HP Victus 16 review: This 16-inch gaming laptop delivers solid value

The HP Victus 16 joins a small however rising crop of gaming notebooks whose stable, comfy keyboards are surrounded by a clear, minimalist design aesthetic. These parts make them appropriate for work in addition to play. Combine that with the comparatively cheap $1,200 price ticket and also you get a recipe for an intriguing midrange gaming pocket book that gained’t hit your pockets too arduous.

Yes, HP tossed the RGB bling out the window. That mentioned, we weren’t overly impressed by the audio and the included GeForce RTX 3050Ti GPU actually falls on the low finish of the GeForce RTX 30-series spectrum. Still, the Victus 16 delivers substantial worth for a mainstream gaming PC.

HP Victus 16 primary options

HP’s Victus primarily replaces HP’s Pavilion Gaming model. The “V” emblem is “extracted” from the “diamond” utilized by its extra hardcore Omen gaming model. Essentially, it’s a gaming PC designed for quite a lot of duties, which is mirrored by each the badging and design.

The Victus 16 ships in three configurations from HP.com: the $1,129.99 16-e0097nr (with a Ryzen 7 and an Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU), the $809.99 16z-e000 (with a Ryzen 5 and an Nvidia GTX 1650), and the $729.99 16t-d000 (which features a Core i5 and GTX 1650). Our overview unit is the 16-d0097nr, the highest-tier model.

We additionally discovered the 16-d0020tg (with a Core i5-11400H and Nvidia RTX 3050Ti) for $1,049.99 at Target in addition to the 16-e0010nr (with a Ryzen 5600H CPU and a RTX 3050 GPU) for $919.99 at Newegg.

• Processor: Intel Core i5-11400H, Core i7-11800H (i7-11800H as examined)
• Display: 16.1-inch (1,920×1,080, 144Hz), 300 nits rated (as examined); 16.1-inch (2,560×1440, 165Hz), 300 nits
• Memory: 8/12/16/32GB DDR4-2933; 16GB (2x8GB) as examined
• Storage: 256GB/512GB/1TB PCIe SSD, with 32GB Optane choices; 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD + 32GB Optane as examined
• Graphics: GeForce RTX 3050Ti (4GB)/ RTX 3060 w/6GB GDDR6 (as examined)
• Ports: 1 USB-C (5Gbps, DisplayPort 1.4, charging); 3 USB-A (5Gbps, 1 w/charging enabled); HDMI 2.1, Gigabit Ethernet, SD card slot, 3.5mm jack
• Camera: User-facing: 720p video
• Battery:  Design: 70.2Wh; Full: 65.2 Wh
• Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax 2×2), Bluetooth 5.0
• Operating system: Windows 11 Home
• Dimensions: 14.57 x 10.24 x 0.93in
• Weight: 5.44lb
• Color: Mica Silver (as reviewed), Performance Blue, Ceramic White
• Prices: $1,249.99 at HP.com

Out of the field impressions and construct high quality

Some gaming laptops go overboard in pushing the “gamer” expertise, with RGB lighting draped all around the keyboard. The Victus 16 is way more delicate, with our overview unit boasting a black-on-black aesthetic that emphasizes what you see on the display greater than the rest. At 5.44 kilos and 0.93 inches thick, it doesn’t really feel overly imposing. The weight is barely heavier than one other 16-inch gaming pocket book we reviewed, the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE, which prices considerably extra but in addition features a higher-resolution display with a quicker refresh price.

In my e book, that’s an actual plus. We haven’t fairly realized a future the place thin-and-light laptops are docked into exterior graphics enclosures to mix-and-match productiveness and gaming, so PCs just like the Victus fill that area of interest as an alternative. By default, the laptop computer runs coolly sufficient that the system followers suck air out of the underside of the laptop computer and push it out the edges and again. Inside, the Victus comprises 4 warmth pipes, boasting what HP says is a 54 % bigger fin size, 33 % bigger fan measurement, and 30 % extra airflow than the prior Pavilion Gaming pocket book.

In the actual world, this interprets into a really quiet hiss because the followers spin throughout workplace work like internet shopping, simply barely louder than different productiveness notebooks I’ve across the workplace. Naturally, the followers dial up significantly throughout gaming. If you’d like, you possibly can faucet the diamond key close to the ability button to open the Omen Gaming Hub. There, you’ll discover a one-button Performance Control tab to manually place the laptop computer in Quiet mode for workplace work, in addition to the separate Default or Performance modes for gaming.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Even when the followers rotate at full pace, nevertheless, I couldn’t detect any coil whine — simply an elevated “whoosh” of the system followers. HP has performed effectively right here. As our efficiency assessments point out, although, the laptop computer’s efficiency considerably drops over time attributable to thermal points.

The Victus is an all-plastic laptop computer, which feels sturdy sufficient to make use of with none give on the keyboard. The show can oscillate backwards and forwards when jarred or moved, nevertheless, particularly when it’s being adjusted backwards and forwards. That didn’t concern me notably, although it felt slightly flimsy.

The show isn’t excellent, although it’s not dangerous for the value. The show bezels doesn’t protrude various millimeters, although there’s an enormous 1-inch chin on the backside. The screen-to-body ratio is 84 %.

Remember, conventional laptops often fall both into the 15-inch or 17-inch class, so this 16-inch (or as HP places it, a 16-inch in a 15-inch type issue) is considerably uncommon. HP gives show choices that vary from 1080p (250 nits) on the low finish as much as 1080p at 144Hz (300 nits) inside our overview unit, with out HDR capabilities. HP additionally sells a 1440p display possibility at 165Hz for an extra $110, providing a higher-resolution display at a greater refresh price. By our measurements, the 300-nit display dramatically overperformed, placing out 360 nits at most brightness. Our colorimeter reported that the show supplied 100 % of the sRGB colour gamut, however fell quick in different areas.

Our overview unit didn’t embrace a touchscreen show, an unusual characteristic on gaming laptops.

Mark Hachman / IDG

You’ll have quite a lot of reminiscence and storage choices from which to decide on, accessible from HP’s configuration web page. There are two choices that aren’t effectively spelled out, above. First, you’ve gotten a particular choice to configure two 256GB SSDs together in an RAID 0 configuration, the place knowledge is striped throughout each drives for improved efficiency. Second, HP gives Optane storage as a type of cache for the arduous drive, theoretically growing storage efficiency a bit extra.

Mark Hachman / IDG

The Victus contains one 5Gbps USB-C (with DisplayPort 1.4 and Sleep and Charge capabilities), an HDMI 2.1 port, and three USB-A (5Gbps) ports, considered one of which is Sleep and Charge-capable. A “Jaws”-style Gigabit Ethernet port makes an look, too. That permits it to connect with a pair of 4K shows, one by way of the USB-C port and one other by way of the HDMI connection. That primarily eliminates the necessity for a Thunderbolt port.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Typing expertise, audio and webcam

While you’ll by no means mistake the HP Victus for a productiveness PC, the keyboard doesn’t disappoint both. Perhaps to accommodate the keypad to the suitable of the keyboard, the important thing width seems to be maybe a millimeter smaller than a productiveness laptop computer. The pitch, or the hole between the keys, seems to be about the identical. The smaller keys threw off my typing for a bit, although the springy, in any other case comfy keyboard needs to be enough for typing a paper in addition to orchestrating an MMO raid. The roughly 16:9 show ratio additionally permits HP to slot in a quantity pad on the right-hand aspect of the keyboard, a necessity for left-handed players.

HP has a legacy of excellent to even nice keyboards and the Victus lives as much as that status. I typed this overview on the Victus keyboard and I can safely say I’d be comparatively blissful to apply it to a long-term foundation. Just don’t count on RGB and even refined backlighting, as there’s solely a single lighting degree.

Otherwise, the keyboard is commonplace, although with the function-specific keys to launch the Windows calculator app in addition to the Omen Gaming Hub described under. HP boasts that the touchpad is 19 % bigger than its Pavilion Gaming PCs. While it feels slightly cheaper than the touchpads on productiveness notebooks, the floor is easy and the touchpad is basically clickable over its complete floor.

Mark Hachman / IDG

I discovered the HP Victus audio to be barely disappointing. The twin audio system actually put out sufficient quantity. In truth, I needed to flip the amount down barely under the utmost for testing. HP requested Bang & Olufsen to tune its audio system, because it does with a lot of its laptops. The ensuing soundscape sounds a bit clunky, emphasizing the midrange although with out the corresponding highs and lows. To be truthful, utilizing the built-in graphics equalizer inside the B&O Audio Control app actually helped, however I used to be by no means fairly capable of finding a combination that sounded fairly proper.

The Victus 16 additionally gives noise cancellation options for both videoconferencing or just interacting with Cortana and different digital assistants. In normal, these labored fairly effectively, although my residence workplace is often freed from background noise.

As you would possibly count on, the Victus 16’s webcam ranges someplace between mediocre to poor, with a 0.9Mpixel (720p video) user-facing sensor. The ensuing picture is grainy although with respectable colour steadiness and publicity. Don’t count on a lot out of the webcam and also you gained’t be upset. Windows Hello isn’t supported both by way of the webcam or some other sensor on the laptop computer.

HP contains ten of its personal apps on the HP Victus, starting from HP Audio Switch, which replicates Windows’ skill to modify speaker outputs, to myHP, a gateway to ideas and methods concerning the PC in addition to chosen third-party gives. HP additionally hundreds up the Victus with a 100GB Dropbox trial, an advert for ExpressVPN, a trial for McAfee LiveSafe and Personal Security, Disney+, Amazon.com and Amazon Alexa, and extra.

One app value attempting out is the Omen Gaming Hub, a focus for many who personal HP gaming merchandise in addition to a dashboard for the Victus 16 itself. The Hub gives the chance to win rewards factors and check out AI-powered teaching, a functionality HP added two years in the past. The dashboard gives a real-time take a look at the CPU and GPU utilization and temperature, plus the Network Booster (the place you possibly can assign particular networking priorities to apps and video games) and the Performance Control, a substitute for the Windows 11 efficiency slider.

There’s additionally a particular tab for “undervolting,” the place you possibly can attempt to scale back the CPU voltage (although not the clock pace) to attempt to save energy. HP warns that this could possibly be a dangerous alternative, nevertheless, as even experimenting with it might result in crashes and BSODs. We didn’t check this characteristic.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Performance

While the Core i7-11800H processor contained in the HP Victus 16 is reasonably highly effective, the GeForce RTX 3050Ti is on the low end of the 3xxx series, although it might supply each RTX ray-traced graphics and DLSS 2.0 to finances notebooks, and that stands for one thing,

We in contrast the $1,249 HP Victus 16 to a number of gaming laptops we’ve examined beforehand, most of which range indirectly. Our comparisons start with our greatest 15-inch gaming laptop computer, the $1,649 Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition, which adopts an all-AMD loadout and does so spectacularly. We additionally included the $845 Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-54-51M5), our present decide for finest finances gaming laptop computer (with a 15.6-inch show), in addition to its up-to-date 2021 cousin, the $1,700 Acer Nitro 5 AN515-45-R7S0. We additionally in contrast the HP Victus to the $2,199 Gigabyte Aorus 17G, our greatest 17-inch gaming laptop computer and our decide for the very best finances 17-inch gaming laptop computer, the (pandemic-fueled) $2,800 HP Omen 17-cb0040nr. To this, we added the $1,749.99 Acer Predator Triton 500 SE, a rival 16-inch gaming laptop computer. At $1,299, the equally named Acer Predator Triton 300 SE is about the identical worth because the HP Victus, although with only a 14-inch display.

Remember, conventional notebooks usually fall into both a 15-inch or a 17-inch pocket book class, with the bigger chassis sometimes permitting extra space for extra cooling. We examined the laptop computer in default mode, which permits it to dial up the fan pace when wanted.

We chosen the PCMark 10 benchmark as an total metric of the laptop computer’s efficiency — helpful, in fact, if the laptop computer is getting used for work throughout the day. The benchmark assessments workplace eventualities like mild gaming, phrase processing, and spreadsheets, in addition to extra intensive functions like CAD. We’ve solely lately shifted to utilizing this benchmark, so just some of our gaming laptops have scores from this check. We can let you know that our decide for the very best 14/15-inch workhorse laptop computer, the HP Envy 14, reported a PCMark 10 rating of 5,330. The Victus blows it out of the water with a rating of 7,007.

Cinebench R15 and R20 present two totally different takes on the CPU efficiency the HP Victus gives, each whereas working the laptop computer within the mulithreaded benchmark in addition to in simply single-threaded operation. Although video games have begun to benefit from a number of cores and threads, there’s nonetheless a heavy reliance on single-threaded operations for a lot of conventional video games.

Mark Hachman / IDG

We additionally used Cinebench R23 to check the laptop computer for thermal throttling. The extra superior model of the Cinebench benchmark gives the power to run a single check in addition to loop the benchmark repeatedly. This check detects thermal points which may throttle the CPU efficiency over time. Though HP touts its superior cooling system, efficiency did drop by 14 % (from 12,038 to 10,405) whereas working the looped benchmark.

We use Handbrake to check the laptop computer’s cooling programs by transcoding a Hollywood-length film right into a format that can be utilized by a pill. Although transcoding isn’t as helpful in a world the place motion pictures will be downloaded from Netflix, it’s nonetheless an efficient method of discerning how the Victus 16 manages warmth whereas below load.

Mark Hachman / IDG

3Dmark gives a generic check of gaming efficiency exterior precise video games. The varied Fire Strike benchmarks stress the Victus 16’s RTX 3060 CPU. We’ve included each the Fire Strike and Fire Strike Extreme assessments for a extra complete analysis.

Mark Hachman / IDG

We additionally ran the Time Spy benchmark in a looped mode to check whether or not efficiency dropped over time right here, too. 3DMark appears to be like for and expects your laptop computer’s 3D efficiency to stay constant over time, even because the benchmark pushes the GPU (and, partly, its CPU) to its limits. Fortunately, this didn’t happen, and the laptop computer delivered regular body charges all through.

Finally, there’s battery life. As most players perceive, a protracted, battery-powered gaming session isn’t one thing players count on, nevertheless it’s actually good to have in a pinch. Here, the Victus 16 delivers roughly 5 and a half hours of battery life, which isn’t dangerous for a gaming pocket book. However, it’s considerably under the competitors. It additionally contains quick-charging capabilities. This laptop computer met HP’s declare that it may cost as much as 50 % in about 30 minutes.

Mark Hachman / IDG

To check gaming efficiency, we used our conventional gaming benchmark, Rise of the Tomb Raider. The Victus 16 doesn’t do too badly, right here. We used comparable settings with its newer counterpart, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and acquired comparable outcomes (95 FPS) with DirectX 12 enabled. Using DirectX 11, the benchmark rating was 75 FPS.

On a extra trendy sport, Metro: Exodus, the HP Victus 16 yielded a benchmark rating of 29.9 FPS whereas working at 1080p Extreme settings. The Asus ROG Strix Advantage Edition recorded a benchmark rating of 48 fps by comparability. Yet one other Acer Nitro 5 (the AN517-41-R3NX with a Ryzen 7 5800H and an RTX 3080 GPU) recorded 42 frames per second. In normal, we’d contemplate 30fps barely playable for slower-paced third-person video games with most individuals preferring 60fps or extra for first-person shooters.

Our outcomes indicate that the HP Victus 16 needs to be a stable contender for 1080p gaming, although you’ll must dial down the graphics high quality in locations.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Conclusion: Very good, simply not the very best

HP’s Victus 16 clearly gives substantial worth as a finances gaming pocket book. The $1,249 price ticket is value applauding, particularly with supply-chain woes gnawing at revenue margins and availability. However, HP clearly sacrificed among the bling of rival notebooks to ship a no-nonsense gaming PC for customers who care about what’s on the display slightly than below their fingers. Laptops that may do dual-duty for work and play are value highlighting, too.

To be truthful, we’d in all probability award the Victus 16 an Editor’s Choice award if not for the substantial contributions of the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition and Acer Predator Triton 500 SE, each of which ship spectacular efficiency and a higher-resolution display with higher refresh charges. Yet each notebooks additionally value a number of a whole lot of {dollars} extra. If that issues, the Victus 16 is a extra budget-friendly possibility.

Of these notebooks we’ve examined, we expect it’s truthful to day that we’d suggest the ROG Strix G15, the Triton 500SE, and the Victus 16. While the Victus 16 might not be your first alternative for a gaming pocket book, we nonetheless assume it’s a good selection however.