HP OMEN 15-en0028AX 15.6-inch AMD Ryzen 5 4600H 32GB RAM 512GB SSD 4GB GPU

Design & Build The new HP Omen 15 introduces a refreshed design. It’s more mature than previous generations – older machines were dominated by vast single-hinged screens, bases covered with RGB LEDs and lids littered with angles. This new model is different: the dark grey anodized aluminium used throughout is smart and smooth and the air vents are discreet. There’s still bold design here, but it works well: the broad speaker grill uses an attractive geometric pattern, and the new Omen logo on the lid is a glowing, iridescent diamond. There are three USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and a 10GB/s Type-C connection that supports DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 and charging. There’s also mini-DisplayPort and HDMI outputs, an SD card reader and a Gigabit Ethernet socket. It’s easy to get inside, and the memory slots and the SSD are accessible. There’s a 720p webcam, but no Windows Hello support. The Omen 15 doesn’t have a fingerprint reader and there’s no support for USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 with its 20GB/s connections. These features aren’t important for gaming, but they could have an impact for work tasks if you want a dual-purpose machine. Build quality is sadly not great: the material between the hinges is flexible, and the display’s corners feel weak. The base is better, but the areas to the sides of the trackpad are rattly. A protective sleeve wouldn’t be a bad idea. This laptop isn’t svelte, either – it weighs 2.45kg and is almost 30mm thick once its rubber feet are included so looks can be deceiving.