HP is adding a new member to its gaming lineup with the Omen 16 Slim, a 16-inch gaming laptop that aims to strike a balance between portability and midrange performance. While its name and 0.79-inch thickness suggest sleekness, its 5.4-pound weight puts it more in the “reasonably portable” category rather than truly lightweight. Still, with an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU and Intel’s latest Arrow Lake CPUs under the hood, it’s a promising contender in the increasingly crowded midrange gaming space.
Set to launch in June 2025, the Omen 16 Slim represents a scaled-down alternative to HP’s beefier Omen Max 16, which caps out with the top-tier RTX 5090. In comparison, the Slim’s use of the RTX 5070 — the current entry-level of Nvidia’s 50-series lineup — marks a more budget-conscious configuration. HP hasn’t announced pricing yet, but the lower-end GPU, paired with modest features like a four-zone RGB keyboard instead of individually lit keys, signals that this model will land in a more accessible price bracket.
On the display side, the Omen 16 Slim sports a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS panel with a high 240Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time, catering well to fast-paced games. Under the hood, users will be able to choose between Intel’s new Arrow Lake chips, starting with the Core Ultra 5 225H and scaling up to the Core Ultra 9 285H. The baseline configuration will come with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, with upgrade paths likely for power users.
While it may not be the slimmest or lightest gaming laptop around — Razer’s 2025 Blade 16, for instance, beats it with a thinner profile and lighter chassis — the Omen 16 Slim still checks a lot of boxes for gamers seeking power in a semi-portable form. It also delivers a respectable set of ports, including one 10Gbps USB-C with Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4, a 10Gbps USB-A, two additional USB-A ports at 5Gbps, an HDMI 2.1 port, ethernet, a 3.5mm combo jack, and support for Wi-Fi 6E.
The launch of the Omen 16 Slim is part of a broader refresh across HP’s gaming laptop range. Updates are also coming to the Omen 17, Omen Transcend 14, and the more budget-oriented HP Victus 15. The Omen 17 will offer AMD’s upcoming Strix Point CPUs, while the Transcend 14 keeps things compact with Arrow Lake and an RTX 5070 option. The Victus 15 will serve the budget crowd with configurations starting as low as Nvidia’s RTX 2050 and possibly even incorporating yet-unannounced GPUs, like a GeForce RTX 5050 or 5060.
So far, there’s no killer feature that immediately sets the Omen 16 Slim apart from the competition, but its combination of solid performance specs, a fast screen, and practical design choices could make it a strong option if priced competitively. With the June launch approaching, HP is expected to announce final pricing details soon — and for midrange gamers looking to balance power and portability, it may be worth the wait.
