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| Jacob Roach / Digital Trends |
I've been searching for a laptop that isn't only for gaming. Something really portable, thin, and powerful enough. The laptop I've been searching for, the Omen Transcend 14, is reportedly available from HP and is billed as the “lightest 14-inch gaming laptop in the world.” Indeed, that is a quotation.
When I had the opportunity to test out the laptop before CES 2024, I could see right away that it is, in fact, quite light and small. The Omen Transcend 14 appears to be up for the battle, even though HP has a lot of competition.
The weight is where we have to start. According to HP, the Omen Transcend 14 weighs 3.61 pounds, making it the lightest 14-inch gaming laptop available right now. The 2023 Zephyrus G14 weighs 3.64 pounds, whereas the Razer Blade 14 weighs 3.92 pounds. I have a strong suspicion that HP won't be the leader in the lightweight 14-inch gaming laptop category for very long (stay tuned for more Digital Trends CES revelations).
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| Jacob Roach / Digital Trends |
In any case, at just 0.7 inches thick, this laptop is still very light. It may not hold the record for the longest time as the lightest and thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop, but it is not required to. After my unsatisfactory evaluation of the Omen 16 last year, this is still a very portable gaming laptop and a positive move for HP's Omen brand.
HP claims that the Omen Transcend 14 is not only the lightest but also the coolest. On the laptop, I could see some Cyberpunk 2077 action, but I couldn't hear the fans. My demo was held in a very large room with approximately thirty people in it. It was cozy yet not stuffy. It's difficult to say for sure, but this isn't a noisy, hot beast of a laptop—it's just the greatest 14-inch gaming laptop, I promise.
Although HP claims that the laptop's body is made of aluminum, it doesn't feel that way. The outside feels like soft plastic. It's not a negative thing. Though significantly slimmer, it has a comparable feel to the Lenovo Legion Pro 5.
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| Jacob Roach / Digital Trends |
But I lose interest in HP at the keyboard. It has translucent borders surrounding each key and is a little squishy, as if HP tried to attach a pudding keycap to a laptop keyboard. It detracts from the otherwise elegant design of the gaming laptop. RGB lighting is available for each key, and the keyboard looks fantastic with everything illuminated. Even with such a costly laptop, I still much like have a conventional keycap.
Fortunately, HP compensates with an amazing display. HP is capitalizing on the popularity of OLED in gaming laptops by utilizing a 120Hz display with 2.8K resolution (2880 x 1800). Apart from being certified DisplayHDR True Black 400, the display can achieve a maximum brightness of 500 nits and a variable refresh rate ranging from 48Hz to 120Hz.
It seems amazing. The colors pop off the screen and the brightness is intense for an OLED display. It's a significant improvement for Omen, because the Omen 16 from the previous year had a subpar IPS screen with mediocre color and low brightness. It feels like a laptop worth its price at last.
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| Jacob Roach / Digital Trends |
In any case, at just 0.7 inches thick, this laptop is still very light. It may not hold the record for the longest time as the lightest and thinnest 14-inch gaming laptop, but it is not required to. After my unsatisfactory evaluation of the Omen 16 last year, this is still a very portable gaming laptop and a positive move for HP's Omen brand.
HP claims that the Omen Transcend 14 is not only the lightest but also the coolest. On the laptop, I could see some Cyberpunk 2077 action, but I couldn't hear the fans. My demo was held in a very large room with approximately thirty people in it. It was cozy yet not stuffy. It's difficult to say for sure, but this isn't a noisy, hot beast of a laptop—it's just the greatest 14-inch gaming laptop, I promise.
Although HP claims that the laptop's body is made of aluminum, it doesn't feel that way. The outside feels like soft plastic. It's not a negative thing. Though significantly slimmer, it has a comparable feel to the Lenovo Legion Pro 5.
 |
| Jacob Roach / Digital Trends |
But I lose interest in HP at the keyboard. It has translucent borders surrounding each key and is a little squishy, as if HP tried to attach a pudding keycap to a laptop keyboard. It detracts from the otherwise elegant design of the gaming laptop. RGB lighting is available for each key, and the keyboard looks fantastic with everything illuminated. Even with such a costly laptop, I still much like have a conventional keycap.
Fortunately, HP compensates with an amazing display. HP is capitalizing on the popularity of OLED in gaming laptops by utilizing a 120Hz display with 2.8K resolution (2880 x 1800).
It seems amazing. The colors pop off the screen and the brightness is intense for an OLED display. It's a significant improvement for Omen, because the Omen 16 from the previous year had a subpar IPS screen with mediocre color and low brightness. It feels like a laptop worth its price at last.
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| Jacob Roach / Digital Trends |
Thankfully, HP isn't holding back on the cost. The laptop is now available for preorder with a starting price of $1,600.
For that, you get the standard setup, which comes with 512GB of storage, an RTX 4050, and an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. This is one of the few gaming laptops we’ve seen sporting Intel’s latest Meteor Lake CPUs, which is fascinating compared to other laptops we anticipate to see at CES this year.
HP provides up to an RTX 4070 and a Core Ultra 9 185H, with 2TB of storage and 32GB of LPDDR5x-7467 memory, so you can expand much higher. Given the Omen Transcend 14's already hefty base price, we expect that word on the cost of a tricked-out configuration won't be too long off.
Several excellent features are included in all setups. The laptop supports both Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 and comes with Thunderbolt 4, which allows up to 140W of power supply over USB-C. Although I'm not sure how common Wi-Fi 7 routers are, it's good that the laptop has the newest wifi technology.
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| Jacob Roach / Digital Trends |
Based on initial observations, HP has produced a really attractive laptop from a brand that has historically been mediocre. The Omen Transcend 14 is elevated and feels like a laptop deserving of the Transcend badge thanks to its thin design and OLED display. It isn't too pricey, however I hope that the price doesn't increase significantly with stronger GPUs.
The Omen Transcend 14's survival depends on its cooling system and battery life because its features and pricing are appropriate. All we can do for the time being is wait till we've got a chance to thoroughly assess the machine.