The HP Victus 15 Brings Solid Gaming Performance to the Masses

The gaming laptops we cowl right here are sometimes on the costly finish, because of having the most recent high-end chips and graphics inside. But from college students to individuals who care extra about gaining access to new video games than constancy, there’s an entire market of gaming laptops that value lower than $1000. Enter the HP Victus 15, which has a number of variants that value below $1000 with out sacrificing show high quality or refresh charge. It does need to make another compromises to do this, although, so is it price it?

HP Victus 15 configurations

HP has a complicated set of Victus 15 configurations in the marketplace. Intel fashions formally begin at $850 for a mannequin with the Intel Core i5-12450H, which is paired with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 and packs 8 GB of RAM mixed with 256 GB of SSD storage. However, there are cheaper beginning costs at resellers like Amazon.

If you like Team Red, you may also go for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600H variant for an official $800, with all different specs remaining the identical. There can also be an choice to swap the GPU to an AMD Radeon RX 6500M for no extra value. HP presents different CPU and GPU choices, too, with an RTX 3050 AMD mannequin at an $880 base value and an RTX 3050 Ti AMD mannequin at a base value of $930. AMD chips can vary as much as a Ryzen 7 5800H, which prices $160 additional, whereas Intel chips prime out at a Core i7-12700H for $170 extra.

All of the variants talked about right here have a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 decision IPS show with a 144Hz refresh charge and 250 nits brightness.

The one I reviewed is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H paired with an RTX 3050 Ti, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage. While penning this assessment, I discovered it for $1,209 at Amazon. You might additionally go for an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU with an RTX 3050 GPU, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage for $1,299. For an additional $60, these fashions can improve to an RTX 3050 Ti. Other upgrades embrace an improved display with 300 nits brightness and low blue mild for a further $30.

Cheaping out on design

The HP Victus 15 has a easy chassis with a ‘V’ brand within the center, which is large and reflective. You’ll additionally see Victus spelled out in between the hinges, in case the V didn’t make the branding clear. The underside homes the vents in a big cutout beneath some grates. Despite its value, It seems like some other mainstream laptop computer, with rounded edges and skinny bezels on the edges of the show. The prime bezels are a bit on the bigger finish, however that helps them home the webcam.

The system is on the market in three shade choices: Mica Silver (fancy title for darkish grey), Performance Blue and Ceramic White. It presents a plastic construct, which is obvious as quickly as you open the lid. While it’s fairly bendable with out breaking, it wobbles. For occasion, when you sort with full power on the keyboard, the lid will shake with every key press. You most likely received’t use this in your lap given its weight, however the wobbling additionally makes it close to unusable that means when you’re cussed sufficient to strive it.

The HP Victus 15 weighs 5.06 kilos, which is on the (comparatively) lighter facet whenever you take the 5.3 pound Lenovo Legion 5 into consideration. But there are lighter funds gaming laptops on the market – the Acer Nitro 5 being one in all them at 4.85 kilos. The HP gaming laptop computer isn’t the heaviest or thickest, neither is it the lightest or thinnest. It looks as if out-designing the competitors wasn’t one in all HP’s priorities with the Victus 15.

As for connectivity, you get two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, a full-size HDMI 2.1 port, an Ethernet port and a 3.5mm audio jack. But the HP Victus 15 misses out on Thunderbolt 4, even on the Intel variations. Wireless connectivity, relying on the configuration, is Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 or Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. I had no hassle connecting my Bluetooth earbuds to the laptop computer or connecting the system to my house Wi-Fi.

All-in on efficiency

I examined the HP Victus 15 with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, an RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. I used to be pleased with the laptop computer’s total productiveness and gaming efficiency.

On Geekbench 5.4’s CPU efficiency take a look at, the HP Victus 15 scored 1,455 on single-core checks and seven,439 multi-core factors, which is a good rating when in comparison with different funds laptops we’ve reviewed just like the Samsung Galaxy Book and Microsoft Surface Laptop 4. It was in a position to transcode a 4K video to 1080p in 7 minutes and 39 seconds on Handbrake, which isn’t the quickest within the phase however remains to be a decent quantity. For reference, the Galaxy Book did the identical in 6:05.

Moreover, I ran Blender BMW checks, through which this system renders a 3D mannequin of a BMW automobile. This resulted in common numbers of three minutes 21 seconds on CPU render, and three:22 seconds on GPU render.

My laptop computer utilization normally consists of loads of internet stuff alongside calls. I used to be in a position to run a number of desktops with 15+ Chrome tabs, Teams, and Slack in background with none slowdown. Adding random Zoom calls or GMeet invitations and YouTube movies on Chrome additionally didn’t introduce any hiccups. The system presents strong efficiency for the value, particularly my unit, which prices $1209.

Coming to the gaming efficiency, I examined Far Cry 5 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s built-in benchmarks on excessive settings. The Victus 15 averaged 74 fps at 1080p on the previous and 96fps at 1080p on the latter. Anecdotally, it will possibly play video games on the highest settings with solely occasional minor body drops throughout a 30 minute session. My gameplay was easy and the laptop computer additionally didn’t warmth up sufficient to be scorching to the contact.

That being mentioned, the Victus 15 comes pre-installed with loads of bloatware, each from HP and associate corporations. Several of those apps ship pop-ups whenever you’re in the course of a productive workload. For occasion, McAfee Personal Security stored popping up in the proper backside nook whereas I used to be penning this assessment, distracting me from what I used to be doing. Other bloat apps embrace Simple Solitaire and Solitaire Collection, which appears extreme.

The inputs have room for enchancment

I couldn’t get used to the keyboard on the Victus 15, however that’s possible on me, since I’m used to the MacBook Air keyboard. The keys have snappy suggestions with a spacious setup. I used to be solely in a position to get a mediocre 52 words-per-minute rating on the Monkeytype take a look at, which is decrease than my traditional of 70 words-per-minute, however that’s additionally most likely on me for being an Apple fan.

As for the way the keyboard seems, the font is completely readable, however the backlighting is an easy one-zone LED moderately than being the complete per-key RGB you may get on a costlier mannequin just like the Alienware x15.

The touchpad is sufficiently big at 4.9 x 3.1 inches. But palm rejection might be higher, as my gestures for two-finger scrolling usually registered as three-finger scrolling. Apart from that, the touchpad was responsive and easy.

Bang & Olufsen dealt with the audio on this laptop computer. The audio system lacked bass however had been loud sufficient for me to observe a film with whereas munching popcorn. I additionally want they had been louder, however the dialogue was, no less than, clear. As for the webcam, its photos are what you count on from a 720p digital camera – pixelated with poor lighting and shade replica.

Display has deep blacks however it might be brighter

My HP Victus 15 unit has a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 decision IPS show with a 144Hz refresh charge. It covers 45% of DCI-P3 shade gamut and 64% of sRGB gamut.

The anti-glare coating makes it interesting when you watch movies which have loads of darkish scenes. For occasion, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I wasn’t left observing my very own face when the display darkened. Glare from the keyboard’s backlight was mirrored onto the display, however no less than you may flip the keyboard backlight off.

The image high quality was ok for a 1080p display. The blacks had been captured nicely however there have been instances when scenes had been overexposed in sequence like Sherlock. Colors additionally weren’t as saturated as I’d desire. However, taking part in Far Cry 5 on the very best settings regarded wonderful. It was responsive, with vivid colours.

The 250 nits brightness was passable for indoor utilization and gaming periods, however you wouldn’t wish to take it to a restaurant or park to work on. It’ll seem too dim in a brightly lit setting or below direct daylight.

Lasts some time

As a gaming laptop computer, you’re more likely to keep close to a socket with the HP Victus 15. However, if you end up away from energy, it’ll final you for round 4 hours of productive utilization. It lasted for 7 hours and 5 minutes on our battery take a look at, which consists of video playback with the display brightness set to 200 nits. It is lower than the 9 hour and 21 minute mark of the Asus Zephyrus G14, however ok for the value.

Should I purchase the HP Victus 15? 

At a $800 beginning value, which works right down to $600 throughout gross sales, the HP Victus 15 presents a robust case for itself. If your precedence is efficiency and you’re a funds acutely aware gamer, the Victus 15 received’t disappoint you at that value level.

However, as you go up the ladder and begin including maxed-out choices, it goes into the $1200 territory. The Acer Nitro 5, TUF Gaming F17 and Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 are some alternate options that turn into attractive in that value level. However, even at $1200, the Victus 15 is an efficient possibility if you need a 15-inch laptop computer and don’t thoughts a considerably boring design. You’ll need to make tradeoffs with the common construct, show and sound, however will in any other case be capable of sustain.

Prakhar is a contract tech journalist based mostly out of India. Apart from Gizmodo, he’s at present contributing to CNET and Digital Trends.