Many traditional computer and laptop manufacturers are trying to get a piece of the gaming industry cake. Omen by HP is Hewlett Packard’s brand for everything around gaming with a clear differentiation from their enterprise and consumer products. Usually we witness innovative form factors and excellent reliability from Omen by HP desktop machines and laptops, but they are certainly part of the most expensive players in the game as well.
HP now brings you a dual-screen gaming laptop
Yes, they do. But it might be a little different from what you’re expecting now. We are not looking at a foldable construction such as the multi-screen extension by Slidenjoy even though this is what we first thought of. The Omen X 2S gives you an extra screen which is located at the top of the keyboard and offers gamers an additional video viewing option.
While this is a welcome addition, it naturally also consumes GPU and CPU resources just as much as it draws extra battery power for running. One might wonder what this is good for beyond “being cool.” The Omen by HP marketing hints that the product might be made primarily for streamers on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer or elsewhere. Game streamers could then access their dashboards and chat window more easily without switching out of the game and back in.
Is this use-case bulletproof?
No, perhaps it isn’t. Often game streamers and content creators have a desktop setup with stand-alone screens synchronized and working on a single computer (or laptop with docking station). This is a typical setup in companies, and it grows to be standard for many home users as well to have at least two screens connected to their computer to enhance productivity.
So in what case exactly would this be attractive to a streamer? During travel on the train, waiting for the flight at the airport or even on the plane with publicly shared bandwidth for upload? I don’t think so, but perhaps there are professional streamers who would use it like that and not just use their smartphones to manage stream health and chat for such a special occasion. But is that a big enough buyer group? Perhaps not, but we will see how successful HP will sell the Omen X 2S.
Pricing and tech specs
In order to determine the usefulness of a new product, it’s good to know some of the technical parts that were used and the final selling price. On the official press release, HP states, “OMEN X 2S Laptop is expected to be available by June via HP.com and other retailers for a starting price of $2099.99. The 240 Hz option is expected to be available in July.”
So this is about to hit us, and it’s coming for a price that might not be affordable for everyone. Specs depend on the actual build that is selected, but here is what they communicate on the product sheets.
More details
- Processor: Up to 9th Gen Intel Core i9 9880H processor, 8 Cores / 16 Threads, 2.3GHz / 4.8GHz (Base / Max Turbo), 16MB Cache
- Chipset: Mobile Intel HM370 board
- Graphics NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (or 2080) Max-Q Design (8GB GDDR6 VRAM)
- Primary Display: 15.6″ diagonal FHD (or 4K UHD at 60Hz) IPS, 144Hz, anti-glare, micro-edge bezel, LED backlit
- Secondary Display: 5.98” diagonal FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, 60Hz, BrightView, multi-touch enabled, edge-to-edge glass, LED backlit
- Storage: Multiple configurations possible, up to double 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD with RAID 0 configured
- Memory: Up to 32GB dual-channel DDR4-2666 SDRAM (or DDR4-3200 SDRAM supporting Intel XMP)
- Keyboard: Per-key RGB N-Key rollover keyboard
- Touchpad: Precision Touchpad and multi-touch gesture support
- Connectivity: Intel Wireless-AC 9560, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2 x 2) WiFi and Bluetooth 5 Combo
- Webcam: HP Wide Vision FHD (1920 x 1080) Camera with integrated dual array digital microphone
- Input & Output: 3 USB 3.1 Type-A, Thunderbolt™ 3 (USB-C™), RJ-45, 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo, AC smart pin, HDMI 2.0B audio/video output, Gigabit Ethernet
- Audio: Built-in dual stereo speakers, Audio by BANG & OLUFSEN, DTS:X Ultra support, HP Audio Boost
- Approx. Dimensions: 0.78″ x 10.3″ x 14.26″ / 20mm x 261.7mm x 362.11mm (H x D x W)
- Approx. Weight: 5.18 lbs / 2.35 kg
- Power: Compact 230W power adapter
- Cooling: OMEN Tempest Cooling Technology, 3-sided venting for 5-way airflow and a 12V fan module with a 3-phase motor and fluid dynamic bearings (Thermal Grizzly, Conductonaut liquid metal compound)
Summary
New form factors and ideas to bring a next level product is certainly welcome, but a lot of the potential value-add that a secondary screen could bring to a gaming laptop is defined by third-party software compatibility. If the OS, games, or apps are not developing features for such a secondary screen, it might be only of limited use. Finally, we are facing a product for 2K, so it’s nothing to experiment with.
I am curious to see where this type of visual extension is going and if it might be also interesting for other users. Let’s wait and see where this is going. If you have any thoughts on the Omen X 2S and its features, please drop your comments below. I’d love to hear from you about this new product.
YouTube: HP OMEN X 2S Gaming Laptop (Microsoft Device Partner Videos)
Photo credit: All shown images are owned by HP.
Source: HP press release and product site
