omen brand on the lid, discreet textual content close to the rear exhaust vents, and a few branding beside the touchpad. It weighs 2.68 kg – not precisely ultra-portable, however nonetheless manageable. Thanks to its comparatively slim profile in comparison with different equally specced gaming laptops, it suits comfortably in most backpacks and is simple sufficient to hold round when wanted. Overall, the laptop computer sports activities a premium but understated design.

The laptop computer comes with twin followers

 

The lid and backside panel are crafted from aluminium, providing wonderful rigidity with nearly no flex. Open it up, and also you’re greeted by a lattice-style keyboard and a decently sized touchpad – each set on a sturdy deck that exhibits minimal flex. The show hinges really feel stable and well-engineered, and sure, the lid might be opened effortlessly with one finger.

The Omen Max 16 provides twin Thunderbolt 4 ports

 

Cooling is nicely accounted for, with consumption vents on either side and exhaust vents on the rear. Flip the laptop computer over, and you will see a big mesh panel protecting almost half the underside for improved airflow. There are two shorter rubber toes on the entrance and an extended one on the again, all designed to raise the chassis barely and support air flow. The backside options angled sides that home the grilles on both aspect for the down-facing audio system.

The solely factor lacking is an SD card slot, which might’ve been good to have

 

When it involves ports, the HP Omen Max 16 provides a beneficiant choice — one thing I genuinely respect. Along the again, you may discover the DC energy enter, an HDMI 2.1 output, an RJ-45 Ethernet port, and a USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 port. Positioning the important thing ports on the rear helps hold your desk setup clear and clutter-free when the laptop computer is docked.

It’s good to have the ability port and HDMI out positioned on the rear

 

On the left, HP has included two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 assist, together with a 3.5mm audio jack. On the correct, there’s a single USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 port. The solely noticeable omission is an SD card slot — a small addition that may’ve made the I/O setup much more versatile.

HP Omen Max 16 Display: Fast and brilliant

• Size and kind – 16-inch, anti-glare, IPS
• Resolution – WQXGA (2560×1600), 16:10
• Refresh charge – 60 – 240 Hz

The Omen Max 16, as its identify suggests, incorporates a 16-inch IPS show. Yes, you learn that proper. I used to be truthfully anticipating HP to pack an OLED or mini LED panel, however we have got the IPS possibility. However, HP does promote the laptop computer with an OLED panel outdoors India.

The 16-inch show on our assessment unit options WQXGA decision and an anti-glare coating and provides a refresh charge of both 60Hz or 240Hz. It additionally provides a 3ms response time and 500 nits of peak brightness. HP has additionally claimed that the panel covers 100% of sRGB color house. In observe, sure, the show seems to be largely colour-accurate.

The show is brilliant for indoor use and provides a 240Hz refresh charge

 

In phrases of show efficiency, the display will get a lot brilliant for indoor utilization whereas gaming in addition to watching content material. And for the reason that display has an anti-glare coating, it is nice for enjoying video games because the reflections are tremendously diminished.

The quick 240Hz refresh charge and the 3ms response time make the whole lot on the show seem tremendous easy, particularly when enjoying video games. However, at this value, HP ought to’ve packed in an OLED or a mini LED panel.

HP Omen Max 16 Keyboard, Touchpad, audio system, and webcam

• Keyboard – Full-size, per-key RGB
• Touchpad – HP Imagepad with multi-touch
• Speakers – Dual drivers with DTS:X Ultra, HP Audio Boost, and Hyper X
• Webcam – 1080p IR digital camera, twin microphones

HP has launched a particular full-size keyboard with a lattice-less design impressed by HyperX, whose brand is subtly positioned under the keyboard on the correct. The translucent keycaps improve the RGB lighting, permitting it to shine via extra vividly than on typical RGB keyboards. The keys are well-spaced, are gentle to the contact, and provide a snug quantity of journey, making for a pleasing typing expertise. There’s additionally per-key RGB lighting, and a very considerate contact: urgent the perform key highlights solely the related perform keys. And there’s additionally a Copilot key for all of your AI chatbot wants.

The Omen Max 16 provides a full-sized keyboard with per-key RGB

 

As a lot as I appreciated the keyboard, the touchpad left me a bit underwhelmed. While it handles multitasking and Windows gestures nicely and provides dependable palm rejection, it falls quick in just a few areas. It’s not significantly giant for a 16-inch laptop computer, and the floor wasn’t as easy as I anticipated. The clicks additionally felt much less satisfying than they need to on a premium gadget. To be truthful, it is a completely serviceable touchpad—however at this value level, I anticipated higher.

The laptop computer has twin down-firing audio system

 

The Omen Max 16 incorporates a dual-speaker setup tuned by Bang & Olufsen. The audio output is clear and sufficiently loud for indoor use, although it noticeably lacks bass. That mentioned, it nonetheless outperforms the audio system on a number of different gaming laptops I’ve used. Of course, for an immersive gaming expertise, a great pair of headphones stays the higher alternative.

The webcam performs nicely when there’s loads of lighting

 

The HP Omen Max 16 is provided with a 1080p IR webcam that helps Windows Hello for facial recognition and fast logins. It performs nicely in brilliant environments, delivering clear visuals, however picture high quality takes a noticeable hit in low-light circumstances, with graininess changing into obvious. On the plus aspect, the laptop computer features a bodily privateness shutter – a welcome characteristic for added safety.

HP Omen Max 16 Software: Everything you want and extra

• OS – Windows 11 Home
• Other apps – Omen Gaming Hub, MS Office Home 2024

The laptop computer ships with Windows 11 Home pre-installed, together with Microsoft Office Home 2024 and built-in entry to the Copilot AI chatbot. The general software program expertise is normal for a Windows 11 machine, with just a few additions from HP, such because the Omen Gaming Hub.

The Omen Gaming Hub allows you to modify system settings and customise the RGB lighting

 

The Omen Gaming Hub lets customers fine-tune system efficiency by way of numerous profiles, whereas the built-in Light Studio allows you to customise the RGB lighting on each the keyboard and the entrance mild bar. HP additionally consists of its Omen AI device, which intelligently adjusts efficiency settings based mostly in your utilization patterns.

HP Omen Max 16 Performance: Beastly however loud

• CPU – Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX
• GPU – Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 with 16GB VRAM
• RAM – 32GB DDR5-5600 MT/s (2 x 16GB)
• Storage – 1 TB PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD

If there’s one phrase to sum up the HP Omen Max 16’s efficiency, it is beastly. Our assessment unit comes geared up with the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (Series 2) processor, paired with 32GB of DDR5 RAM. With 24 cores and a most clock pace of 5.4 GHz by way of Intel Turbo Boost, this chip delivers distinctive single- and multi-threaded efficiency. What’s much more spectacular is the ability allocation – when switched to Unleashed mode by way of the Omen Gaming Hub, the CPU alone can draw as much as 75W.

The Omen Max 16 has a robust spec sheet

 

Since it is a gaming machine, the GPU deserves equal consideration. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU options 16GB of GDDR7 reminiscence and is rated for as much as 175W of energy. Combined, the system can draw a complete efficiency energy (TPP) of 250W when plugged in and working in Unleashed mode – making it a real powerhouse for each gaming and intensive workloads.

The Unleashed mode provides the perfect efficiency from the laptop computer

 

We ran a number of artificial benchmarks on the laptop computer, and this is what we acquired.

Benchmark	HP Omen Max 16 (2025)	Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025)
Cinebench R23 Single Core	1275	1597
Cinebench R23 Multi Core	30974	21847
Geekbench 6 Single Core	2948	2877
Geekbench 6 Multi Core	18373	15540
Geekbench AI NPU (Quantized)	13885	N/A
Geekbench AI GPU (Quantized)	20641	N/A
PC Mark 10	8436	8504
3DMark Steel Nomad	5171	3438
3DMark Time Spy	21129	N/A
3DMark Speed Way	5818	N/A

I examined a number of demanding AAA titles—together with Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, Alan Wake 2, and The Last of Us Part I – at excessive to extremely settings and 1600p decision. The Omen Max 16 dealt with them effortlessly, persistently delivering over 60fps even with out DLSS 4 or any AI-based enhancements. With DLSS 4 enabled, body charges virtually doubled, providing a noticeably smoother expertise.

Cyberpunk 2077 runs easily on the highest settings

 

Thermal efficiency is stable as nicely. The keyboard space remained surprisingly cool throughout prolonged classes, because of the massive dual-fan setup and well-placed exhaust vents. However, when pushed to its limits, the laptop computer does run sizzling, and the followers get very loud – so loud, actually, that the audio system battle to compete when the followers are spinning at full throttle.

All issues thought-about, the Omen Max 16 is a powerhouse for gaming. It can tackle nearly any trendy AAA title with ease and delivers a easy, high-performance expertise throughout the board.

HP Omen Max 16 Battery: Weak

• Capacity – 6-cell 83Wh Li-ion
• Charger – 330W

Let’s be trustworthy – battery life is not normally a precedence when shopping for a gaming laptop computer, particularly one geared up with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 50-series GPU. As anticipated, it is fairly common right here. During common use with the discrete GPU disabled, RGB lighting turned off, and display brightness lowered, the Omen Max 16 can final round 3 hours on a single cost. You may be capable to stretch {that a} bit additional, nevertheless it probably will not be a snug expertise. Gaming on battery is even much less sensible, providing roughly 1.5 hours of runtime – although I would not advocate gaming with out being plugged in anyway.

The Omen Max 16 comes with a 330W charger within the field

 

Charging is dealt with by a hefty 330W energy brick – giant sufficient to double as a self-defence device if wanted. Fortunately, it helps quick charging and takes about an hour to prime up the battery totally.

HP Omen Max 16 Verdict

HP’s Omen Max 16 delivers top-tier efficiency with out query. If you find yourself shedding a sport, relaxation assured that it will not be attributable to lag or {hardware} limitations. For players and inventive professionals alike, this laptop computer provides wonderful worth – packing highly effective specs at a value that undercuts many rivals in the identical class.

While it does have just a few minor drawbacks, corresponding to common audio system and noticeably loud followers below load, these do not considerably detract from the general expertise, particularly contemplating the efficiency you are getting for the value. In the configuration we reviewed, the Omen Max 16 proves itself a worthy funding and a stable alternative for anybody searching for a high-performance gaming laptop computer that may maintain its personal on the desk all day lengthy.