HP Omen Transcend 14

If you're sticking with Asus or Razer gaming laptops out of habit, the HP Omen Transcend 14 may just change your mind

- TIM DANTON

The HP Omen Transcend 14 is part of a growing breed of Trojan Horse gaming laptops. On the surface, they look professional; the main giveaway comes when you start playing a game and the keyboard lights up in all its RGB glory.

HP sent us the black version of the Transcend 14 for testing, but you can buy it in white. I prefer dark colouring for laptops as they tend to age better, and this classy, anodised aluminium chassis will turn heads for years.

The main body is jet black, with the stiff lid in dark, corporate grey. A slender 17.9mm height coupled with a small footprint give it an ultraportable feel, although at 1.6kg you’ll notice it in a bag. As with many modern gaming laptops, the rear juts out, but only by around 5mm. Enough for HP to squeeze in the legend “Designed and built for winning” on the surface, but in such small lettering that it feels like the gentlest of boasts.

The rear essentially acts as a giant exhaust, with grilles stretching across the whole width aside from two ports: one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, one HDMI. You can use either for connecting a monitor, but HP anticipates that this is where most people will connect the chunky 140W power supply.

It’s always a relief to see USB-A ports on a slim laptop, with two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports on the righthand side. Head to the left and you’ll find the solitary Thunderbolt 4/USB-C 4 port, plus a combo 3.5mm jack. Add Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 and this is one extremely well-connected laptop.

Fast as blazes