For those who’ve always wanted a gaming laptop that ditches the bulky, red-and-black stereotype, HP’s new Omen Transcend 14 could well be the answer. This sleek and minimalist 14-inch machine packs a punch with its Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, and stunning 2.8K OLED display, all while weighing a mere 3.5 pounds (or 1.6 kgs) – the lightest 14-inch gaming laptop in the world.
Design-wise, the Omen Transcend 14 sports a more understated aesthetic, resembling more like a productivity laptop rather than a typical gaming machine. Available in black or white, it also boasts subtle hints of colour with RGB lighting that can be customized with just a few clicks. Under the hood, the laptop comes fitted with either a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700H or i9-13900H processor paired with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 or 4070 GPUs, ensuring smooth performance for both work and play.
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As per HP, “Streamers and gamers can leverage the device’s NPU and OpenVINO plugins for OBS studio to make streaming and gameplay smoother than ever with up to a 24.6% Frames Per Second (FPS) improvement.”
You can choose between 16GB or 32GB of RAM and opt for up to a 2TB SSD. The laptop features a 14-inch OLED display with a 2880 x 1800 resolution, a variable 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR support. Plus the screen boasts a peak brightness of 500 nits and a wide color gamut covering 100 percent of the DCI-P3 spectrum.
HP has also revamped the cooling and has come up with a new “thermal innovation co-engineered with Intel’s dual channel flow technology.” To keep the laptop cool during demanding tasks, the Omen Transcend 14 has a redesigned chassis that channels cool air intake to create a pressurized zone using a vapour chamber for efficient heat dissipation through rear vents. HP says that this can “achieve 4x higher static pressure with an 80w thermal capability within a 12 mm base.”
You can also expect decently powerful audio from the Omen Transcend 14, thanks to the dual DTS:X Ultra speakers. Furthermore, following HP’s 2021 acquisition of HyperX, the new laptop’s audio tuning is now expertly handled by HP’s in-house sub-brand.
Not only that, but it’s also the world’s first gaming laptop with a built-in 2.4 GHz ULL receiver for the HyperX Cloud III Wireless, making seamless wireless gaming audio a reality. As for connectivity and ports, the laptop comes with Wi-Fi 7 and has one HDMI 2.1 port, two pairs of USB Type-A and Type-C, and a headphone jack.
In terms of power and battery life, the laptop gets its juice via a 71WHr battery that HP claims will last 11.5 hours on a single charge (when tested with MobileMark 25) and charges via 140W USB Type-C. While no Australian release date or pricing has been announced, the HP Omen Transcend 14 is now available for preorder in the US from HP’s official website, with prices starting from USD $1,499.99.
