HP’s Omen Max 16 is its most powerful gaming laptop yet

HP is announcing an updated lineup of notebooks at CES that includes new EliteBooks, a new Ryzen AI-powered ZBook workstation, and a fresh 16-inch Omen Max gaming laptop that can spin its fan in reverse to help clear out dust from its vents.

The Omen Max 16 could surely benefit from a cooling system that doesn’t get mucked up too quickly, considering it will come with next-gen Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics and a choice of Intel Core Ultra 9 or Ryzen AI 9 HX processors. A leak in December suggested the Omen will be one of the first devices to feature the RTX 5080 mobile GPU . HP also says the laptop is the first to use a “hybrid cryo compound” and a vapor chamber to improve thermals.

The laptop has Omen AI software that automatically adjusts system and game settings for the best performance and can pair instantly with HP’s HyperX gaming peripherals. HP’s Omen has also earned Microsoft Copilot Plus PC designation.

Of course, no gaming laptop is complete without RGB and accessories. The Omen Max 16 has a light bar on the front of its metal body (black or white) that can reflect off your desk, and you can control the colors using Omen Light Studio software. HP’s HyperX brand is also launching an incredibly modular Pulsefire Saga Pro gaming mouse that lets you swap out buttons and body components to your liking.

HP streamlined its computer lineup in May 2024, letting go of the Pavilions and the Envys in favor of Omni and Elite laptop and desktop lines that correspond to consumer and business devices, respectively. Today, the company announced the EliteBook Ultra G1i, the Intel version of the laptop that launched in 2024 with Qualcomm chips. And the EliteBook X and convertible X Flip, which launched with AMD chips last year, now have Intel G1i versions as well.

You can configure EliteBooks with privacy screens, which makes it harder for onlookers to see what you’re doing while you work in public.

Finally, HP updated its 14-inch workstation laptop with the new ZBook Ultra 14 G1a, this time with a thinner profile and without the Firefly name. This ZBook ships with Ryzen AI Max Pro series chips designed to tear through Solidworks, 3DS Max, and AutoCAD work with up to 96GB shared graphics memory and up to 128GB of RAM. HP calls it the “world’s most powerful 14-inch mobile workstation.”