HP Omen 16 Review: Great Cooling, Performance And Display For Rs 13 Lakh

Not only does the HP Omen 16 improve upon its previous design flaws but it does so with a clear focus on maintaining the laptop's famous cooling performance. The use of the AMD Ryzen 7840HS processor further expands the usability of HP Omen 16 in terms of efficiency. And on top of that HP's engineering and design capabilities keep it competitive to other identically specced gaming laptops and even surpassing them in terms of thermal efficiency. The easy-to-use HP Omen firmware, a highly colour-accurate display, and a great keyboard trump the fact that its quad-speaker setup and trackpad are what my Gen Z neighbour would call "mid" by modern standards.

In the dynamic landscape of gaming laptops, where flashy designs once ruled the roost, subtlety, and elegance are emerging as the defining traits. The AMD-powered HP Omen 16, priced at Rs 1.31 lakh, is a testament to this shift, offering a sleek, understated look that veers away from the stereotypical gamer aesthetic. Beneath this polished exterior lies a powerhouse, equipped with the formidable AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, ensuring a gaming experience that's both immersive and smooth. Its versatility is further highlighted by an ample selection of ports, making connectivity a breeze, and a design that facilitates easy repairs. However, is everything about the Omen 16 is praiseworthy? Potential buyers might be slightly deterred by some lackluster additions to the laptop. As with any product, the Omen 16 presents a blend of the impressive and the imperfect, warranting a closer look for those in search of a gaming laptop that balances performance with aesthetics.

HP Omen 16 Review: Design, Keyboard, Trackpad And I/O

HP's redesigned Omen 16 showcases a deeper base and forward-positioned lid hinges, introducing a "trunk" at the rear, reminiscent of designs by Lenovo and MSI. This trunk, primarily for exhaust, centralizes ports like HDMI 2.1, 2.5Gbps RJ45 Ethernet, and 5Gbps USB-A 3.0. Sides feature expanded vents, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 3.5mm jack on the left, and another USB-A on the right. HP omitted the SD card reader in 2023's model, making a Thunderbolt dock a potential solution.

The laptop, with Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E (Intel or Realtek based on configuration), allows easy headset pairing. Its all-black matte finish enhances the RGB keyboard and adopts a brand badge over the previous Omen logo. While sturdy, some parts feel less rigid. The reimagined port trunk aids cable management.

Front-facing speakers ensure clarity, while a top-bezel webcam, upgraded from 720p to 1080p, caters to modern needs but might be underwhelming for professional streamers. The absence of an IR sensor for Windows Hello might irk some. The keyboard remains consistent with the prior model. While HP's flat, chiclet-style keycaps aren't my favorite, I admire the layout and font. Navigation keys are conveniently grouped, with shortcuts to the Omen and Calculator apps. My version has per-key RGB lighting, enhancing key lettering, adjustable via the Omen app. I effortlessly typed extensive content on this platform. The spacious spacebar, profound key travel, and solid actuation are commendable. The previous Omen 16's touchpad had a less satisfactory click, but this issue seems resolved. The touchpad, though slightly smaller, is accurate and gives a sturdy click. Although the laptop's primary focus is gaming, its keyboard and touchpad configuration also suit professional use.

Also read: HP Omen 16 Gaming Performance Review

HP Omen 16 Review: Display And Speakers

The HP Omen 16 I reviewed comes with an FHD 16:9 aspect ratio display with 165Hz maximum refresh rate support. In the previous generation, HP offered at least a QHD display in high-end Victus laptops priced at around Rs 1.15 lakh. So is this screen a downgrade? Well, not exactly. Even though this screen does not support QHD resolution it is highly colour accurate instead thanks to a Delta E score of just 1.5. You can easily use this screen for graphic designing and colour correction in videos and photos, provided you're creating content in the sRGB colour space. 

Speaking of that, the screen sports 98% sRGB and 75% DCI P3 colour space coverage, which has become pretty standard across gaming laptops in general. The screen peaks at 303 nits of brightness which is slightly more than advertised at HP at 300 nits. The viewing angles of the screen are also good and the HP's use of an anti-glare coating on the screen is another really helpful addition. 

The laptop houses front-facing dual speakers on its wedge base, angled to ensure clarity even when placed on a desk, protected by a perforated grille. An additional grille between the keyboard and screen seems more for thermal management than audio. The stereo speakers, while not matching the volume of the quad speakers on the Alienware x16 R1, still offer decent balance. However, the sound quality diminishes during gaming because of the prominent fan noise.

HP Omen 16 Review: Performance And Gaming

Powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS the HP Omen 16 flexes its muscles with high Performance Per Watt and a high TGP RTX 4060 GPU. I started the performance test with the Cinebench R23 multicore test and the HP Omen 16 scored 17681 with a throttle difference of just 1495. For comparison, the Lenovo Legion 5i had dropped the lowest performance during throttle tests, followed second only by the HP Omen 16 for a high-end processor. 

In the PC Mark 10 extended test though, the HP Omen 16 bested the HP Victus 16 and the pricier Lenovo Legion 5i Pro with a combined score of 9494 points. However, the Gen 4 SSD on board the HP Omen 16 is slightly slower than the one found in the other two laptops. But I reckon the real-world difference will be negligible as I noticed no measurable difference in real-world gaming scenarios. 

Speaking of gaming, the HP Omen 16 is neck to neck compared to the Acer Nitro 5 which also has the exact same configuration. The HP Omen 16 takes the lead from the Acer Nitro 5 in games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. But the Nitro 5 bests the HP Omen 16 in Civilization and Dirt 5. So it is a mix-match game where both these performers come within spitting distance of each other. But one clear advantage the HP Omen 16 has is in terms of thermal performance. 

In the Acer Nitro 5, the fans spin at maximum speed even when set on auto and are noticeably louder than the ones on the HP Omen 16, despite, as we have seen, offering similar performance. But that's not to say that the fans on either of these laptops are not objectively loud. They are, just like fans in every other high-end gaming laptop. Additionally, the HP Omen does have a MUX switch allowing you the option to switch between hybrid and discreet display modes. And you do notice the performance difference when you switch between these two. 

I also tested Bethesda’s latest Sci-Fi adventure Starfield on the HP Omen 16 and despite the game’s stupendously high hardware requirements, the laptop ran the game at 40-50FPS at medium settings. Keep in mind that it is a game that even the Xbox Series X is only able to run at a locked 30FPS. Moreover, Nvidia is yet to release a DLSS update for the Starfield and it will definitely improve the game’s performance a lot more. 

Also read: Exclusive: HP Omen Transcend 16 Leaks Show Team Up with HyperX for Game-Changing Innovation

HP Omen 16 Review: Verdict 

In the evolving realm of gaming laptops, where brash designs once dominated, refined elegance is now the benchmark. The HP Omen 16, priced at Rs 1.33 lakh, epitomizes this evolution with a sophisticated aesthetic that deviates from traditional gamer flair. Under this refined shell, the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU work in tandem to deliver a gaming experience that's seamless and engrossing. While its design modifications, including a rear "trunk" and centralized ports, elevate functionality, the laptop's high-quality display offers impressive color accuracy ideal for design work. However, its speakers, while balanced, can't outshine competitors' volume and are affected during intense gameplay due to fan noise. Performance metrics highlight its competitive edge, rivaling the Acer Nitro 5 closely, albeit with superior thermal performance. With an undeniable focus on balancing aesthetics and power, the HP Omen 16 presents itself as a compelling choice, with certain areas excelling and others requiring some reconsideration for those discerning in their gaming laptop selection.

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Dell XPS 17 Review: Built Well, Performs Great, But Is Overdue A Refresh

The Dell XPS 17 shines as a productivity powerhouse with exceptional speakers, a brilliant UHD+ 4K display, and commendable battery life. However, its outdated design and some performance issues, particularly in gaming, detract from its full potential. While it doesn't quite set a new standard at its price point, those in search of a dependable Windows machine will find it a worthy choice.

Dell’s XPS series is synonymous with style, performance and a high price tag. Only sometime ago the Dell XPS 13 Plus debuted with one of the most revolutionary designs ever seen in the laptop world. An absolutely seamless keyboard, a hidden yet functional trackpad and a minimalist design were some of the highlights of the latest Dell XPS 13 Plus. However, it seems that Dell has forgotten about the other laptops in its XPS series. 

The Dell XPS 17 for instance, is one such laptop that has continued to receive CPU, GPU and RAM upgrades. However, the device’s overall design has remained pretty much unchanged for many years now. In 2017, Dell introduced a major overhaul to the design. Three years later, Dell updated that design with a new chassis, a larger display, a brand-new keyboard etc. Fast forward to 2023, and the overall design of the laptop remains the same. So does the laptop still remain a worthy purchase in 2023? Here’s the answer.

Dell XPS 17 Review: Design, Keyboard, Trackpad And I/O

As mentioned earlier, the overall design of the Dell XPS 17 is similar to what we saw on last year’s model. The 17-inch laptop has a mix of black and silver themes. The top lid has a very premium silver finish. Meanwhile, the laptop’s keyboard and deck area are painted in various shades of black. 

The touchpad also matches well with the overall black theme and the 17-inch size of the laptop. Which is to say, it is big and more specifically big enough. It is a glass surface precision touchpad and works without any issues. But one issue you will notice is while lifting up the laptop lid. The chassis has no lid-opening groove so it is difficult to open the laptop. Mainly because your fingers kind of struggle to find a place to latch on to. The keyboard on the other hand works flawlessly. It uses a 60% layout but does feature navigation keys. The keys come with a 1.3mm travel and they are pretty quiet during normal operation. 

Another input method on the laptop is through the 17-inch touch screen, which has a 60Hz refresh rate and is decently responsive. It also has pretty thin bezels even on the top and bottom of the screen. To put it into numbers, the display has a 93.7% screen-to-body ratio, making it highly immersive. 

In terms of dimensions, the Dell XPS 17 is 19.5mm thick and it is not too thick all things considered and weighs close to 2.44kg. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra packs similar specs but weighs close to 1.79kg. But the added weight is probably due to a touch screen and a beefed-up cooling system thanks to a massive vapour chamber. 

The I/O on the Dell XPS 17 is pretty streamlined. Mainly because it features four Thunderbolt 4 USB Type C Ports, a full-size SD card slot, and a 3.5mm audio/microphone jack. But Dell also includes an adaptor with the laptop containing an HDMI 2.0 and a USB Type-A slot. Which, I must say, is a sight for sore eyes as a laptop user in 2023. 

Dell XPS 17 Review: Screen, Speakers And Webcam

The 17-inch UHD+, also known as 4k, display is vivid, punchy and bright. As indicated by the “+” sign, the resolution is higher than regular 4K because the display is in a 16:10 aspect ratio and not the standard 16:9. And Dell has pulled a neat little trick here. Because from the top, the laptop looks like any other 16:9 laptop. But since it has no thick bottom chin, it can accommodate a 16:10 display. Pretty nice. I think it also prevents Dell from making this laptop any more big than it already is. 

In terms of display quality and specifications, Dell has outfitted the XPS 17 with an IPS LCD panel but it is very bright. Its peak luminance came out to be 475.9nits, with 160% sRGB, 97.5% DCI-P3 and 119.1% Adobe RGB colour space coverage. Simply put, the 17-inch UHD+ display shows a wide array of colours but it doesn’t showcase them accurately by default as the Delta E value came out to be 5.2. So if you’re planning on using it professionally the screen requires some calibration. 

The Dell XPS 17 features a quad-speaker setup including two 2.5W woofers/speakers and two 1.5W tweeters, for a combined output of 8W. And it is a pretty good setup, the soundstage is wide as you can hear a variety of instruments in any song. The bass on offer is also pretty appropriate and does not overpower the speaker’s overall sound. Speakers are loud as well. For reference, I recently tested the 15-inch MacBook Air and it had a great speaker setup but the Dell XPS 17 defeated it in terms of volume and bass. But the speakers sounded clearer in higher volume on the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air. 

But what is disappointing is the fact that the webcam can only shoot images in 720p. It seems like something that Dell accidentally forgot about because even budget laptops in 2023 come equipped with at least a 1080p webcam. And in the premium segment brands like HP have taken up the lead by giving you a 5MP AI-focused webcam. 

Dell XPS 17 Review: Battery Life And Charging

In the PC Mark 10 battery life test, the Dell XPS 17 scored 8.5 hours of battery life with performance set to high and brightness at 100%. For a normal workday, the Dell XPS 17 will last you a full day provided you keep the brightness at 70% and performance in balanced mode. Normal browsing does not consume a lot of battery but streaming videos does start to eat a good chunk of it. And considering the overall powerful nature of the laptop, I’d advise you to keep the  charger within reach especially if you plan on using it while traveling.

Dell XPS 17 Review: Gaming And Performance Review

The Dell XPS 17 is not a gaming laptop, its main focus, first and foremost, is as a creator machine. But you can still expect good gaming performance from it. Along with the Intel Core i9-13900H is an Nvidia RTX 4070 which has 8GB GDDR6 VRAM. But the GPU only has a 70W TGP limit. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t play games. I tested some popular titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Gears 5 at 4k native resolution and the laptop was easily able to run it at 60FPS.

Now, the Dell XPS 17 also has a feature that dynamically controls power and cooling depending on whether you’re using the laptop on your lap or on the desk. And that feature works mostly, but if you’re gaming on the XPS 17 then the laptop’s underside gets quite hot. Hot enough that you can no longer keep it on your lap anymore. But not hot enough that it’d start making hot spots on the keyboard. 

I extensively played games on the Dell XPS 17 and the only area which gets marginally hot is the mid-keyboard section. The palm rest area and the WASD keys remain decently cool. But the fact is that the laptop’s performance drops a decent bit if you push too hard. As evident by the Cinebench R23 throttle test, the Core i9-13900H loses noticeable performance when put through a 10-minute throttle run. 

Moreover, during extended gameplay, the laptop did run into some software bugs. Which quite often forced me to restart it. And it only happened while gaming so it could be due to the GPU. Nevertheless, temper your expectations if you’re buying this machine by thinking it is a creator/gaming laptop. Because in truth, it is the only creator laptop that can be used for some casual gaming. I want to also tell you that the laptop scored a fantastic score in the PC Mark 10 Extended benchmark suite. Individually scoring very high in digital content creation and productivity. Moreover, the 1TB SSD onboard also aced the Crystal Disk Mark Speed test. Achieving a super high score of 6783.40MB/s and 5613.91MB/s read and write speed respectively. 

Conclusion

Suffice it to say, the Dell XPS 17 works as a gaming laptop but performs really well as a productivity machine. And with a tested battery life of around 8.5 hours with 100% screen brightness, this hefty machine makes up for its weight with solid performance. Its UHD+ 4K display is bright and crisp enough for me to not wish for an OLED and its no bezel design combined with the 16:10 aspect ratio works tremendously in the laptop’s favour. The best-in-class speakers also work as a cherry on top of an already capable machine. But its ageing design does limit the potential the laptop’s hardware is packing. For Rs 3.65 lakh, the Dell XPS 17 is inoffensive when it should be an aggressive performer. But if you’re looking for a good ‘ol reliable Windows machine with software quirks and average thermal performance then Dell XPS 17 is a good choice.

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Lenovo Legion Slim 5i Review: A solid gaming laptop, but you can get better for cheaper

We personally really like the Lenovo Legion Slim 5's aesthetics and overall look. The accompanying display is great with great resolution, sRGB coverage, and a high refresh rate. The specs on board are also great, with a combination of the 13th gen Intel Core i7-13700H, 32GB of DDR5-5200 RAM, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070. However, compared to the similarly specced Gigabyte Aorus 15 (which has slower RAM) the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i actually underperforms. While it's not by much and most likely won't be noticed in everyday use, the Legion Slim 5i does run hotter and throttles a lot more than the Aorus 15 in comparison. Ultimately, the hardware still performs within the expected margins, and the results are still good, but you could get better for cheaper.

The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 is the lighter and thinner version of the more powerful Lenovo Legion Pro 5. It sits snugly in between the new budget Lenovo LOQ 15 gaming laptop and the more premium Lenovo Legion Slim 7 series laptops. Lenovo has come out with both AMD and Intel variants of the new Lenovo Legion lineup, and we're going to be reviewing the Intel variant of the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i. We received the highest-end variant of the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i for this review; there are cheaper variants with weaker specs.

Lenovo Legion Slim 5i specs at a glance

Processor: Intel Core i7-13700H

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

TGP: 140W

Display: 16-inch, 2560x1600 IPS display, 240 Hz

RAM: 32GB DDR5-5200

Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, 2 slots

As you can see, the laptop is pretty stacked in the specs department, and it's a decent combination under the Rs 2 lac price point. However, we already know that great specs on paper doesn't necessarily translate to good performance. Naturally, we put the laptop through our testing process to find out how well it performed. We'll get to those results as soon as we get through the build and design.

Lenovo Legion Slim 5i Build and Design

There's no denying that this is a sleek looking laptop. The Slim lineup has always been a lot more muted than the Pro lineup which has more of a "gamer" aesthetic in comparison. The vents, the base and lid all have a flat and clean design without a lot of the angles or protrusions that are normally expected in a gaming laptop. This gives the Lenovo Legion 5 Slim a very "professional" look overall, one which won't stand out even if you were to take this laptop with you to work. The Legion logo on the lid is clear and looks nice, but doesn't draw attention. The only giveaway would be the RGB backlighting on the keyboard when you open the laptop up.

The Lenovo Legion Slim 5's build features a mix of both plastic and metal; like we mentioned earlier it sits between the mostly plastic budget LOQ series and the fully alluminium premium Legion 7 series. The balance is pretty solid. The laptop comes across as fairly sturdy. There's still some wobble on the lid when you open it, and there is some creaking when you attempt to flex the laptop's corners, but it's more than manageable. The display opens up a full 180 degrees as well.

The icons on the backside of the laptop are a great indicator for ports, however, other than the power indicator they don't light up like they do in the Legion 7 lineup.

Coming to the keyboard, Lenovo has had the same keyboard across its range of gaming laptops for a while now, and it's still among the better ones out there. It doesn't have the travel or feedback of a mechanical keyboard, but if you've used a Lenovo laptop in the past, you'll have no problems here. Also, the Legion Slim 5 doesn't feature per-key RGB lighting, but 4-zone RGB lighting. You get per-key with the Legion 7s. The presence of a numpad the large arrow keys is always nice, especially in a gaming laptop where those keys might actually see some use. The touchpad is decent, but we found that it's placed a tad bit too much to the left. We'd often end up brushing against it with our palm while typing or gaming. Of course, if you're gaming you're most likely going to be plugging in a mouse and disabling the trackpad anyway but it can cause some confusion in-game.

Lenovo Legion Slim 5i I/O

Coming to I/O options on the Legion Slim 5i, you've got two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, with one of them being always on as long as the laptop is plugged in. Then you've got two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, an HDMI port, an RJ-45 ethernet port, an audio combo jack, and a card reader. There's no Thunderbolt 4 support, and only one of the USB-C ports supports Power Delivery. All of the ports are labelled nicely so there's no confusion as to what does what. The Legion Pro version has two additional USB ports, but the options on the Slim 5i should suffice for most users.

Lenovo Legion Slim 5i Display

The Lenovo Legion Slim 5i we're reviewing comes with a WQXGA (2560x1600) resolution IPS display with a refresh rate of 240Hz. Ours came with an advertised brightness of 500 nits. Cheaper variants of the Slim 5i feature displays with lower peak brightness of 300 nits, lower WUXGA (1920x1200) resolutions, and lower refresh rates (144Hz, and 165Hz).

During our testing, we got a peak advertised brightness of 491 nits which is very close to the advertised peak brightness. Furthermore, we got an sRGB coverage of 98.8 percent which is very good, paired with a DCI-P3 coverage of 75.3 percent. Paired with the 16:10 ratio display and the specs on-board, the Slim 5i makes for a solid editing and rendering device.

Performance

The Lenovo Legion 5i Slim features the latest 13th gen Intel Core i7-13700H, which is paired with an NVIDIA RTX 4070 with a TGP of 140W. For this review, we’re comparing it with the similarly specced Gigabyte Aorus 15 which we tested very recently. Both laptops feature the same CPU and GPU with the same TGP. The only major difference is the RAM; while the Legion 5i Slim we’re testing came with 32GB of DDR5-5200 RAM, the Aorus 15 came with 16GB of DDR5-4800 RAM. Both laptops feature similar slim profile builds as well. 

Let’s start things off with the synthetic gaming benchmarks for which we use the 3DMark benchmark. 

The scores are very similar across the board,  but the Aorus 15 does seem to have the Legion Slim 5i beat in more tests overall.

There’s a more distinguishable difference in performance between the two laptops when we come to real-world gaming performance. The Gigabyte Aorus 15 manages to outperform the Lenovo Legion 5i in most titles save one or two.

Despite having identical specs, the Gigabyte Aorus 15 offers better FPS in the majority of the titles. This most likely has to do with the fact that the Aorus 15 handles heat better and doesn’t throttle as much as the Legion Slim 5i. The difference isn’t very big, at roughly ~10 FPS for most games, but it does matter if you consider that the Legion Slim 5i is the more expensive of the two laptops.

With that, we come to the processor and productivity benchmarks. Similar to gaming performance, we see that the Aorus 15 manages to inch ahead of the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i. The difference once again is small, but it’s noticeable.

This continues with single-thread and multi-thread performance as well, which we test using the Cinebench R23 benchmark. Again, not very big a difference, but noticeable nonetheless.

Both laptops come with DDR5 RAM, but the DDR5-5200 RAM on the Legion Slim 5i is definitely faster than the DDR5-4800 RAM on the Aorus 15. However, the faster RAM doesn’t seem to have helped the Legion Slim 5i get an advantage over the Aorus 15 in terms of performance.

Both laptops feature speedy M.2 NVMe SSDs for storage that will more than suffice for your gaming and productivity needs.

Lenovo Legion Slim 5i Thermals and Noise

The centre of the laptop can get a bit toasty when running intensive tasks. As we’ve seen from the performance scores, there is throttle due to heat which is affecting performance. The CPU sat at around 75 degrees Celsius during our processor stress test, which is not that high. But we saw surface temps north of 41 degrees in the centre region of the laptop. It's just the centre though, the rest of the laptop remains at comfortable temps at around the 25-26 degree mark. Note that we test in an air-conditioned environment, so the temps might differ depending on your environment.

Lenovo Legion Slim 5i Verdict

We personally really like the Lenovo Legion Slim 5's aesthetics and overall look. The accompanying display is great with great resolution, sRGB coverage, and a high refresh rate. The specs on board are also great, with a combination of the 13th gen Intel Core i7-13700H, 32GB of DDR5-5200 RAM, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070. However, compared to the similarly specced Gigabyte Aorus 15 (which has slower RAM) the Lenovo Legion Slim 5i actually underperforms. While it's not by much and most likely won't be noticed in everyday use, the Legion Slim 5i does run hotter and throttles a lot more than the Aorus 15 in comparison. Ultimately, the hardware still performs within the expected margins, and the results are still good, but you could get better for cheaper.

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HP Dragonfly G4 Review: HP Dragonfly G4 Review: Premium, Private And Pricey

The HP Dragonfly G4 emerges as a formidable successor to the Dragonfly G3. While externally reminiscent of its predecessor, it's the internal enhancements that set it apart. Tailored for the discerning executive, this high-end laptop is powered by the Intel vPro platform, ensuring robust security and seamless remote management. Its comprehensive security features, including the HP Wolf Security, offer unparalleled protection, making it a reliable companion for those on the move. The laptop's design, combined with its impressive keyboard, trackpad, and privacy features, justifies its premium price tag of Rs 2.3 lakh. While its performance is commendable, some might argue for a more powerful Intel chip. Nevertheless, for its target audience and expected workloads, the current configuration seems apt.

The HP Dragonfly G4 will remind you a lot of the previous generation the Dragonfly G3. In terms of overall design and aesthetics, both devices remain the same. But HP has given an internal upgrade to its latest Dragonfly. For the uninitiated, the HP Dragonfly G4 is a high-end premium laptop powered by the Intel vPro platform. You won’t likely see your average Joe using it in Starbucks either. Instead, the HP Dragonfly G4 is something you’d hand out to your team of executives who are constantly on the move across the globe. 

HP has used the Intel vPro processors for the Dragonfly G4. For the uninitiated, Intel vPro is a platform tailored for business PCs, enhancing security and remote management. Key benefits include comprehensive remote management capabilities, allowing IT teams to address issues across an organization without physical presence. The Dragonfly G4 also gets an additional layer of protection from HP Wolf Security.

HP Wolf Security is HP's comprehensive endpoint security solution. It offers multi-layered protection from hardware to the cloud, effectively countering threats that might bypass traditional security measures. Notably, it provides advanced protection for printers, continuously monitoring for anomalies and self-repairing when needed. If a device is lost or stolen, it can be remotely tracked, locked, and wiped. All these features and more, which I’ll eventually talk about later in the article, set up the MRP of the HP Dragonfly G4 to around Rs 2.3 lakh. Is it worth it? Well, here’s the answer. 

HP Dragonfly G4 Review: Design, Keyboard, Trackpad and I/O

The HP Dragonfly G4, as mentioned above, looks similar to its previous generation. But that’s fine. Mainly because it is a looker. The greenish-blue colour theme of the laptop finished in matte and the minimalist HP logo on the device’s lid look very rich. You will also find subtle “DRAGONFLY” branding on the back letting the curious ones discreetly know the name of the laptop you’re using. 

The HP Dragonfly G4 also has curved sides, pointy edges and 16.5mm thickness. The 13.5-inch laptop also weighs 990g, making it highly portable. You can fit it and its USB Type-C charger in the smallest of handbags, without either of them taking up too much space. Despite its thin and small size, the laptop has an HDMI out port, two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports for charging and display out, a collapsible USB Type-A port, a headphone jack and a sim card tray. In short, the I/O on this port is fantastic. And I am thankful to HP for not using a proprietary charging slot. 

The overall build quality of the HP Dragonfly G4 is good. You can open its lid with one hand because the laptop’s base is well-balanced. The deck area is solid and devoid of flex. The laptop’s keyboard is also worthy of equal praise. It features a 60% layout and is a joy to work on. The keys are squared, big, and have good travel to them. The button press is satisfying and yet the keyboard is virtually silent. 

The 5MP webcam with an 88-degree field of view is another thing I’d like to mention here. It can capture more and in higher detail. It can clock photos in a 4:3 aspect ratio and can shoot videos in the same layout. However, if you want to switch back to the 16:9 aspect ratio you can do that as well. The webcam can record in 1440p at 30FPS. HP also has top-edge microphones and built in-AI features for blurring backgrounds and to make you sound good during video calls. HP also has an auto-wake feature that automatically puts the laptop to sleep when you walk away from it and wakes it up as you come back. It is pretty neat and works without fail.

And the HP Dragonfly G4’s trackpad is also a sheer joy to use. It is big, smooth and has probably the most satisfying click I have ever tested on a laptop. Every click on it feels immaculately accurate and blissfully delightful. Just an hour or two spent with the laptop made me realise why HP made no significant changes in the new design. The Dragonfly G4 is good the way it is, at least for now. The laptop also has a SIM card that supports 4G/LTE and 5G connections. And it is a great option for those who don’t like to switch on their smartphone’s hotspot every time they want to work. 

What is also a great add-on to the laptop is a privacy filter. With the touch of a button, the Dragonfly G4’s viewing angle reduces drastically. Thus only allowing whoever is sitting in front of the screen to see what’s really happening on it. Although you can still barely see the display from the side of the screen brightness is full. But it is a good feature that I’d love to see getting more refined in the future. Further adding to the privacy features are a webcam shutter and a mic shutoff switch.

HP Dragonfly G4 Review: Screen And Speakers Review

The 13.5-inch display on the HP Dragonfly G4 is an unusual format. Instead of the usual 16:9 and 16:10 formats we see on laptops. The HP Dragonfly G4 comes in an exquisite 3:2 aspect ratio which gives the display a lot of height. The main benefit of such a design is increased productivity as now you can fit more of the document on your screen and don’t need to constantly scroll up or down. What I tested was the IPS LCD FHD+ panel with a 1280P max resolution support and 60Hz refresh rate. 

Moreover, in Calman display tests the screen’s peak brightness came out to be around a very impressive 545.3nits. The good things don’t just end there because the 13.5-inch IPS LCD panel is also highly colour accurate with a Delta E value of just 2. Additionally, the screen also has 107% sRGB coverage so if you’re a graphic designer, video editor or if you largely create content for the web then the HP Dragon Fly G4’s display will serve you well. 

And the same good things I will say about the laptop’s speakers as well because they sound fantastic. They have good bass, treble and are loud enough so that you rarely even find the need to turn the volume to its maximum. The laptop has both upward and downward-firing speakers. 

HP Dragonfly G4 Review: Battery Life and Performance

In a real-world scenario with 100% screen brightness and the laptop’s battery set to performance mode, the Dragonfly G4 will last you around 7.5 hours. With a more moderate power and screen brightness setting you can further stretch the battery life. Overall, the battery life is above average as the HP Envy x360 15 I recently tested lasted close to 6.5 hours. And most Windows laptops in general rarely cross the 7-hour battery mark in general. So the 7.5 hours of battery that you get on the HP Dragonfly G4 is really better than most other laptops. 

The high battery life is also a result of a combination of using LPDDR5 RAM and the Intel “U” series chip. The 32GB Low Powered Double Data Rate 5 or LPDDR5 for short has an even less operating voltage than the DDR5 sticks and an incredible clock speed of 6400MHz. And as for the Intel Core i7-1365U chip, I was initially a bit sceptical about it. But seeing it perform without throttling issues really did change my mind. 

Because you have to rethink the 13.5-inch form factor when it comes to the HP Dragonfly G4. Not only is it a thin and light laptop but a highly premium one at that. Any executive using it can’t expect its fans to spin at max speed just to it could deliver more performance. The laptop needs to run cool and as a result, the 1365U consumes, at its peak, just 20W. While fairly dipping down to 19 or 18W as well. This performance setup does its job of regulating surface temperatures too. The peak surface temperature remains around 35 degrees in a non-AC room with no external ventilation.

HP Dragonfly G4 Review: Verdict

The HP Dragonfly G4 is the successor to the Dragonfly G3, and while it retains much of the external design of its predecessor, it introduces significant internal advancements. This high-end premium laptop is powered by the Intel vPro platform, specifically designed for business PCs, enhancing both security and remote management. This makes the Dragonfly G4 particularly suited for global executives who are always on the move. It boasts comprehensive security features and collaboration tools. 

The laptop’s main strength includes its solid build quality, a fantastic keyboard and trackpad combo, comprehensive privacy features, power-efficient SoC, hardware-level security features and rich speakers ultimately making the Rs 2.3 lakh HP Dragonfly G4 worth it. It is a bit pricey and although performance enthusiasts could argue that an Intel “H” series chip would suit better here or even a “P” series chip that performs duties in the Samsung Galaxy Book3 series would be much preferable here, I’d like to argue that, for the type of workloads expected from this laptop, the “U” series chip seems better right now. 

However, you’d expect these laptops to last more than two years and considering that at least an Intel “P” series processor should have been here. Other than that the laptop is pretty good. I’d also suggest that you take a look at Dell’s Latitude series as it is pretty similar in terms of price and feature set compared to the HP Dragonfly G4. 

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Gigabyte Aorus 15 Review: Great cooling and gaming performance but the keyboard is a letdown

The Gigabyte Aorus 15 is a gaming powerhouse, offering top-tier performance at a competitive price. Its understated design houses a potent combination of a 13th-Gen Intel Core i7 and Nvidia's RTX 4070 GPU, delivering impressive frame rates for gamers. However, it's not without its flaws. The touchpad's inconsistency, the keyboard's slightly mushy feel, and the noticeable fan noise during gaming sessions detract from its overall appeal. Additionally, the battery life is relatively short when gaming. Despite these shortcomings, for gamers seeking power and affordability, the Aorus 15 is a solid choice, but it may not be ideal as a daily driver.

The Gigabyte Aorus 15 is a gaming laptop that, at first glance, doesn't scream "gamer." Its exterior is unassuming, almost stealthy, a design choice that may appeal to those who prefer a more professional aesthetic. However, this understated exterior belies the powerful tech housed within. The Aorus 15's 2023 model is equipped with a 13th-Gen Intel Core i7 and Nvidia's RTX 4070 mobile GPU, a combination that packs a serious punch in terms of performance.

The RTX 4070 mobile GPU is particularly noteworthy as it allows the Aorus to utilise Nvidia's Frame Generation AI tech. This technology uses Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) to boost game frame rates, adding around 20 additional frames per second in benchmarks. This is a significant advantage for gamers, offering smoother gameplay and a more immersive experience. With a price tag of Rs. 171599, the Aorus offers impressive performance for its price. But how good is it in everyday use? Here's my review after weeks of intensive testing. 

Gigabyte Aorus 15 Review: Design And Build Quality

The Aorus measures 20.8mm high when closed, but its angular chassis gives it a bulkier feel. Weighing in at 2.24kg, it's not exactly lightweight, either. The top display is metal, while the base is plastic – but both feel remarkably sturdy. The plastic base has no discernible squishiness or creaking, and the lid glides open smoothly.

The Aorus features a 15.6-inch 2560x1440 display. Gigabyte markets it as a “Thin Bezel” frame, but this is somewhat of a stretch. The sides are relatively small, but the top and chin are quite large. The top bezel houses a large camera array, supporting Windows Hello sign-in. However, the webcam's performance is lacklustre in less-than-ideal lighting conditions, producing images that are often darker than they should be.

The Aorus features an appealingly large glass touchpad, reminiscent of the MacBook's best-in-class touchpad. For many tasks, it makes a mouse nonessential. However, if you prefer a tactile click over a touch click, you may find the touchpad's inconsistency frustrating. It requires a deep press to register reliably, which can lead to missed clicks.

The keyboard, while better than the touchpad, is still a bit mushy. The keys on the right side feel different from those on the left, with the left side having a bit of give under the keyboard, while the right feels firm. This inconsistency can be distracting during extended typing sessions.

Also read: Gigabyte launches new gaming laptops from the Aorus, Aero, and G5 Series

Gigabyte Aorus 15 Review: Display Performance

Gigabyte has done a fantastic job in calibrating the Aorus 15's display. It features a 1440p 165Hz refresh rate IPS LCD panel in a more conventional 16:9 aspect ratio. The screen has all the essentials of a good display. First and foremost, the display has a matte finish and a peak brightness of 315nits. This combination makes the laptop very adept for indoor usage, especially where there are a lot of overhanging lights. 

Moreover, the laptop also has 100% sRGB and 99% DCI P3 coverage as well. Thus allowing you to enjoy content on the web and HDR content with a wide gamut of colours. Moreover, the average Delta E value for the Aorus 15's display is pretty good as well. At 3.8, the Delta E doesn't make this display colour accurate technically but it serves its primary purpose well enough which is playing games.

Gigabyte Aorus 15 Review: Gaming And Performance 

The laptop's internals are impressive, with 16GB DDR5 48000MHZ SODIMM memory (upgradable to 64GB), and a terabyte of NVMe storage for the OS drive. The Aorus has plenty of fan vents to keep its powerful components cool, with most of the heat being expelled from the rear exhaust. This design choice adds about an inch of overhang to the laptop, but it's a small price to pay for effective cooling.

While gaming, the Aorus 15 is a powerhouse. It's capable of running games at 60+fps on Ultra settings. Titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider easily delivered over 150 FPS at 1080p high settings without DLSS. Proving the raw power of the RTX 4070. Meanwhile, the Intel Core i7-13700H's performance is also praiseworthy, thanks to the Aorus 15's awesome cooling system. The mere 300-point drop in scores during a Cinebench R23 test is a great example of this system's real-world performance. For reference, usually, the drop in performance is around 800-1000 points.

When it comes to real-world gaming performance, The Gigabyte Aorus 15 easily beats out the other 4070 laptops in this category. The QHD Display is stunning, with high contrast and vibrant colours. The 165hz refresh rate ensures smooth gameplay, and even during intense gaming sessions, there was no noticeable longing for a faster refresh rate. However, the fan noise becomes quite noticeable during gaming sessions, and the laptop's speakers are not powerful enough to drown it out.

During day-to-day usage, the Aorus stays quiet. The fan noise isn't noticeable while watching videos, browsing the internet, or performing other mundane tasks. But as soon as you start a game, it's an entirely different story. The fans get loud, and it doesn't matter if you're playing a less demanding game or a high-end title. The battery life in everyday usage is around 4.5 hours under normal conditions. However, the battery reduces to just 67 minutes. 

Also read: Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master Review: Geared to power Intel’s 8-core beast

Verdict 

In conclusion, the Gigabyte Aorus 15 is a gaming laptop that offers a lot of power at a competitive price. Its understated design may appeal to those who prefer a more professional aesthetic, while its powerful internals will satisfy most gamers' performance needs. The Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU and 13th-Gen Intel Core i7 make for a potent combination, capable of running most games at high settings with impressive frame rates.

However, the Aorus 15 is not without its flaws. The touchpad's inconsistency and the keyboard's slightly mushy feel can be frustrating during extended use. The laptop's speakers are also underwhelming, and the fan noise can be quite noticeable during gaming sessions. Additionally, the battery life is relatively short, particularly during gaming.

Despite these shortcomings, the Aorus 15's gaming performance is undeniably impressive. For gamers seeking a powerful laptop at a reasonable price, the Aorus 15 is a solid choice. But if you’re also looking for a gaming machine that can double up as a work laptop, then Aorus 15 does not fit the bill, due to its average keyboard and trackpad combination. If you're looking for another value-for-money laptop in this price range then the Acer Predator Helios Neo and the Lenovo Legion 5i can be a great choice.

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Alienware X14 R2 Review: Thin and light but outperformed by laptops less than half its price

The Alienware X14 R2 may be the thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop you can get your hands on, but it’s ultimately quite disappointing. The specs are too weak for the price, which we don’t think the build quality or display alone can justify. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 features a brighter display that’s almost as good, with a higher refresh rate to boot. It also outperforms the Alienware X14 in most processor and GPU benchmarks, all of which cost half as much. Sure, it doesn’t feature the same build quality or portability, but I don’t think that warrants 2x the price at all.

The Alienware X14 R2 is Dell's premium 14-inch gaming laptop offering. It continues to be the thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop on the market, making this a portable and compact machine that can easily accompany you anywhere for some on-the-go gaming. Despite the size, the Alienware X14 R2 is packing the latest 13th gen Intel Core i7 processor which is paired with an RTX 4060 Laptop GPU. With a price tag of Rs 2,51,490, the Alienware X14 R2 certainly isn't cheap; we've seen plenty of laptops with similar or better specs at much lower price points. However, none of them offers the same level of build quality or portability that the X14 R2 does. That said, let's take a look at how well the Alienware X14 R2 performs and if it truly is worth the premium you're paying for it.

Alienware X14 R2 specs

Processor: Intel Core i7-13620H | 10 Cores (6P, 4E) | 16 Threads GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, TGP: 85 W RAM: 32GB-LPDDR5-4800, Integrated Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD Display: 14-inch, QHD+ (2560x1600), 165Hz, LCD  Dimensions: 14.50 mm x 321.08 mm x 260.41 mm Weight: 1.91 kg

Alienware X14 R2 Build and Design

Continuing Alienware’s tradition of delivering premium gaming machines with sleek and attractive designs, the Alienware X14 R2 features a futuristic and eye-catching design that sets it apart from traditional gaming laptops. 

The first thing you’ll notice is the colour. The ‘Lunar Silver’ colour variant is the only one available, and it is incredibly eye-catching. Unlike last year’s model, the lid features a more metallic finish, as opposed to the egg-shell matte finish. You have the signature alien head logo illuminated on the lid and an embossed X on the lid representing the series. At 14.5 mm the Alienware X14 R2 continues to be the thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop you can get your hands on and it is truly impressive that they managed to fit a discrete GPU into this machine. 

The Alienware X14 R2 felt incredibly sturdy and well-built in our hands. They certainly didn’t hold back at all when it comes to build quality. The hinge mechanism also feels very sturdy and allows for smooth opening and closing of the laptop lid with little to no wobbling.

The keyboard offers a comfortable typing experience with good key travel and tactile feedback. Additionally, it includes anti-ghosting and N-key rollover features, which is pretty essential for any gaming laptop. The 14-inch form factor does mean that you have a smaller keyboard and no numpad, but the overall spacing is still good and comfortable. 

The trackpad is pretty small, and as such, doesn’t get in the way much while you’re typing. You’re most likely going to be using an external mouse for gaming anyway.

Alienware X14 R2 I/O

As far as 14-inch form factor laptops are concerned, the Alienware X14 R2 does pretty well in the I/O department. You have a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with PD and DP, a combo audio jack, an HDMI 2.1 port, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port with PowerShare (this is a feature in Dell laptops which allows you to charge devices even if the laptop is off as long as it is plugged in), two Thunderbolt 4 ports with PD and DP and a microSD-card slot. Very nice.

Alienware X14 R2 performance

With that, we come to the performance. The X14 R2 features a 13th gen Intel Core i7-13620H processor which is paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU. Having tested several laptops this year featuring various CPU and GPU combinations, the specs on the Alienware X14 R2 are quite frankly underwhelming, especially for the price. While the X14 R2 certainly has the upper hand when it comes to build quality and portability, in terms of performance it falls short. For this review, we’ll be comparing the Alienware X14 R2 to the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 we tested recently. The Helios Neo 16 features a slightly better processor in the 13th gen Intel Core i7-13700HX. As for the GPUs, we’ll be comparing the RTX 4050 with a TGP of 115W in the Neo 16 to the RTX 4060 with a TGP of 85W in the Alienware X14 R2 to show you just how much of a difference TGP can make. We should also point out that the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 costs half as much as the Alienware X14 R2.

Gaming performance

Starting things off with the synthetic GPU benchmarks. While the scores between the two laptops are very close, the RTX 4050 on the Neo 16 actually manages to pull higher scores in the majority of the benchmarks.

This trend continues with real-world gaming benchmarks as well, where save one or two games, we see higher frames on the Predator Helios Neo 16 across both the high and medium presets.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the TGP, with a higher TGP of 115 W on the RTX 4050 in the Predator Neo 16, you actually get better numbers than an RTX 4060 with a much lower TGP of 85 W. Once again, this is pretty disappointing, especially considering the price of the X14 R2. That said, the RTX 4060 is still a pretty powerful GPU, and you can comfortably game at high settings as long as you're playing at FHD resolutions. At QHD resolutions you can bump the settings down to medium and still get decent numbers.

Processor performance

Coming to processor performance, the processor on the Neo 16 is better than what we have on the X14 R2. We use the PCMark 10 benchmark to test productivity and it comes as no surprise that the Neo 16 pulls ahead pretty easily.

We test single-thread and multi-thread performance using the Cinebench R23 benchmark. Here, we can see that the Intel Core i7-13620H on the X14 R2 pulls slightly ahead in single-thread performance, but is no match for the Intel Core i7-13700HX in multi-thread performance; it has more cores. Again, the X14 R2 costs twice as much as the Neo 16.

Coming to storage, the Alienware X14 R2 comes with 1TB of PCIe gen 4 NVMe SSD storage. We saw read speeds north of 6000 MB/s and write speeds north of 5000 MB/s during our testing. However, the Neo 16 actually tested higher read speeds at around 7000 MB/s and around the same write speeds. 

The RAM on the Alienware X14 R2 is also slightly slower, which makes sense since we're comparing LPDDR5-4800 RAM with DDR5-4800 RAM. The Alienware does come with 32GB of RAM, however, which is nice, but with no room for expansion since it's integrated.

Alienware X14 R2 display

If there’s one thing the Alienware X14 R2 has going for it, it’s the display. The display on the Alienware X14 R2 is fantastic. You have a 16:10 14-inch QHD+ (2560x1600) display with a refresh rate of 165 Hz. The laptop comes with an advertised brightness of 300 nits, and during our testing, we got a peak average brightness of 335 nits. We tested 99.9 per cent sRGB coverage and 98.8 per cent DCI-P3 coverage, making this one of the best laptop displays we've tested this year. Considering the form factor, the 16:10 aspect ratio, and the specs on board, the Alienware X14 R2 makes for an excellent portable content-creation machine. 

Alienware X14 R2 Heat and Noise

Compact machines don't do too well when it comes to thermals. The Alienware X14 R2 gets pretty hot during intensive workloads but it does seem to manage internal heat fairly well. During our processor stress test, we recorded temperatures of around 80 degrees Celsius on the processor, which is not bad. The processor didn't throttle much either despite rising surface temps. Surface temps can get uncomfortably high, especially at the centre of the laptop where we saw temps north of 45 degrees Celsius after long gaming sessions. 

In terms of noise, last year's Alienware X14 got pretty loud, to the point that we compared it to a plane taking off. This time around the noise is a lot more manageable. It will still get fairly loud during intensive workloads.

Alienware X14 R2 verdict

The Alienware X14 R2 may be the thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop you can get your hands on, but it’s ultimately quite disappointing. The specs are too weak for the price, which we don’t think the build quality or display alone can justify. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 features a brighter display that’s almost as good, with a higher refresh rate to boot. It also outperforms the Alienware X14 in most processor and GPU benchmarks, all while costing half as much. Sure, it doesn’t feature the same build quality or portability, but I don’t think that warrants 2x the price at all.

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