HP Omen Transcend 16 review: Light on weight, heavy on power

When HP launched the HP Omen Transcend 16, the first thing I saw was the keyboard on this machine. The per-key RGB lighting has been cleverly tweaked by the HP Light Studio app to truly customise the laptop. That aside, I could not tell why the Transcend 16 was a special machine for HP, but now I can see there are plenty of reasons for it. Two of those reasons are the lightweight and the top-of-the-line specifications. But should you consider buying this laptop? Read our full HP OMEN Transcend 16 review to know our detailed verdict.

HP OMEN Transcend 16 Specifications

HP Omen Transcend 16: Build and design

The Transcend 16’s weight is pretty well-distributed, but the build quality doesn’t feel very premium

Let’s kick off this HP Omen Transcend 16 review with the design. This laptop is 14 percent lighter than its predecessor. Starting at 2.09kg for the base variant, this is still a fairly heavy laptop, but the weight distribution is well done. I received this laptop in the office, then carried it home in my backpack, then back to the office the next day. You can comfortably carry this laptop without breaking your back. That said, it is portable when you really need to carry it, but other than that, it’s better kept in one place.

While the weight of the laptop is well-distributed, it is the build quality that might worry you. There’s a lot of flex on the lid, and that continues near the function keys. Moreover, the shadow black finish is prone to smudges, especially on the lid. Coming back to the design, the trackpad is just the right size, to avoid any unwanted taps while playing. There are bigger heat vents in place to increase the airflow, and the I/O options are at the back of the laptop to keep the sides clean.

Speaking of I/O, the HP Omen Transcend 16 gets two USB-A ports, two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, one HDMI 2.1 port, one AC connector, and a 3.5mm combination headphone jack. Inside the laptop, there’s a high-speed Intel WiFi 6E modem, and low-latency Bluetooth 5.3 to connect wireless peripherals without lag.

Display and speakers

With a 240Hz high refresh rate mini LED display, the HP OMEN Transcend 16 is packing really good speakers, which have enough punch for immersive audio while gaming.

The display on the HP Omen Transcend 16 is a 16-inch MiniLED panel. It also gets a 240Hz high refresh rate, and 7ms quick response time. As good as these specs sound on paper, they continue to impress in usage too. It has a matte finish so the glares are taken care of, but the panel is bright enough to give an immersive gaming experience.

Sound is taken care of by B&O speakers on our unit. These are also decently loud and detailed speakers with some amount of bass. I played Farcry 6 and Cyberpunk on the HP Omen Transcend 16, and the audio quality of the laptop speakers is really good for an immersive gameplay experience. There’s also a headphone jack and high-speed Bluetooth 5.2, so you can use wired or wireless headsets if you want a completely immersive experience.

HP Omen Transcend 16 review: keyboard and trackpad

The per-key RGB lighting is made even sweeter because of the granular control you get from the HP Light Studio app.

The keyboard is one of my favorite parts of the HP Omen Transcend 16. It is a well-spread keyboard with some clever software trickery. It gets per-key RGB lighting and the HP Light Studio gives you granular control over it. There is interactive light-up, image colors, and many other modes to truly make it unique to your liking. However, it takes a while to get the hang of this keyboard. It isn’t the best keyboard for long typing sessions, but the gaming part is pretty clearly highlighted. The WASD keys on our model come with a smoked finish, which looks good.

Onto the trackpad, there’s a decently large, fairly clicky trackpad that is good for daily use. Overall, this is a decent trackpad if you don’t have a mouse, but since this is a gaming laptop, users are most likely to use a mouse with it anyway. For light usage like Excel or writing work, you can rely on this trackpad.

HP Omen Transcend 16: Gaming and performance

This laptop can handle Farcry 6 at full graphics for long hours. There’s no uncomfortable heating or throttling even after hours of sustained use.

Now that we have talked about the display, speakers, keyboard, and trackpad, it is time to get to the performance. The 2023 HP Omen Transcend lineup comes with Intel i7 and i9 chip options. Both are HX series chips so the performance end is sorted. Even the base variant gets 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, which you can upgrade in the future if you feel the need. Coming to GPU choices, you can pick between the Nvidia RTX 4050, 4060, and 4070 GPU. All three are reliable and powerful GPUs, so the entire lineup has good performance to offer.

Our unit was packing the Intel i7-13700HX chip with Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD storage. With these specifications, it churned out 4 hours of Farcry 6 and 3.5 hours of Cyberpunk on the highest graphic settings.

HP Omen Transcend 16: Privacy and security

It gets an IR webcam for Windows Hello facial recognition. There’s also a physical shutter for peace of mind.

The HP Omen Transcend 16 gets a Full HD IR webcam. This means you get Windows Hello facial recognition, which is both secure and fast. In my testing, I found this more efficient than the fingerprint reader on my current primary laptop. The webcam is fairly high resolution, and the AI noise-canceling mics are really good at filtering out noises during video calls and even in-game chatting.

This webcam also has a physical privacy shutter, which is a nice touch. There should’ve been physical mic mute controls too, but there is a keyboard control for that. While the IR webcam gives you a secure way to sign in, the physical shutter also means you can shut it down any time you like. There are not many privacy controls on the HP Omen Transcend 16, but the current controls should be sufficient for most users.

HP Omen Transcend 16: Battery, charging, and heat management

The top-spec Omen Transcend comes with a 90-watt-hour battery. Our variant came with a smaller 70-watt-hour capacity, but it was still impressive. It gave me over 4 hours of Farcry 6 on battery power. However, more demanding titles like Cyberpunk drained the battery in under 3 hours. Gaming aside, the HP OMEN Transcend 16 has a great battery life for office use. I got around six to seven hours of mixed usage with Office, some web browsing, and even writing this review.

Charging duties are handled by a 230-watt AC adapter. When connected, you have the full power of the CPU, GPU, and the HP Tempest cooling at your beck and call. In my usage, this laptop remained respectably cool during hours of gaming. The rear vents work like a charm, taking all the heat away from your palms, and keeping the temperature in check.

HP Omen Transcend 16 review: Verdict

The HP Omen Transcend 16 borrows heavily from the Transcend laptops of the past, yet manages to remain unquestionably unique. Everything about this machine is really well-balanced, making it one of the finest gaming laptops I can recommend this year. While it doesn’t feel sturdy, the weight distribution, revised heat vents, and the new hinge make it a good deal.

A gaming laptop has to have good specifications and upgradeability, and the HP Omen Transcend 16 scores good marks in that territory too. The base variant gets an i7 HX chip, 16GB RAM, and RTX4050 graphics, and a 165hz refresh rate display. All this considered, our verdict after the HP Omen Transcend 16  review is that if you can live with the build quality, then it is a balanced beast of a machine with great performance across the price spectrum, starting at Rs 1,59,990.