HP Omen 16 (16-k0000) review

HP is another manufacturer that picked the safe option when NVIDIA released its RTX 3000 lineup of mobile graphics cards. It has chosen pretty low-power options, but now, the Omen returns with quite a significant upgrade.

Not only did HP throw Alder Lake CPUs inside of it, but it has also upped the ante by introducing a 140W RTX 3060 in the mix. The top option also trades the RTX 3070 for an RTX 3070 Ti, but we don’t have information on the TGP values of this card.

What we do know, is that the Omen 16 (16-k0000) now has a MUX switch, which connects the internal display to the dedicated graphics card. HP has made this option pretty easy to use within the Omen Gaming Hub app. Also, it’s worth noting that the company has gone for a very Old Spice-like video on its official Web page.

Speaking of displays, you are now able to get the Omen 16 with a QHD (1440p) 165Hz panel with G-Sync support. If you want to save some cash, however, you can also settle for the 144Hz 1080p option.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-omen-16-16-k0000/

Contents


Specs Sheet

HP OMEN 16 (16-k0000, 2022) - Specs

  • BOE BOE0AAE
  • Color accuracy  1.4  1.1
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 8000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 64GB
  • OS
  • Windows 11 Home, Windows 10 Home, Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Pro
  • Battery
  • 83Wh, 6-cell, 70Wh, 4-cell
  • Body material
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate, Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 369.06 x 247.90 x 23 mm (14.53" x 9.76" x 0.91")
  • Weight
  • 2.41 kg (5.3 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 2x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
  • 2x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery (PD), DisplayPort, Sleep and Charge
  • HDMI
  • 2.1
  • Displayport mini
  • Card reader
  • SD
  • Ethernet LAN
  • 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.2
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • Web camera
  • HD with Temporal Noise Reduction
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Microphone
  • Integrated Dual Array Digital Microphones
  • Speakers
  • Dual Speakers, DTS:X, Audio by Bang & Olufsen
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot

All HP OMEN 16 (16-k0000, 2022) configurations

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

This laptop arrives in a white box, sporting the red Omen logo in the middle. Inside, we find a huge 280W power adapter, as well as some paperwork, and the laptop itself.


Design and construction

We had trouble finding official information about the build materials of the Omen 16. However, we are pretty confident that the lid is made out of plastic, while the base is essentially a fancy aluminum slab.

As we would expect, the lid shows some flex when we twist it. On the contrary, the base is solid, as it remains almost perfectly still. Its dimensions show a thickness of 23mm and a weight of 2.41 kg. This makes it slightly thicker, but also a bit lighter than the Legion 5i Pro (16″, 2022).

Obviously, the Omen uses a hinge mechanism inspired by workstation laptops. The pillars are attached to the chassis with the movement part located inside the top part. As a result, there is very little flex in the base of the lid. Also, it can be opened with a single hand. However, the hinges are not very stable, which makes the lid quite bouncy.

You can clearly see that the bottom bezel is humongous, while the top and side ones are significantly smaller. Moreover, there is an HD Web camera located above the matte panel. It is paired with temporal noise reduction, which should improve the quality of the image.

Moving to the base we see no NumberPad section. For better or for worse it is gone, and in its place, there are some pretty large Arrow keys. You also get the good old Omen Gaming Hub shortcut. The keyboard itself is pretty comfortable with its long key travel and clicky feedback.

Another cool feature about it is the 4-zone or the optional per-key RGB backlight. You are offered pretty much full control through HP’s Omen Light Studio app. Now, if we look at the palm rest area, we will find a pretty large “16”, as well as a short text in Klingon, saying that you should always wash your hands after you’ve been to the toilet.

In addition, you get a huge touchpad. It is one of the most responsive units we’ve tested out there, although its surface is not the smoothest one.

Even though there is a grill above the keyboard, it is not meant for Audio. Instead, the speaker cutouts are placed on the bottom panel, where they share a room with the fan inlets. Heat exhaust, on the other hand, happens through two vents on the back, and one on each side of the device.

Ports

On the left side, there is a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, a LAN port, an Audio jack, and an SD card reader. Then, on the right, you have two more USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, while the back side houses two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI 2.1 connector, and the power plug.


Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance

To open this notebook, you need to undo 8 Phillips-head screws. Then, pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, and lift it away from the chassis.

Our configuration has an 83Wh battery pack. It will get you through 6 hours and 30 minutes of Web browsing, or about 6 hours of video playback. To take it out, unplug the battery connector, and undo all 6 Phillips-head screws that hold it in place.

Memory-wise, there are two SODIMM slots, which work with DDR5 modules and support dual-channel mode. As for the storage, you get two M.2 PCIe x4 slots that fit Gen 4 SSDs.

The cooling comprises two heat pipes shared between the CPU and the GPU, with one more allocated to each of them. In addition, there are two fans, four heat sinks, and two chunky slabs of metal, managing the heat of the VRMs and the graphics memory.


Display quality

HP Omen 16 (16-k0000) in the configuration we tested has a 144Hz FHD panel – BOE BOE0AAE. Its diagonal is 16.1″ (40.9 cm), and the resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 137 ppi, and a pitch of 0.19 х 0.19 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at distance equal to or greater than 64cm (25″) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).

The viewing angles are excellent. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

We measured a maximum brightness of 408 nits in the middle of the screen and 392 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 6%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 6830K – slightly colder than the optimal for the sRGB standard of 6500K.
In the illustration below you can see how the main display performs from a uniformity perspective. In other words, the leakage of light from the light source.

Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work. The contrast ratio is relatively good – 1060:1.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows HP Omen 16 (16-k0000)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 100% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976, resulting in a vibrant and punchy image.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results in factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of HP Omen 16 (16-k0000) with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 9 ms.

After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude.


PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

HP Omen 16 (16-k0000)’s display doesn’t use PWM to adjust its brightness at any point. This means it is comfortable for long gaming sessions without harming your eyes in this aspect.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Gloss level measurement

Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 53.9 GU).


Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP Omen 16 (16-k0000) configurations with 16.1″ FHD IPS BOE BOE0AAE.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Sound

HP Omen 16 (16-k0000)’s Bang & Olufsen speakers produce a sound of decent quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/omen-by-hp-16.1-inch-gaming-laptop-16-k0000/2101129690

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with the Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. Here, you get an 83Wh battery pack, which lasts for 6 hours and 34 minutes of Web browsing, or 5 hours and 57 minutes of video playback.


CPU options

This device can be found with Core i5-12500H, Core i7-12700H, and Core i9-12900H.


GPU options

The graphics card choice makes the laptop suitable for a lot of different budgets. It includes the RTX 3050, RTX 3050 Ti, RTX 3060 (140W), and RTX 3070 Ti.


Gaming tests

Metro ExodusFull HD, Low (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Extreme (Check settings)
Average FPS154 fps75 fps36 fps

Borderlands 3Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Badass (Check settings)
Average fps131 fps96 fps74 fps

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon WildlandsFull HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)Full HD, Ultra (Check settings)
Average110 fps95 fps62 fps

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018)Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Highest (Check settings)
Average133 fps125 fps82 fps

[eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your HP Omen 16 (16-k0000)

Your HP Omen 16 (16-k0000) can be Faster. LaptopMedia has tested thousands of models in the last 15 years, and we’re yet to see a notebook that couldn’t be made more powerful through modifications. And have you seen the most popular search on Google related to “how to make my …”? No? OK, here it is:

As you see, having a faster laptop is more important than having more hair.

Well, the main issue here is that there are thousands of advices on the Web. Some work, some don’t. Some are easy, some are complicated. Some are safe, and some are risky. If only there could be an Easy-to-Follow, Step-by-Step, and Laboratory-Tested guide by a proven organization, right?

That’s what we’ve done. We have hundreds of laptops scattered in our office, and we’ve spent a whole year testing different optimizations. We’ve chosen the ones that really make a difference, that are easy to implement without expert skills, and that are safe for your laptop in the long term.

🚀 What’s the performance boost I could expect?

There’s no general answer but we’ve reached more than 30% GPU Performance boost on some models, while typically it’s between 10% and 20%. You could always go beyond but we want to be sure that our advice will keep your laptop on the safe side in the long term. But you want to get the absolute maximum? We’ll show you how, and then it’s up to you.

We even set several World Records on 3DMark, one being our first Max Out for a specific laptop model – MSI Katana B13V.

We’d be happy to compete with YOU on the 3DMark rank lists, and see what YOUR laptop can do using our guide!

📦 What’s included?

📖 Our eBook includes All the tools you need, along with an Easy-to-follow guide for hassle-free:

GPU Performance boost by vBIOS replacement, Overclocking, and Undervolting
⚙️ Checking the hardware components and finding if you could get a significant boost by upgrading some of them
💾 Installing a clean Windows OS, with all the base settings you need
📋 Software optimization steps that really give a performance boost
Building a RAID Storage configuration for doubling sequential read/write speeds or protecting your data
🎯 Display Profiles bundle for a panel of your choice, enhancing the display for accurate colors, better experience, and protection of your eyes

🎁 To receive the Display Profiles bundle as a gift, simply email us your panel model through our “Contact Us” form.

💵 What is the price?

R&D on laptops isn’t easy nor cheap, especially when you’re not using cherry-picked review samples but real units instead. Our idea is to reinvest the profits from the sales back in our laboratory. However, we also want to make it a killer deal for everyone who is planning or has already spent on a gaming laptop, as this product would significantly boost the performance per dollar they get.

[eBook Guide] How to MAX OUT your Laptop

🛠️ GPU Modifications: vBIOS, Overclocking, Undervolting
⚙️ Building Fast/Reliable RAID configuration
💻 Hardware upgrade tips for best results
🖼 Display enhancing
💾 OS Optimization for best performance

✖ But if these optimizations are easy, why don’t manufacturers do them?

There are a lot of reasons for the manufacturers to put boundaries on your machine, locking part of its performance:

📊 Market Segmentation: To create different product tiers, manufacturers often limit performance. This allows them to target various market segments and price points, encouraging consumers to pay more for higher-performing models.
❓Unknown Potential: Each unit’s performance varies. Checking each one individually isn’t feasible.
🏢 Regulatory Compliance: Certain regions have regulations regarding energy consumption, and manufacturers often place some boundaries to fit all standards.
🏭 Supply Chain Constraints: Limitations are imposed due to the current availability of components.
🫰 Cost-effective solutions: Often, less popular but important details are overlooked. For example, better RAM types can boost performance by up to 30%, but many users ignore this, and many online stores don’t even provide that info.
🔒 Security concerns: Many protections impact performance while being negligible for regular users. However, manufacturers don’t know if their laptops will be purchased by individuals or large corporations, so they can’t disable these features by default.

 

Not a bad performance bump in terms of Storage Speeds:


What are the default apps that impact performance the most?

What to do when RAID drives don’t show up?
How to optimize Windows further for maximum FPS gain in games?

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power

Intel Core i5-12500H (45W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
HP Omen 16 (16-k0000)3.96 GHz @ 3.03 GHz @ 77°C @ 95W2.80 GHz @ 2.28 GHz @ 63°C @ 51W3.71 GHz @ 2.87 GHz @ 79°C @ 80W
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (16″, 2022)4.14 GHz @ 3.06 GHz @ 79°C @ 127W3.95 GHz @ 3.07 GHz @ 81°C @ 111W3.39 GHz @ 2.62 GHz @ 74°C @ 84W
Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i (15″, 2022)3.88 GHz @ 3.03 GHz @ 75°C @ 104W3.76 GHz @ 2.93 GHz @ 80°C @ 94W3.16 GHz @ 2.37 GHz @ 70°C @ 66W
Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-58)3.77 GHz @ 2.83 GHz @ 75°C @ 98W3.92 GHz @ 3.00 GHz @ 80°C @ 101W2.85 GHz @ 3.07 GHz @ 80°C @ 85W

HP Omen 16 (16-k0000) struggles in mid-short runs, as the frequency drops for roughly a minute or so. However, in the long extreme loads, it is unmatched (at least according to our database). Interestingly, it runs at higher clock speeds than the Legion 5i Pro (16″, 2022), while using less energy – 80W versus 85W.

Real-life gaming

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min)Max Fans
HP Omen 16 (16-k0000)1833 MHz @ 79°C @ 140W1825 MHz @ 82°C @ 139W
Lenovo Legion 5i Pro (16″, 2022)1941 MHz @ 83°C @ 139W1920 MHz @ 86°C @ 138W
Lenovo Legion 5 (15″, 2022)1875 MHz @ 80°C @ 130W1863 MHz @ 82°C @ 130W
MSI Pulse GL76 (12Ux)1620 MHz @ 77°C @ 105W1608 MHz @ 81°C @ 105W1650 MHz @ 70°C @ 105W
ASUS ROG Strix G17 G713R (2022)1827 MHz @ 83°C @ 139W1825 MHz @ 85°C @ 139W
ASUS ROG Strix G15 G513R (2022)1844 MHz @ 81°C @ 139W1723 MHz @ 74°C @ 118W
ASUS TUF Gaming F17 (FX706, 2021)1548 MHz @ 80°C @ 95W1540 MHz @ 81°C @ 95W
HP Omen 17 (2021, 17-ck0000)1861 MHz @ 72°C @ 129W1857 MHz @ 73°C @ 130W
Lenovo ThinkBook 16p Gen 21535 MHz @ 69°C @ 75W1517 MHz @ 76°C @ 75W
Lenovo Legion 5i (17″ Intel, 2021)1886 MHz @ 75°C @ 127W1879 MHz @ 76°C @ 127W
Lenovo Legion 7 (16″, 2021)1867 MHz @ 70°C @ 126W1858 MHz @ 74°C @ 127W
Lenovo Legion 5 (15″ AMD, 2021)1831 MHz @ 75°C @ 129W1815 MHz @ 80°C @ 129W
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (16″)1803 MHz @ 76°C @ 129W1787 MHz @ 81°C @ 129W
MSI GP66 Leopard1863 MHz @ 72°C @ 124W1852 MHz @ 75°C @ 125W1849 MHz @ 69°C @ 127W
MSI GP76 Leopard1860 MHz @ 71°C @ 129W1857 MHz @ 73°C @ 128W1869 MHz @ 67°C @ 128W

On the other side, the graphics card runs at lower clocks, while using the same TGP (in comparison to the Legion 5i Pro).

Gaming comfort

If you want to extract the maximum out of this device, you have to sacrifice comfort. At least when it comes to noise levels. Our unit pushed its fans to the max when the “Performance” preset was selected. Indeed, these fans push a lot of air, but they are loud too. Temperature-wise, the laptop was pretty comfortable. The palm rest area was not even warming up.


Verdict

Which laptops are HP Omen 16 (16-k0000)’s main competitors? One of them undoubtedly is the Legion 5i Pro (16″, 2022). They share a similar price tag, screen size, and hardware options. As it turns out, we have tested both machines, and they have exactly the same CPU and GPU combo. Naturally, you can expect an in-depth comparison on the matter pretty soon.

Before that, we are going to tell you how the HP Omen 16 comes with a fantastic I/O. It includes two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, three fast USB Type-A ports, an SD card reader, an HDMI 2.1 connector, and a LAN port.

In addition to that, you have the gold standard of upgradeability on the inside – two SODIMM slots for DDR5 RAM, and two M.2 PCIe x4 slots for Gen 4 SSDs. There, you will also find an 83Wh battery pack. However, it is not very impressive, as we got about 6 hours and 30 minutes of Web browsing, or 6 hours straight of video playback.

HP Omen 16 (16-k0000)’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, good contrast ratio, and comfortable viewing angles. It covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut and has a very accurate color representation. Especially with our Gaming and Web design profile installed. Furthermore, its backlight doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment, which makes it comfortable for long periods of use. Last but not least, the 144Hz refresh rate is paired with quick pixel response times for a super smooth tare-free experience.

It is interesting that HP has chosen to continue with 16:9 displays, as opposed to the 16:10 used in the Legion 5i Pro (16″, 2022). This makes it better for content consumption, but the lack of vertical space may be felt in content creation and trading for instance.

On the other hand, the hardware performs perfectly. There is no unnecessary throttling going on. Well, with the exception of the weird unforced clock decrease after about 30 seconds of extreme workload.

Also, you get to work with an amazing keyboard, which comes with either a 4-zone or a per-key RGB backlight. And the touchpad, dear friends, is absolutely fantastic. It is hands down the most responsive unit we’ve had in our office – even better than the MacBooks in this aspect.

Everything so far looks great, right? But, should you run for your credit card and place an order for the Omen 16 right away? Well, the answer is no, if you don’t like bouncy lids. We don’t know if the reason is the way the hinges are mounted, but the lid shakes quite annoyingly when you push the laptop.

Other than that, HP has done a pretty good job. It has played it safe with the design, but we like the fact that it took the risk to put in high TGP graphics cards.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-omen-16-16-k0000/

Pros

  • Sleek metal design
  • High TGP graphics options
  • 100% sRGB coverage and accurate color representation (BOE BOE0AAE)
  • Quick pixel response times (BOE BOE0AAE)
  • No PWM (BOE BOE0AAE)
  • 2x SODIMM slots + 2x M.2 PCIe Gen 4 x4 slots
  • Great keyboard
  • 2x Thundebrolt 4 + HDMI 2.1 + SD card slot


Cons

  • Bouncy lid
  • No NumberPad

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