HP Victus 16 Review: An Affordable Option for Peak Gaming Performance

HP’s Victus 16 is a surprisingly strong and highly effective gaming laptop computer that retains up with the newest video games at a extra reasonably priced value. For the uninitiated, Victus is HP’s line of gaming-focused laptops which have barely much less energy than the Omen collection, however are extra budget-friendly. It provides a good quantity of energy at a comparatively low value with 4 fashions starting from $810 to $1,250.

For testing, I used the D0097NR mannequin priced at $1,150, which features a 16.1-inch 144Hz show, 16GB of reminiscence, an Eleventh-gen Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics processor and a 512GB SSD for storage. The value converts to roughly £940 or AU$1,659. These are all stable elements for a dependable gaming laptop computer, and the Victus does an efficient job of overlaying all of the fundamentals for common use and for gaming. 

The HP Victus provides a solution to get pleasure from PC gaming whereas on a finances. From my week of testing with the laptop computer, I felt the Victus hit lots of the marks when providing that high-end gaming expertise. With a value that hovers round $1,000 for its varied fashions, the HP Victus is straightforward to advocate.

The Victus is straightforward and simple, with commonplace options and ports you may anticipate from a gaming laptop computer. Together with the devoted USB ports (two Kind-A and one Kind-C), a webcam that outputs in 720p, there’s additionally an added HDMI output for plugging right into a monitor and a devoted Ethernet port for a hardline connection that is excellent for downloading giant video games and dependable speeds for on-line gaming.

At 5.4 kilos (2.4 kilograms), the Victus actually does have some heft to it, however its general design and construct are fairly smooth. Its backlit keyboard practically goes edge to edge and it has a big touchpad, too, although there’s loads of house to relaxation your palms. 

The keyboard is mostly snug, even throughout extra intense use. There aren’t any sharp or tough edges, and it is a usually nice expertise shifting your palms throughout the keys and touchpad. For something greater than productiveness and informal gaming, you will in all probability wish to plug in a separate gaming keyboard, mouse and controller.

The Victus has an attention-grabbing full-HD show that exhibits off crisp visuals and the 144Hz refresh fee provides onscreen motion a clean feel and appear. Colours are vibrant (one thing that is sometimes subpar on lower-end gaming laptops) and it covers 100% sRGB colour house. The display screen was sufficiently vivid at 300 nits, and I really discovered myself sometimes reducing the brightness as video games generally appeared too vivid, although this was uncommon in my expertise. 

Nonetheless, the most important concern I had with the show is its hinge. It is fairly flimsy and free, which is at odds with the 16-inch laptop computer’s cumbersome body. I often stored the laptop computer on a steady desk for testing, however even slight bumps or common motion when typing precipitated the display screen to wobble. In case you’re contemplating this to be used on a commute, it may be fairly annoying when attempting to focus. With no choices to lock or tighten the hinge that is, sadly, one thing that HP Victus house owners must endure.

The sound high quality is considerably disappointing, too. The twin audio system above the keyboard do an enough job, however when you’re in a room with some noise it may be straightforward for the laptop computer audio to really feel drowned out at medium quantity ranges. In different phrases, they’re superb for informal use… however you will need a good headset when you’re seeking to be immersed in your gaming session. 

So far as efficiency goes, the laptop computer held its personal. I examined the Victus 16 with latest video games like Dying Gentle 2 and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands on medium to excessive settings, and the visuals and gameplay had been clean with out many hitches. Like most PCs, you will have to make some changes to every recreation’s settings to search out its efficiency candy spot. When peak efficiency kicks in, although, the Victus additionally has some respectable air flow, and I did not discover the cooling followers partaking all that always.

With the RTX 3060 GPU, the HP Victus helps video games with ray tracing. When enabled, ray tracing improves lighting, shadows, reflections and textures for video games and it is spectacular that such an reasonably priced gaming laptop computer makes use of it. Nonetheless, it was obvious that the laptop computer’s core efficiency does endure when activated. With that in thoughts, I’d advocate utilizing this function sparingly with video games that do not require an excessive amount of out of a laptop computer.

Battery life will after all depend upon simply how a lot you push the {hardware}. Usually, the battery with the HP Victus lasts a bit over 5 hours; that is sufficient for fast periods on the go. For full efficiency with lengthy gaming periods, you will want the ability provide and an outlet. 

Total, the HP Victus 16 is a robust reasonably priced gaming laptop computer possibility. It provides a good stability for folks with totally different wants for play and work. Spending extra will doubtless get you higher construct high quality and extra fulfilling audio. But when you will get previous the display screen wobble, the Victus can maintain its personal in opposition to pricier fashions.