It's official, the HP Omen Max 16 is now my top gaming laptop, and it's just taken a $700 price cut

I've just added the HP Omen Max 16 to my roundup of the best gaming laptops on the market right now, and lo and behold it's $700 off.

The very same RTX 5080 configuration I've just spent the last two weeks testing has dropped its price from $3,299.99 to $2,599.99 at HP's own store this week, for a massive discount and a particularly tasty final price. It's going to be tough to find a rig of this caliber (that will run at its full 175W TGP) for that price particularly often.

While it has been $200 cheaper in the past, that was during a brief flash sale when the 16-inch gaming laptop first launched. The MSRP was set slightly lower during that promotional period, which means I'm not expecting to see too many improvements over today's sale prices in the near future.

HP Omen Max 16 16-inch RTX 5080 gaming laptop | $3,299.99 $2,599.99 at HP
Save $700 - The HP Omen Max 16 has dropped to $2,599.99 at HP this week. That's not the cheapest it's been, it was $2,399.99 back when the rig was running an early-bird MSRP at launch. However, it's still a fantastic price for an RTX 5080 rig that, as I've found in testing, offers above-average performance under the hood.

Specs: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX | Nvidia RTX 5080 | 32GB RAM | 1TB SSD | QHD+ 240Hz display

Buy it if:

✅ You're future proofing your investment
✅ You prioritize performance over an OLED panel
✅ You want greater control over performance presets

Don't buy it if:

❌ You prioritize battery life
❌ You can't stand keyboard flex

View Deal

Should you buy the HP Omen Max 16?

The fans on the HP Omen Max 16 have only just settled from my testing process, but it's already soared into a position among my top recommendations. The framerate and synthetic benchmark numbers I managed to squeeze out of this rig at full throttle were incredible, rivalling some RTX 5090 machines in fact.

Here are the numbers. The RTX 5080 HP Omen Max 16 beat the RTX 5090 Razer Blade 16 in most titles, coming out on top across Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. It didn't quite claim victory in larger releases, but only slightly lagged behind in Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth Wukong.

It absolutely roared through 3D Mark's synthetic benchmarks as well, nudging ahead of the Blade 16's 37,246 Fire Strike score with a 37,344 score of its own and topping the Blade's Time Spy score in a similar manner. It did fall short by 425 points in Steel Nomad, but it still tore past the 2025 Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 by an additional 1,242 points.

Performance is big, but it's not the end of the story. The HP Omen Max 16 also features a super slick design with a crisp white finish that evades fingerprints and balances chassis size with portability better than most slimline devices. Yes, you're dropping the OLED display of Asus and Razer competitors, and there's a little drop in overall vibrancy, but it's still sharp, vivid, and bold overall.

No gaming laptop is perfect, though, and I wouldn't recommend the HP Omen Max 16 to anyone looking to run their device away from a power outlet. If you need a dedicated 'gaming' machine then there's nowhere I'd rather look at this price point, but considering the battery struggles to extend much further than two hours even at 0% screen and RGB brightness and in eco mode this isn't one for on-the-go work and play.

I'm also rounding up all the best Razer laptops, best Asus gaming laptops, and the best Alienware laptops for those after a different brand.