HP Victus 16

HP Victus provides three gaming brands catering to different budgets and preferences. Omen Transcend represents the pinnacle, Omen serves as the flagship series, appealing to a broad audience. Victus, the more budget-friendly option, is ideal for newcomers to PC gaming. Similar to Omen, HP emphasizes versatile usage in its Victus gaming laptops.

The HP Victus 16, priced between $649.99 and $1,249.99, is an affordable gaming laptop positioned below the HP Omen series. It replaces the Pavilion Gaming models and features a 16.1-inch screen for lively 1080p gameplay. However, its all-plastic design and absence of premium features prevent it from surpassing Editors’ Choice laptops like the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE.

Camera quality of HP Victus

HP Victus provide Situated above the screen is an FHD webcam, equipped with a discrete physical privacy shutter—an unexpected but welcome feature for a mid-range laptop. The camera provides clear visuals and handles exposure well, making it suitable for regular video conferences. However, for those with aspirations in game streaming, investing in a higher-end webcam might be preferable. Notably, the laptop lacks an IR sensor for facial recognition and a fingerprint reader for an additional layer of security.

Design and color

The HP Victus aims to cut costs with its plastic chassis, offering a design that is reasonably sturdy without significant durability concerns. The laptop’s components fit well together, presenting a cohesive and comfortable feel. Despite its affordability, the build quality is comparable to the more expensive HP Omen 16 (2023). The laptop maintains a pleasing thinness for a 16-inch device and weighs around 5.15 pounds, aligning with contemporary gaming PCs.

HP provides three color options for the Victus 16: Mica Silver, Ceramic White, and Performance Blue. My unit features the standard Mica color, showing some fingerprints but not to the extent observed in the Omen 16 (2023). The 2023 model underwent slight design changes, likely to accommodate an enhanced cooling system. Notably, there’s now a left-side exhaust vent, addressing the issue of blowing hot air onto the mouse hand. This side also houses RJ45 Ethernet, USB-A, and a 3.5mm audio jack. However, the SD card reader has been completely removed, which may disappoint some users.

 

 

Audio

The HP Victus laptop incorporates stereo B&O speakers placed at the front on either side of the wedge design, preventing any muffling and directing the sound away from the device. The speakers deliver ample volume without distortion, and the bass quality is sufficient, making it enjoyable for music playback during work.

I found the audio quality of the Victus’ speakers to be impressive. Tuned by Bang & Olufsen in Denmark, they perform excellently for both music listening and streaming video. However, assessing their performance during gaming is a bit challenging due to the frequent overpowering noise from the fans during graphics-intensive gameplay, as mentioned earlier.

 

Keyboard and touchpad

The HP Victus laptop offers a generously sized 4.9 x 3.2 touchpad, which performs well for everyday tasks, although it may seem somewhat redundant. Despite its functionality, it doesn’t match the precision of a mouse, making users likely to opt for a mouse for serious gaming.

Moving on to the keyboard, it has a positive aspect with a full number pad, and the keystrokes, while unremarkable, are responsive. However, the layout’s downside is that the inclusion of a number pad makes the rest of the keyboard slightly off-center. This adjustment proved challenging, and despite genuine efforts, the typing experience felt awkward, particularly with my muscle memory resisting the change.

HP’s design choices, like small bevels on the F and J keys for tactile orientation, didn’t ease the transition. Given its gaming focus, a touch guide for the WASD keys would have been appreciated. After persistently trying to adapt to the Victus’ keyboard for three days, I eventually gave up and connected my own. Notably, there’s an option to upgrade to RGB lighting at no extra cost.

 

Connectivity

The laptop’s right side no longer features an exhaust vent but includes HDMI, two USB-A, and USB-C ports instead. While the absence of Thunderbolt 4 is noted, it’s a premium feature reserved for the higher-end Omen 16. The laptop’s rear continues to be dedicated to venting, maintaining the design from the previous generation. For wireless connectivity, users can choose between a MediaTek Wi-Fi 6 chip or an upgraded Intel Wi-Fi 6E chip, with the latter costing approximately $10 more. Bluetooth 5.3 is standard. The internet connection is both fast and reliable, and I encountered no issues connecting all necessary accessories during gaming.

Battery life

The battery life of the HP Victus, while not exceptional, is also not a significant drawback. With over four hours of casual use, a low battery warning is triggered. Engaging in graphics-intensive gaming significantly reduces battery life, but for serious gaming, where multiple peripherals are likely used, it’s advisable to have the Victus plugged in near a power outlet.

In our gaming laptop battery test, involving a loop of a 3D-rendered scene in PCMark 10, the Victus 16 lasted an hour and thirty minutes. This outperforms the hour-long battery life of the MSI Katana 76, though the power-efficient Zephyrus G14 surpassed both in endurance.

 

Performance

The Victus demonstrates solid performance typical of gaming laptops in the $1-$2k price range. It handles most games well at 1080p, and in my hands-on experience, it smoothly played through titles in my Steam library without issues.

However, when subjected to lab testing, the Victus exhibits somewhat lackluster performance compared to other gaming laptops with similar price points. For instance, the 17-inch MSI Katana 76, featuring nearly identical specs to our Victus review unit, managed to slightly outperform it in games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Red Dead Redemption 2, despite being priced at $1,500.

In contrast, the 14-inch Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, priced similarly to the Victus at $1,449, delivers almost double the performance in Grand Theft Auto V. Interestingly, the Victus outperforms the Zephyrus G14 in the Shadow of the Tomb Raider graphical benchmark.

 

Price and availability

The Victus is purchasable through HP’s official website and third-party retailers such as Newegg and Best Buy. The base model starts at $809 but includes an older Nvidia GPU. For a configuration with one of the latest Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series laptop cards, the price is expected to be at least $1,000, potentially reaching close to $2,000 with additional features. It’s advisable to check HP coupon codes to explore potential discounts.

Our HP Victus unit was equipped with a 16.1-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) 144Hz display, an Intel Core i7-11800H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 laptop GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD with an extra 32GB of Intel Optane memory. Typically, this configuration costs around $1,400, but during the holiday shopping season, HP may offer discounts or have certain models on sale or temporarily out of stock.

Pros:

• Excellent performance at its price point
• Impressive 1080p 144Hz display
• Sleek and sharp design
• Quality speakers, though sometimes overshadowed by other sounds.

Cons:

• Bulky weight, even among gaming laptops.
• Limited portable gaming time, lasting less than 2 hours.
• Awkward keyboard usability.
• Fans are audible during gaming, recommending the use of headphones.
• Unimpressive battery life.

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