HP's Omen Transcend brand is a step up from the standard Omen gaming lineup. I reviewed the Omen Transcend 16 with 13th Gen Intel Core processor (CPU) in 2023, noting its awesome mini-LED display and robust performance as high notes. HP introduced the smaller Omen Transcend 14 at CES 2024, and it's the most compact and lightweight gaming laptop that the company has to offer.

Its aluminum design with rounded corners is comfortable to hold, and indeed it is one of the lightest and most portable gaming laptops I've ever seen. Despite its thin build, the fans do a good job of keeping the system cool, allowing the Core Ultra 7 155H chip and RTX 4060 Laptop GPU room to deliver a decent mid-range gaming experience. It all looks great on the OLED display with 2.8K resolution, which is no doubt a major selling point when we're already seeing models drop to about $1,200.

About this review: HP provided XDA with a review unit of its Omen Transcend 14 for 2024. It had no input on the content of this article.

Price, availability, and specs

HP's Omen Transcend 14 was unveiled at CES 2024, and it's available now to purchase. It's primarily available at HP's official website, where you can configure models to your liking. A unit with Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor (CPU), Nvidia RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, 512GB SSD, 16GB of RAM, and 14-inch 2.8K OLED display starts at $1,500. At the time of writing, however, it's down to $1,200. That bodes well for shoppers who don't want to buy at full price; expect to see more sales in the future.

Pre-configured models are also available at Best Buy, with prices starting at $1,700 for a model with Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, Nvidia RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, 1TB SSD, and 16GB of RAM. A model with Core Ultra 9 185H CPU, 32GB of RAM, Nvidia RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, 1TB SSD, and 2.8K OLED display costs $2,000.

Here's a look at the specs available in the Omen Transcend 14 (2024).

Design and features

Rounded design with a high-end feel

HP's Omen Transcend 14 (2024) doesn't feel like a gaming laptop when you're carrying it around. Its compact aluminum chassis measures 12.32 x 9.19 x 0.67-0.79 inches thin, and it weighs in at only about 3.6 pounds (1.6kg). In the gaming world, these are some very compact specs. Even something like Dell's XPS 14 (2024) weighs in at 3.8 pounds (1.74kg) and measures 0.71 inches thin, and it's easy to mistake the Omen Transcend for a regular clamshell notebook.

The overall design is what I'd consider "bubbly," with rounded corners, semi-hidden hinges, and curved edges for the lid. It comes in Ceramic White and Shadow Black color options; my review unit has the latter finish. It's not the worst fingerprint magnet I've seen, but you'll want to carry a cleaning cloth if you're worried about smudges and stains.

HP's Omen Transcend 14 (2024) doesn't feel like a gaming laptop when you're carrying it around.

Along the back of the laptop is a thin ledge due to how the hinges are set forward on the body. This is where HP hides the laptop's exhaust venting, keeping it away from the sides where it would otherwise blow on your hands. In the center of the rear edge are HDMI 2.1 and USB-C 3.2 (Gen 2) with DP 1.4 and PD capabilities. The right side of the laptop adds two USB-A (10Gbps) ports, while the left side has a 3.5mm audio jack and one Thunderbolt 4 port. It would be nice to have a second USB-C or Thunderbolt port for use at all times, since the rear USB-C port is used to charge the laptop.

The laptop's speakers live on the bottom of the laptop, with an output in each front corner. The wedge design of the laptop prevents them from sitting completely flat on a surface, and sound quality is respectable whether you're listening to music or playing games. HP does include a HyperX Cloud III wireless headset with some configs, and I'd recommend buying any quality gaming headset for a better gaming experience (especially if you're playing competitively).

A 1080p camera lives above the display, and it comes with an IR sensor for facial recognition through Windows Hello. Considering HP has been adding 9MP cameras to the likes of the premium Spectre x360 lineup, it would be nice to see something better for the premium gaming brand. It'll do for general video conferencing, and I appreciate the extra security that's often omitted from gaming laptops.

Keyboard and touchpad

Designed to let RGB shine through

HP took a fresh approach with its Omen Transcend 14 keyboard, leaning on a HyperX Pudding keycap design with translucent borders. It's meant to let the RGB lighting shine through with much more emphasis, and in that regard it's a success. You should love the keyboard if you're a fan of pronounced RGB lighting.

The lattice-less design uses larger keycaps without spacing in between, and there's enough key travel to keep your hands happy.

However, the keyboard is a lot less appealing when the backlight is disabled. The cloudy borders lean toward a cheap look, and it overall seems more like a child's toy than a high-end gaming laptop. I'm not a fan of the tiny font on some of the keys, especially after checking out the Spectre x360 16 (2024)'s new keyboard design with bold lettering.

No matter how it looks, the keyboard is comfortable while gaming or during long hours of typing. The lattice-less design uses larger keycaps without spacing in between, and there's enough key travel to keep your hands happy. So far, HP only offers a four-zone RGB lighting setup, but it does plan to launch a per-key RGB option in the near future. It can all be configured through the Omen app that comes installed on the laptop by default.

I had no issues with the Precision touchpad. It makes good use of space below the keyboard, it has a firm click and no rattle when tapped, and the rounded corners match the rest of the laptop's design. You won't have any problems tackling casual tasks and productivity work with the built-in pointer.

The two USB-A ports on the right side of the PC make it easy to plug in a wired gaming mouse, and, of course, the laptop comes with either Bluetooth 5.3 or 5.4 to connect with your wireless peripherals. HP offers Wi-Fi 6E as standard, but you can upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 for about $40 if you're looking for improved transfer speeds and better future-proofing.

Display

2.8K OLED with a 120Hz variable refresh rate

The Omen Transcend's 14-inch display is only available in one flavor, but HP didn't skimp on the details. It has a 2880x1800 (2.8K) resolution, OLED panel, variable refresh rate from 48Hz to 120Hz, and a 0.2ms response time. While HP's standard Omen laptops still have a more traditional 16:9 design, the Transcend models all have a taller 16:10 aspect ratio.

Gorilla Glass covers the display from edge to edge, but unfortunately the finish causes a lot of glare if you're working in a well-lit room. Without HDR enabled, brightness hits about 410 nits, which is still not really enough to fight off external lighting. Brightness does climb closer to 500 nits with HDR enabled, but you're not going to have it on at all times.

Beyond the glare issues, the display is a real treat. The 2.8K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate make working on the laptop easy on the eyes, and it also provides a smooth gaming experience. I'm always impressed by how much better games look on an OLED display, and there's always a noticeable change when I return to my desktop IPS gaming monitor. Color and contrast are outstanding. Testing with a SpyderX Pro colorimeter, I got back 100% sRGB, 94% AdobeRGB, and 100% DCI-P3 color reproduction, all excellent results that should translate well into gaming and design or creative work.

As we'll see in the next section, the RTX 4060 Laptop GPU in my review unit is much better equipped for FHD+ gaming, but that's an easy setting to change if you want to pump up the framerates in more demanding games.

Performance

Intelligently balanced to prevent overheating and throttling

The HP Omen Transcend 14 is equipped with Intel's Core Ultra H-series processors, bringing enhanced AI acceleration thanks to a built-in Neural Processing Unit (NPU). This helps mainly, at the moment, with camera enhancements through Windows 11, but HP also outlines some improvements to OBS Studio efficiency when streaming.

What most people will notice is a bump in performance compared to 13th Gen Intel processors. The Core Ultra 7 155H in my review unit brings 16 total cores and 22 threads, hitting up to a 4.8GHz clock and operating at a 28W base TDP. The CPU is joined by a Nvidia RTX 4060 Laptop GPU running at a 65W TGP, as well as 16GB of soldered LPDDR5x RAM and a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.

I ran a stress test to see how the system handles heat and power management. Over the course of 30 minutes, the CPU peaked at 68W (during the Turbo boost) and dropped to a steady 30W power draw with a maximum temperature of 74 degrees Celsius. The GPU remained steady at 45W — which is intelligently balanced against the CPU to prevent throttling — with a maximum temperature of 67 degrees Celsius.

Fans hit 60 dBA during the test, and the outside of the laptop didn't become uncomfortable to hold. Chalk that up to the huge intake vent on the bottom and the sizable exhaust along the back; the fans seem to be able to keep the laptop cool even under prolonged load.

It's interesting to see the RTX 4060 Laptop GPU with 65W TGP nearly match the performance of the 60W RTX 4070 Laptop GPU in the XPS 16 (2024). Benchmark numbers otherwise don't look out of place, with the Core Ultra 7 155H providing snappy performance and the RTX 4060 picking up the slack in the graphics department. It should be noted that the laptop lacks Nvidia G-Sync for the display, and it also has no MUX switch to choose between integrated and discrete graphics; you can either use integrated graphics or a hybrid setup that chooses for you.

I also tested a handful of games to see how the system performs in a more real-world setting. As you can see from the results below, the system, in most cases, won't be able to take advantage of the full display resolution in demanding modern titles. Even dropping Shadow of the Tomb Raider to FHD+ with DLSS Performance enabled, it only just managed to average out at about 120 FPS at a 1200p resolution. Older and less-demanding games won't tax the system nearly as much, and you do have the option of upgrading to an RTX 4070 Laptop GPU if you'd like a bit more power.

I tested battery life using PCMark 10's Gaming Rundown test, with the system set to Best Performance in Windows 11 and the Performance profile in the Omen app. The system lasted 59 minutes in this test, which is above average for a gaming laptop. HP notified reviewers of an SA GV setting in the BIOS that could boost battery life when enabled; it should be coming as standard in a future update. I tested again with it enabled, getting back 67 minutes under otherwise similar settings. If you're gaming, you'll want to keep the AC adapter nearby.

I also tested the laptop for standard battery life using PCMark 10's Modern Office rundown. I set the system to near-optimal conditions, lowering the refresh rate to 60Hz, dropping Windows 11 to a Balanced power profile, and keeping HP's own power setting on Balanced. With 50% screen brightness (or about 200 nits), the system lasted four hours and 43 minutes. You could bump this up a bit more by lowering power profiles further and completely disabling the discrete GPU, but you're still not going to have a laptop that can last through a full eight-hour workday.

Should you buy the HP Omen Transcend 14 (2024)?

You should buy the HP Omen Transcend 14 (2024) if:

• You want a compact 14-inch laptop that can handle creative work as well as gaming.
• You're not looking to maximize performance and instead want something portable.
• You're looking for a gaming laptop that starts around $1,200 (when on sale).

You should NOT buy the HP Omen Transcend 14 (2024) if:

• You want to maximize gaming performance and don't mind a larger frame.
• You need a laptop with all-day battery life.

HP's Omen Transcend 14 for 2024 is a laptop built to accommodate gamers and creative professionals who don't want to lug around a heavy 16-inch laptop. Considering introductory models are already selling at about $1,200, many of the downsides will be easy to overlook when weighted against a 2.8K OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, premium build quality, and discrete graphics. It comes in at a more affordable price than the comparable Razer Blade 14 and Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, though the alternatives should bring better GPU performance thanks to a higher TGP.

Even if you sometimes have to deal with display glare or if you don't particularly fancy the keyboard's design, you can rest assured that you're getting a sleek and portable laptop that intelligently balances power to prevent throttling. Gaming performance at the native 2.8K resolution is workable in demanding games thanks to DLSS support, and you always have the option of dropping the resolution to improve framerates. Overall, the Omen Transcend 14 should prove to be popular for any gamers or creators who want to travel light without overspending.