I test the best gaming laptops for a living, but even I have trouble deciding which one I'd buy for myself.
Admittedly, I can be picky. I need a machine with enough power to play the best PC games but I also want something that's slim and portable. On top of that, I would prefer a gaming laptop that doesn’t look like one.
Those are very specific requirements but they’re not unrealistic. In fact, I’m currently testing a gaming laptop that checks all those boxes… and then some. Enter the HP Omen Transcend 14.
My full review will be up soon, but I wanted to post my initial thoughts about the Omen Transcend 14 since it’s currently my favorite gaming laptop of the year. It’s not perfect, but for what it delivers, I think it’s a great product that accomplishes its main goals — namely a solid gaming experience on a svelte machine. Even if the starting $1,499 cost isn't cheap, it’s worth the investment. Here’s why.
Killer design
I know that it’s what's inside that counts when it comes to electronics — but why shouldn’t a device also look good? Apple has built its career on that, after all. Though the HP Omen Transcend 14 isn’t as elegant as some of the best MacBooks, it certainly gives those notebooks a run in the aesthetic department.
You could easily mistake the Omen Transcend 14 for a non-gaming laptop thanks to its understated design. There’s no RGB lighting or flashy logos on the outside of the slim machined aluminum chassis. Instead of sharp angles or seams, it’s all smooth rounded curves. If you’re in public, it’ll be hard to identify this machine as a gaming laptop at a glance.
Visually, the only thing that denotes the Omen Transcend 14 as a gaming laptop is the RGB keyboard. Since most of the light shines from around the keys instead of underneath them, the colors spill out over the keyboard deck. This is one of the most tasteful uses of RGB lighting — and I say that as someone who typically doesn’t care for all those extra colors.
At 12.3 x 9.1 x 0.7 inches and weighing 3.6 pounds, the Omen Transcend 14 is great to travel with, which is a huge plus if you’re already carrying a bag filled with other electronics. There are lighter and thinner laptops, such as the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 (11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches / 2.7 pounds), but for a gaming laptop, the Omen Transcend 14 is practically featherweight.
Awesome gaming performance
I like gaming in 4K at 60+ frames per second as much as anyone. But for gaming laptops, I’m willing to compromise … to an extent. For instance, to my eyes, 1080p is perfectly fine on a 14-inch display. As for performance, if I can get a game to run at near 60 fps, I’m a happy camper.
The Omen Transcend 14 I tested featured an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU and 16GB of RAM. Those aren’t mind-blowing specs, but for 1,080p/60fps gaming at medium settings, they’re more than plenty. For instance, Doom Eternal ran between 120 and 140 fps, which is amazing.
Cyberpunk 2077 managed to run between 30 and 40 fps at those same settings. Not the best, but good enough for a medium-range gaming laptop. I should note that I enabled XeSS (Intel’s answer to Nvidia's DLSS) to get Cyberpunk 2077 to run at those frame rates.
Our lab tests also delivered commendable results. Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, Borderlands 3 and Far Cry 6 all ran at just a little over 60 frames per second at 1080p. In short, you can have a good time gaming on the Omen Transcend 14.
Bright and colorful display
Games look as good as they perform thanks to the 14-inch 2.8K 120Hz OLED display. The bright and colorful graphics of the titles mentioned above looked awesome on this display. The neon-drenched dystopian streets of Cyberpunk 2077 came through in vivid detail, as did the hellish domains of Doom Eternal.
As you can see in the table, the Omen Transcend 14’s hues are pretty oversaturated (100% for sRGB and DCI-P3 tends to look more natural). However, I’ve always liked oversaturated hues in video games. So to me, this is a bonus. Give me all the bright colors! The display is also fairly bright at nearly 400 nits, but not aggressively so.
A fun typing experience
Even though I review laptops, I’m typically not fond of their membrane keyboards. However, even a fan of the best mechanical keyboards like me had fun using the Omen Transcend 14’s keyboard.
The thick keycaps are the main reason I enjoyed the keyboard so much. Not only are they large, but also bouncy and with good travel distance. They also give off a satisfying click when pressed. The fact there’s a soft RGB glow under the keys only served to heighten the typing experience.
An awesome gaming laptop
The HP Omen Transcend 14 already impressed me when I first went hands-on with it at an HP event last year, so I had high hopes for the system. As you can see above (and by this article’s headline), it’s one the best laptops of any kind I’ve tested in 2024. I have some issues with it, namely port selection and battery life, but I’ll delve into those aspects and more in my upcoming review. Stay tuned!
