HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000) review – sleek chassis – powerful internals

Ever since 2017, HP has used pretty much the same design for their Omen series. Indeed it was a fresh new feature back then, but quite honestly, it looked a bit too aggressive. Fast-forward to 2020, and we see that HP has taken some notes from Lenovo and their Legion series, which are one of the most incognito gaming notebooks on the market.

However, looks are not the only difference we see. HP now provides the laptop with both Intel (10th Gen) and AMD (Zen 2) processors, and we see that the NVIDIA RTX Super GPUs are slowly creeping on the market. And what would be a decent gaming laptop without at least a 144Hz display, right?

So, we are extremely excited about this laptop, as it is probably the biggest rebranding/design change in quite a while. Actually, do you remember the old tribal mask logo? Well… it’s gone for good, and in its place, you will find a psychedelic color-shifting diamond. Apparently, HP is heading the cyberpunk train this year.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-omen-15-15-ek0000/

Contents


Specs Sheet

HP OMEN 15 (15-ek0000, ek1000) - Spécifications

  • AUO B156HAN08.2 (AUO82ED)
  • Précision des couleurs  4.4  1.7
  • HDD/SSD
  • jusqu'à 8000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 64GB
  • OS
  • No OS, Windows 11 Home, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Home, Windows 11 Pro
  • Batterie
  • 70.9Wh, 6-cell
  • Matériau du corps
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate, Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 357.9 x 239.7 x 22.6 mm (14.09" x 9.44" x 0.89")
  • Poids
  • 2.46 kg (5.4 lbs)
  • Ports et connectivité
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • DisplayPort, Sleep and Charge
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • Sleep and Charge
  • 2x USB Type-A
  • HDMI
  • 2.0a
  • Displayport mini
  • Lecteur de cartes
  • SD
  • Ethernet LAN
  • 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.0
  • Prise audio
  • 3.5 Combo Jack
  • Caractéristiques
  • Lecteur d'empreintes digitales
  • Caméra Web
  • HD
  • Clavier rétro-éclairé
  • Microphone
  • Dual Array Digital Microphone
  • Intervenants
  • 2 Speakers, Bang & Olufsen
  • Lecteur optique

Tous HP OMEN 15 (15-ek0000, ek1000) configurations

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, we found the laptop, itself, as well as some paper manuals, a sticker, and a 200W power adapter.


Design and construction

HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000)’s body is a nice combination of aluminum and plastic, that weighs 2.45 kg and has a profile of 22.6mm. Ultimately, it is an averagely sized gaming notebook, but it feels good in the hands, and its chassis is pretty resistant to flex.

If you remember how the 2018 model looked like (something that they are still selling), you’ll see a big difference. First of all, there is the hinge placement. Before, it appeared like the hinge covers are attached to the lid and are connecting within the body, while now, the hinge covers are actually protruding from the body. Respectively, this makes for a lot cleaner finish and a lack of aggressive shapes.

Now, the lid indeed opens with a single hand, but we found it to be a bit shaky. And not when you push your laptop or touch the desk. No, the lid shakes when you adjust it. Actually, the amount of movement is so high, that the hinge covers pull the backside of the base upwards and it results in a very weird looking action. Other than that, the side bezels are thin enough, and the top one houses the HD camera.

Next, we have the base of the device, which also faces a major redesign. Instead of a full-sized keyboard, the new unit lacks the NumberPad section, which honestly is not that big of a deal for gamers. Thankfully, we are dealing with decent key travel and clicky feedback. And we dare say that the best change year on year, is the location and the size of the Arrow keys. Now, they are bigger, and they don’t have anything around them… you guessed it right – just like a Lenovo Legions.

Our only disadvantage here would be the horrendous location of the Power button. You know, last year, it was just above the “Escape” key, which can often lead to unintentional sleeping of the laptop. Well, we thought it was bad because we didn’t know HP’s plans for their 2020 machine – they put it between the “F12” and the “Delete” key, which happens to be just above the “Backspace” key. Keep in mind that you’ll need a lot of time to get used to this… if you ever do get used to it.

Nevertheless, HP has worked upon improving their touchpad experience, which wasn’t that bad in the first place. Now, we see a slightly bigger area, and lack of dedicated buttons. Furthermore, tracking is great and gliding is decent, but we see some bendy action when we press in the topmost part. In fact, this can be said about pretty much the entire keyboard deck as well.

Lastly, let’s turn the laptop upside down, just to see the great ventilation grill. It should be able to drive a lot of air towards the heat sinks, and we really hope that the laptop won’t overheat this year.

Ports

This year, all of the ports of the Omen 15 are located on the sides. On the left, you’ll find the charging plug, an RJ-45 connector, a USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) port with Sleep and Charge functionality, an HDMI 2.0a connector, an audio jack and an SD card reader. Then, on the right, you’ll see two more USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) ports, a Mini DisplayPort, and a Thunderbolt 3 connector with the full 40Gbps.


Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

To get inside this notebook, you have to undo 8 Phillips-head screws. Ultimately, this is an easy job to do, and prying the bottom panel is not harder at all.

The first thing we see inside is the cooling solution. It comprises two heat pipes shared between the CPU and the GPU. Additionally, you’ll find a third one with a smaller diameter, attached only to the GPU, and heading to its own tiny heat sink. And as you can see, all of the VRMs and graphics memory modules are hidden beneath a heat spreader, so there should be no overheating problems with them, whatsoever.

Memory-wise, there are two RAM SODIMM slots, which work in dual-channel mode and we are pretty confident that they can hold 64GB of DDR4 RAM in total. As far as the storage is concerned, there are two M.2 NVMe slots, both of which support PCIe x4 drives as well as Optane drives.

In terms of power away from the grid, there is a 71Wh unit.


Display quality

HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000) has an IPS panel, model number AUO B156HAN08.2 (AUO82ED). Its diagonal is 15.6″ (39.62 cm), and the resolution 1920 х 1080 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 142 ppi, and a pitch of 0.18 х 0.18 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at distance equal to or greater than 60cm (24″) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).

It has comfortable viewing angles. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

The measured maximum brightness of 320 nits in the middle of the screen and 325 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 10%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen is 7300K – colder than the optimal for the sRGB standard of 6500K.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. In other words, the leakage of light from the light source.

Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work. The contrast ratio is good – 1220:1 (1070:1 after profiling).

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 91% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000) with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 9 ms.


PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

The light coming from HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000)’s screen doesn’t flicker at any brightness level. Thankfully, this enables you to play for extended periods of time, without risk of further damaging your eyes and brain.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Conclusion

HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000)’s display has a 144Hz IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, decent maximum brightness, and good contrast ratio. Additionally, its image is punchy thanks to the 91% sRGB coverage, and the color accuracy is pretty decent. Moreover, it doesn’t use PWM, which means that long gaming sessions won’t introduce any eye strain in this aspect. And last but definitely not least – its fast refresh rate is paired with quick response times – hardcore gamers will be happy.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000) configurations with 15.6″ FHD IPS AUO B156HAN08.2 (AUO82ED).

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

En plus de recevoir des profils efficaces et favorables à la santé, en achetant les produits de LaptopMedia, vous soutenez également le développement de nos laboratoires, où nous testons les appareils afin de produire les examens les plus objectifs possibles.

Travail de bureau

Le travail de bureau devrait être utilisé principalement par les utilisateurs qui passent le plus de temps à regarder des morceaux de texte, des tableaux ou simplement à surfer. Ce profil vise à offrir une meilleure distinction et une meilleure clarté en conservant une courbe gamma plate (2,20), une température de couleur native et des couleurs perceptuellement précises.

Conception et jeux

Ce profil est destiné aux designers qui travaillent avec les couleurs de manière professionnelle, et pour les jeux et les films également. Design and Gaming pousse les panneaux d'affichage à leurs limites, les rendant aussi précis que possible dans la norme sRGB IEC61966-2-1 pour le Web et la TVHD, au point blanc D65.

Santé-Guard

Santé-Guard élimine le modulation de largeur d'impulsion nocive (PWM) et réduit le lumière bleue négative qui affecte nos yeux et notre corps. Comme il est adapté à chaque panneau, il parvient à maintenir la précision perceptive des couleurs. Santé-Guard simule le papier, ce qui réduit considérablement la pression sur les yeux.

Obtenez les 3 profils avec 33% de réduction


Sound

HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000)’s speakers produce a sound with very good quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/omen-15-ek0000-laptop-pc-series/32827267/model/38023588

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with.


CPU options

Today, we are reviewing the Intel version of the Omen 15, so we’ll focus on the processor of choice here. Well… not that there is a lot of choices, though – currently there are only the Core i5-10300H and the Core i7-10750H.


GPU options

GPU-wise we have the GTX 1650 Ti, the GTX 1660 Ti, and the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q as an option.


Gaming tests

Far Cry 5Full HD, Normal (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Ultra (Check settings)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti99 fps91 fps85 fps

rise-of-the-tomb-raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016)Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)Full HD, MAX (Check settings)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti125 fps63 fps41 fps

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon WildlandsFull HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)Full HD, Ultra (Check settings)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti76 fps67 fps44 fps

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018)Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Highest (Check settings)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti85 fps80 fps50 fps

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.

Intel Core i7-10750H (45W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000)3.55 GHz (B+37%) @ 71°C2.88 GHz (B+11%) @ 62°C2.81 GHz (B+8%) @ 70°C
Acer Predator Helios 300 (PH315-53)3.56 GHz (B+37%) @ 76°C3.52 GHz (B+35%) @ 85°C2.98 GHz (B+15%) @ 75°C
Dell G5 15 55003.82 GHz (B+47%) @ 75°C3.63 GHz (B+40%) @ 99°C3.01 GHz (B+16%) @ 81°C
Acer Predator Triton 500 (PT515-52)3.72 GHz (B+43%) @ 90°C3.53 GHz (B+36%) @ 90°C3.26 GHz (B+25%) @ 85°C
ASUS ROG Strix G15 G5124.16 GHz (B+60%) @ 81°C3.99 GHz (B+53%) @ 95°C3.52 GHz (B+35%) @ 87°C
Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-52)3.05 GHz (B+17%) @ 68°C3.05 GHz (B+17%) @ 75°C2.90 GHz (B+12%) @ 79°C
Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-55)3.02 GHz (B+16%) @ 82°C3.04 GHz (B+17%) @ 92°C2.67 GHz (B+3%) @ 92°C
Lenovo Legion 7 (15)3.78 GHz (B+45%) @ 80°C3.69 GHz (B+42%) @ 83°C3.51 GHz (B+35%) @ 83°C
MSI GP65 Leopard 10Sx3.65 GHz (B+40%) @ 95°C3.41 GHz (B+31%) @ 95°C3.30 GHz (B+27%) @ 95°C

Here, we experienced a really quiet environment, thanks to the Omen 15 dropping its frequency down to 2.81 GHz at the end. This is significantly lower than some of its competition, but honestly, there was no other laptop that would work at temperatures so low, throughout the torture test.

Real-life gaming

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 TiGPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (max fans)
HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000)1628 MHz @ 72°C1601 MHz @ 77°C
Dell G5 15 55001455 MHz @ 83°C1440 MHz @ 91°C
ASUS TUF A17 (F706)1667 MHz @ 77°C1666 MHz @ 79°C
MSI GL751714 MHz @ 66°C1708 MHz @ 68°C1726 MHz @ 62°C
Lenovo Legion Y7000 (2019)1669 MHz @ 66°C1646 MHz @ 71°C
Lenovo Legion Y5401761 MHz @ 76°C1752 MHz @ 82°C
Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-54)1660 MHz @ 78°C1635 MHz @ 84°C

Another relatively quiet experience is during long gaming sessions. Indeed, you can clearly hear the fans, but it is a lot quieter than most of its competition, plus the pitch of the sound is a lot lower. By the way, the GPU here is working at 80W.

Gaming comfort

As we said, in terms of noise, the laptop is performing quite well. But interestingly, the hottest spot on the keyboard was just 48C, which is more than decent for a gaming notebook.


Verdict

Okay, so what do we get here? Well, the first thing that comes to our mind when we think of a summary of the experience from the HP Omen 15 2020 is improved cooling. This laptop features a bigger fan size, and most notably – better ventilation. Even at lower RPM, you can sense that there is a pretty high airflow and on top of that, the laptop remains decently quieter than its predecessor in relatively long gaming sessions.

Additionally, it has all of the ports you may need, including a Thunderbolt 3 port, an RJ-45 connector, an SD card reader, and much more. Also, there are two RAM SODIMM slots that hold up to 64GB of memory in total, and you can put two M.2 PCIe x4 drives inside of the machine.

Another thing that feels better is the keyboard – it has adequate arrow keys (kind of borrowed from the Lenovo Legion series), clicky feedback, and a decent key travel. Of course, there is an optional RGB backlight and if it wasn’t for one bizarre thing, the keyboard would be perfect. Sadly, we’re talking about the location of the Power button, which is put between the “Delete” and the “F12” keys. You should definitely expect hitting this Power button by mistake at least for the first week or so.

Another thing we feel that could have been better is the rigidity of the hinges. Obviously, they can’t cope really well with the weight of the lid, as they shake every time you adjust your display’s position.

Speaking of display… HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000)’s screen in the configuration we tested has a 144Hz IPS panel (AUO B156HAN08.2 (AUO82ED)) with a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, decent maximum brightness, and good contrast ratio. Additionally, its image is punchy thanks to the 91% sRGB coverage, and the color accuracy is pretty decent. Moreover, it doesn’t use PWM, which means that long gaming sessions won’t introduce any eye strain in this aspect. And last but definitely not least – its fast refresh rate is paired with quick response times – hardcore gamers will be happy. Also, the speakers are decent and the battery life is around 7 hours and a half of Web browsing and 6 hours of video playback.

Ultimately, this laptop provides a great gaming experience. If you need it for a predominantly CPU-intensive load, you would probably need some tweaking in order to get the maximum out of the model, as HP was concentrated on providing lower temperatures, hence more headroom for the GPU.

And if you ask us if you should get the laptop, we can’t really think of a legit reason why you shouldn’t. You can check our take on the ASUS ROG Strix G15 G512, and on the MSI GL65, but from what we see, the HP Omen 15 2020 (15-ek0000), is easily one of the best all-rounders out there. Well… that’s until we get our hands on the AMD version of the device.

Pros

  • Good cooling setup
  • Two M.2 PCIe slots and two RAM SODIMM slots
  • The display doesn’t flicker at any brightness level (AUO B156HAN08.2)
  • Covers 91% of sRGB and has a decent color accuracy (with our Gaming and Web design profile) (AUO B156HAN08.2)
  • 144Hz panel has great pixel response times (AUO B156HAN08.2)
  • Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 3 support, plus an SD card reader on board
  • Its keyboard is comfortable for typing and gaming at the same time


Cons

  • Bizarre location of the Power button
  • The hinges seem unstable

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-omen-15-15-ek0000/

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william blake
william blake
3 années il y a un an

this is what i see from your amazon links
-OMEN by HP Obelisk Gaming Desktop Computer, 9th Generatio..
-Omen X 25 Gaming Monitor with NVIDIA G-Sync and 240Hz 1ms, Ful..
-OMEN by HP Mindframe PC Gaming Headset with Worl..
-HP Pavilion Gaming Headse..
-Omen by HP 2019 15-Inch Gaming Laptop, Intel i7-975..
-HP OMEN 15-dc1054nr 15.6″ Gaming Laptop – Bla..
and so on and on and on

oscarito
oscarito
3 années il y a un an

this machine does not have a 2.5 bay for adding a 2.5 hdd ?????

Ed Cid
Ed Cid
3 années il y a un an

I recently adquired the HP Omen 15-ek0017ns model (i7-10750H & RTX2060), and it seems to incorporate a slightly different panel (LG LP156WFG-SPF2 / LGD05FE) instead of the AUO82ED. This updated LG panel seems to have a slightly higher color accuracy (95% SRGB) according to some reviews. It would be good if you could please confirm this information. In the meantime I’ll try the LGD05FE ICC profile available here, just in case it can help improving my screen. ThanX in advance!!

Ed Cid
Ed Cid
3 années il y a un an
Répondre à  Ed Cid

Two quick updates on this, just in case I can add some value for anyone: There’s a typo on my previous post, as the incorporated panel on my unit according to HWINFO64 is LG LP156WFG-SPK1 / LGD05FE), instead of SPF2, sorry for that. Unfortunately there’s no detailed description for this model available on http://www.panelook.com By performing my own calibration (with Datacolor Spyder4 Pro) I’ve achieved the following results: 97% sRGB / 70% NTSC / 75% AdobeRGB. Not bad, although the overall result looks kinda magenta-tinted to my eyes, but probably this is caused by the 6500K target and I’ll trust… Read more »

Electronics Monk
2 années il y a un an

This is an excellent article. I just finished reading your article on the HP Omen 15 Gaming Monitor. It’s truly wonderful and quite informative, and it has also answered all of my questions and concerns concerning gaming monitors. Thank you very much; I’ll be looking forward to your future essay.